MLS New England Revolution

Revs head to Chicago for first of six ESPN2 Primetime Thursday games

Published on March 30, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution will train in Foxborough twice this week in preparation for its first road game of the season on Thursday night at Chicago. Both training sessions will be held on the Gillette Stadium main field.

New England vs. Chicago Series Information

Series vs. Chicago Notes:

- New England holds a slight edge in the all-time, regular-season series between the two teams, 13-12-6.

- Chicago won the 2007 three-game, regular-season series, 2-1-0 ... the Fire took both games played at Toyota Park (1-0 on April 7; 2-1 on Oct. 6), while the Revs earned a 3-1 victory in the only meeting at Gillette Stadium.

- The Revs are 4-7-5 all time in regular-season games played at Chicago ... New England owns a 9-5-1 regular-season record against the Fire at home (7-4-0 at Gillette Stadium).

- The teams are tied in all competitions - 19-19-6 - including both playoff and U.S. Open Cup matches ... New England owns a slight advantage in MLS Cup Playoffs meetings, 6-5-0.

- New England has ended Chicago's season in the playoffs four of the past six seasons (2002 Eastern Conference Semifinals, 2005 Eastern Conference Final, 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinals and 2007 Eastern Conference Final), while Chicago stopped the Revs' 2003 postseason campaign (Eastern Conference Final).

- The Revolution leads the all-time playoff series, 4-2 ... in the last meeting, Taylor Twellman's spectacular 38th-minute bicycle kick was the only goal of the game, as the Revs advanced to their third straight MLS Cup thanks to a 1-0 victory in the Eastern Conference Final at Gillette Stadium on Nov. 8, 2007.

Revolution Player Notes vs. Chicago

- Taylor Twellman leads all Revs players in both goals (11) and assists (5) in games played against Chicago ... his 11 goals marks his fourth-highest total against any MLS team.

- Steve Ralston has added six goals and five assists in his 19-game Revs career against the Fire.

- Jeff Larentowicz has two goals and two assists in just six career games against the Fire ... both goals came last season ... had one goal and one assist in the 3-1 win on May 6, 2007 to record the first multi-point game of his career.

- In his career, Matt Reis has a 1.30 goals against average against Chicago with a 10-8-2 record, including four shutouts.

Last Meeting: Eastern Conference Championship at Gillette Stadium:

Taylor Twellman scored on a remarkable 38th-minute bicycle kick and the Revs' defense held firm for its third consecutive playoff shutout, as New England downed Chicago, 1-0, in the Eastern Conference Championship on Nov. 8 at Gillette Stadium ... the victory sent the Revs to their third straight MLS Cup Final and their fourth in the past six years ... Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis made a career-high 10 saves to record his seventh career playoff shutout ... it was the fourth time in the past six seasons that New England ended Chicago's season in the playoffs.

REVOLUTION NEWS & NOTES

No Luck in the Windy City

The Revolution has not found Chicago's Toyota Park a friendly place to play since the stadium opened in 2006, as the club has fallen by one goal in each of its last four trips overall to the Windy City ... the Revs started well enough at Toyota Park, scoring two stoppage-time goals to earn a 3-3 tie in the first match ever played in the building on June 11, 2006, before grabbing a 2-1 win at Chicago less than a month later on July 8 ... however, it's been nothing but frustration since, beginning with a 2-1 loss in a U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal on August 23, 2006 ... the Revs then fell to the Fire, 1-0, in the first leg of 2006 Eastern Conference Championships Series on October 22, 2006, before dropping both games at Chicago in the 2007 regular-season (1-0 on April 7; 2-1 on October 6).

Revs' Reserves to Open 2008 Campaign on Friday

The New England Revolution reserves will begin their 2008 season on Friday, April 4, when they will take on the Chicago Fire reserves at 11 a.m. ET ... in 2007, the Revs' reserves finished tied for second in the MLS Reserve Division, capturing 20 points from a 6-4-2 record.

Revolution Shines When the Nation is Watching

Since 2006, the Revolution has been nearly unstoppable in games televised on ESPN2, posting a record of 6-0-2 on the network ... last season, the Revs went 2-0-2 in games televised on ESPN2, including a 1-0 win over Thursday night's opponent, the Chicago Fire, in the Eastern Conference Championship ... the Revs also tied Columbus, 2-2 (April 19), tied D.C., 1-1 (May 3), and defeated Kansas City, 2-0 (August 2), in 2007 ... New England was perfect on ESPN2 in 2006, going 4-0-0.

There's No Place Like Home for the Season Opener

For the first time in the club's 13-year history, the Revolution opened its season at home, as it defeated the Houston Dynamo, 3-0, in a rematch of the past two MLS Cups on Saturday, March 29 at Gillette Stadium ... with the win, the Revs moved to 3-7-3 all-time in season-opening matches ... New England has now won two of its last three season openers, as it defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy, 1-0, in the first match of the 2006 campaign.

Marching to Victory

The Revs' meeting with the Dynamo on Saturday evening marked the first time since 2002 that the team played a match in the month of March ... that year, New England lost, 3-1, to the MetroStars on March 23 ... the Revolution is now 2-4-1 all-time in the month of March.

Welcome to the Club

Four players earned their first-ever starts for the Revolution in Saturday night's season opener: Chris Albright (right back), Mauricio Castro (left midfield), Sainey Nyassi (right midfield) and Abdoulie "Kenny" Mansally (forward) ... for Castro and Nyassi, the starts also marked their first-ever MLS appearances ... rookie forward Kheli Dube also made his MLS debut, entering the game in the 81st minute for Mansally ... Nyassi made his only previous Revs appearance in a 2007 U.S. Open Cup match, and had not appeared in an MLS match.

Nyassi Becomes Youngest Opening-Day Starter in Revolution History

With his start on Saturday night, Sainey Nyassi became the youngest-ever Revs starter on opening day at the age of 19 years, one month and 28 days ... had Nyassi not started, Mansally also would've broken the record, as he was 19 years, two months and two days old.

Cristman Makes the Most of Surprise Start

Adam Cristman learned just 15 minutes before kickoff that he would be making the start in the season opener against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night, as Taylor Twellman was removed from the lineup after feeling discomfort in his right knee during warm-ups ... Cristman made the most of his opportunity, scoring the Revs' second goal in the 32nd-minute of the 3-0 victory ... it was his first goal since August 2, 2007, when he scored the team's second goal in a 2-0 win over Kansas City at Gillette Stadium.

Flooding the Lineup

Second-year midfielder/defender Gary Flood made his second opening-game appearance in as many years on Saturday night against the Dynamo ... in 2007, he started in the defensive midfield for an injured Shalrie Joseph and became just the third Supplemental Draft pick to start the season opener in the year in which he was drafted ... on Saturday evening, he entered the game in the 63rd minute for captain Steve Ralston, who was forced to leave the match with a shoulder injury.

Reis Aims for History

After starting and playing the full 90 minutes of New England's season opener on Saturday night, Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis has now started and played every minute (including overtime if played) in each of the Revs' last 79 MLS matches -- regular-season and playoffs -- dating back to September 2005, a span of 7,000 minutes ... he also stands second on MLS' list of consecutive minutes played (regular-season games only), having played in the team's last 6,390 minutes -- just shy of Pat Onstad's MLS record 6,648-minute stretch (2005-07) ... Reis' shutout in the season opener was his 31st since the start of the 2005 season, the top total in MLS in that time span.

Revs Add Defender Chase Hilgenbrinck

The Revolution announced on Friday, March 28, that the club has signed defender Chase Hilgenbrinck to a Major League Soccer contract to play for the the Revs ... the 25-year-old left-sided defender signed with the Revs after a trial ... before coming to MLS, spent his entire professional career in Chile after going undrafted in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft ... played for three different Chilean clubs, most recently Ñublense, which he helped gain promotion to the first division in 2006 ... played his college soccer at Clemson and was a teammate of current Revs goalkeeper Doug Warren ... had a brief preseason spell with the Colorado Rapids.

Revolutions Release 2008 Reserve Schedule

On Friday, March 28, New England released its 12-game 2008 Reserve Division schedule ... the Revs' reserves will play two matches against each of the other six Eastern Conference teams, one match each home and away ... the league's 14 reserve squads will vie for the $20,000 team bonus awarded to the top team in the single-table format ... April 4 at Chicago Reserves, April 10 at Kansas City Reserves, April 20 at New York Reserves, May 25 at Columbus Reserves, May 30 vs. D.C. Reserves, June 19 vs. New York Reserves, June 29 vs. Toronto FC Reserves, Aug. 9 vs. Chicago Reserves, Aug. 23 at Toronto FC Reserves, Sept. 28 vs. Columbus Reserves, Oct. 17 at D.C. Reserves, Oct. 26 vs. Kansas City Reserves.

2008 Gameday Credential Policies

The Revolution will not be soliciting applications for 2008 season credentials ... a limited number of season credentials will be distributed to select media members based on past coverage ... all other media outlets must request gameday credentials from the Revolution Communications staff no later than two days before the match (5 p.m. on Thursdays for Saturday and Sunday matches, 5 p.m. on Mondays for Wednesday matches, 5 p.m. on Tuesdays for Thursday matches) ... all requests will be reviewed and media will be notified if they have been approved for credentials no later than 24 hours before kickoff.

New Look to revolutionsoccer.net

Be sure to visit the new-look revolutionsoccer.net ... the team's official Web site has been refreshed in time for the start of the 2008 season ... now with greater multimedia support, Revs cans can read the latest news, watch exclusive video content and view photo galleries all on the front page of the site by utilizing the new controls ... there is also a link to the team's official blog, blog.revolutionsoccer.net.

Check out the New England Revolution Statistics

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