MLS New England Revolution

New England Revolution Update

Published on April 14, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution will train in Foxborough three times this week in preparation for the club's road game against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Giants Stadium.

The team will train on the Lower Practice Field at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with all three sessions scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. A full schedule for the week is below.

Media wishing to attend any session held on the Gillette Stadium grounds must notify the Revolution Communications office by the close of business the day before to RSVP and guarantee admittance. Media availability usually begins at approximately 11:30 a.m. for 10 a.m. sessions.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION SCHEDULE: April 14-20

Monday, April 14 - OFF

Tuesday, April 15 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.

Wednesday, April 16 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.

Thursday, April 17 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.

Friday, April 18 - Travel to New York

Saturday, April 19 - at New York Red Bulls (Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.), 7:30 p.m. ET ... TV: TV 38 and HDNet ... Radio: WEEI Radio Network

Sunday, April 20 - Reserves at New York Reserves (Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.), 10 a.m.; Travel to Boston

NEW ENGLAND VS. NEW YORK SERIES INFORMATION

The Revs lead the all-time, regular-season series against the New York Red Bulls (formerly New York/New Jersey MetroStars and MetroStars), 23-16-7.

Since the start of the 2005 season, the Revs are 7-1-3 against the New York area club in the regular season and are undefeated in the last eight regular-season meetings (6-0-2).

In the overall regular-season series, New England is 8-12-4 on the road against New York, while the club is 15-4-3 at home ... the Revs are 2-0-3 on their last five trips to Giants Stadium, including last year's playoff meeting.

The Revolution took the 2007 three-game, regular-season series, 2-0-1 ... the Revs went 1-0-1 at Giants Stadium (1-0 win on July 14; 2-2 draw on Sept. 22) ... New England won its only home match, 2-1, on Aug. 25.

New England and New York have met in the playoffs three times - all since 2003 - and the Revs have eliminated New York on each occasion ... last year, the Revolution earned a scoreless draw on the road (Oct. 27) in the first leg of the two-game, aggregate-goals series, before advancing to the Eastern Conference Final with a 1-0 victory at home on Nov. 3.

The Revs have played New York more than any other MLS team in regular-season and postseason action combined, facing the Red Bulls 52 times.

PLAYER NOTES VS. NEW YORK

Taylor Twellman is New England's all-time leading scorer against New York with 12 goals, his third-highest total against any MLS club ... he has also added five assists.

Steve Ralston is the Revolution's career leader in assists against New York with 20, more than he has recorded against any other team ... 12 of those assists have come while playing with the Revs.

Joe Franchino (24) and Jay Heaps (22) are the Revs' career leaders in games played and games started against New York.

Matt Reis is 10-2-4 in his New England career against the Red Bulls, posting a 1.28 goals against average with six shutouts ... he has shutout New York more than any other team in his career.

LAST MEETING

New England 1, New York 0

November 3, 2007 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Eastern Conference Semifinal

Behind Taylor Twellman's 64th-minute goal and Matt Reis' second consecutive playoff shutout, the New England Revolution advanced to its record sixth straight conference championship match, defeating the New York Red Bulls, 1-0, on Nov. 3 at Gillette Stadium ... the 1-0 victory followed a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the two-game, aggregate-goals Eastern Conference semifinal series ... Shalrie Joseph's long through ball out of the midfield sent Steve Ralston in on Red Bulls' goalkeeper Jon Conway, and Ralston was joined by Twellman to create a two-on-one ... Ralston slid a pass to his left for Twellman to poke in for the game's only goal.

NEWS & NOTES

THE RIVALRY CONTINUES

In the spirit of the traditional Boston-New York rivalry, the Revolution and the Red Bulls have developed a true rivalry of their own in recent years ... the Revs have played New York more than any other MLS team in regular-season and postseason action combined, facing the Red Bulls 52 times, giving credence to the saying that familiarity breeds contempt ... New England has held the upper-hand in the series in recent years, going 6-0-2 in the club's last eight regular-season meetings with the Red Bulls since 2005 and sending New York out of the playoffs three times since 2003 ... most recently, the Revs defeated the Red Bulls, 1-0 on aggregate, in the two-game, total-goals Eastern Conference semifinal series last season.

MAKING GIANTS STADIUM FEEL LIKE HOME

Although they are 8-12-4 all-time at Giants Stadium, the Revs have begun to enjoy their travels to East Rutherford during the past two seasons ... New England is 2-0-2 in its last four regular-season trips to New York, shutting out the Red Bulls on three of those occasions ... the Revolution also earned a 0-0 draw at Giants Stadium in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals last year, making it four times in the club's last five trips to New York that they've kept the Red Bulls scoreless ... New England hasn't lost at New York since Sept. 17, 2005, when the then-MetroStars won a barnburner, 5-4, at Giants Stadium.

REIS MAKES HISTORY

Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis made history in the 79th minute of the 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, April 12, as he claimed the MLS record for consecutive minutes played (regular-season games only), having playing in the team's last 6,660 minutes ... Reis passed Houston's Pat Onstad, who had previously held the record with a 6,648-minute stretch from 2005-07 ... he has also now started and played every minute (including overtime if played) in each of the Revs' last 82 MLS matches - regular-season and playoffs - dating back to September, 2005, a span of 7,180 minutes, although MLS does not recognize that record.

WITH ONE RECORD BEHIND HIM, REIS APPROACHES ANOTHER

New England goalkeeper Matt Reis has started 73 consecutive regular-season games for the Revolution, which represents the longest active streak in MLS among all players ... the all-time record is 93, held by Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.

FERNANDEZ FINALLY JOINS THE FOLD; DEBUTS AGAINST COLORADO

After initially signing with MLS to play for the Revs in mid-March, forward Argenis Fernandez finally joined the club on Wednesday, April 9, in Kansas City ... a drawn-out Visa process delayed Fernandez's arrival with the team initially ... after arriving in Kansas City approximately 20 minutes before the team departed the hotel for the game against the Wizards, the Costa Rica native was among the 18 players dressing for the game later that evening ... Fernandez started and played the full 90 minutes in the Revolution's reserve game the following morning, scoring both goals in a 2-2 draw with the Wizards reserves ... he then made his Revolution and MLS debut with a substitute appearance on Saturday, April 12 against Colorado, entering at halftime.

FALSE HOPE

Revs' right back Chris Albright, who missed last Wednesday's game at Kansas City with a bone bruise in his left ankle, was scratched from the starting lineup for the Saturday, April 12 match against the Colorado Rapids just 15 minutes prior to kickoff ... after undergoing a pregame fitness test and being declared fit for the game, Albright had been named in the initial starting lineup, but the defender felt discomfort in the ankle during warmups and was forced to withdraw from the squad ... he first picked up the injury in the match against the Chicago Fire on April 3.

GAMBIANS STRIKE AGAIN

In last Wednesday's game at Kansas City, the team's Gambian duo - Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi - each scored a goal to help lead the team to the 3-1 victory over the Wizards ... Nyassi struck in the 33rd minute to put the Revs up, 2-1, before Mansally capped the scoring in the 40th minute ... Mansally's goal was the first of his MLS career.

IGWE ADDS NAME TO DEBUT LIST

Amaechi Igwe, a second-year midfielder/defender and member of the Generation adidas class of 2007, made his MLS debut in Kansas City on Wednesday, April 9, drawing the start at left back against he Wizards ... Igwe played all 90 minutes, starting at left back in the three-man backline before moving to the right side in the four-man backline in the 66th minute ... Igwe also almost scored his first career goal midway through the first half, narrowly missing the left post on a shot from distance ... in 2007, Igwe missed significant time while trained and played with the U.S. Under-20 Team at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

FRANCHINO RETURNS

Midfielder/defender Joe Franchino - the Revolution's longest-tenured member, having been with the team since 2000 - returned to the field for the first time since May 19, 2007 when he entered last Wednesday night's match against Kansas City in stoppage time ... he played the final minutes in the defensive midfield, replacing Gary Flood ... last season, Franchino was limited to three first-team appearances, all as a second-half substitute, before undergoing season-ending surgery in early July to repair a torn peroneal tendon in his right ankle.

YOUNGSTERS RUNNING RAMPANT

On Wednesday, April 9, the Revs started three players aged 19 years old in the 3-1 win over the Wizards ... Amaechi Igwe, Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi were all 19 years old and started the game on the field together, marking the first time in MLS that three players 20 or younger started the same game since Oct. 1, 2005, when New York's Michael Bradley, Eddie Gaven and Tim Ward all started the same game ... the Revs' trio has started each of the last two games.

REVS ADD ANOTHER DEFENDER

On Wednesday, April 9, the Revs announced that defender Matthew Britner had signed with the club ... the team's third-round choice in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft out of Brown had to travel to his native Canada to finalize his paperwork ... his process included arriving in Kansas City on Wednesday afternoon following a trip through Montreal from Boston to activate his new P-1 Visa.

AND ANOTHER MIDFIELDER

The Revolution announced on Monday, April 14, that the club had signed midfielder Brandon Tyler to a contract ... the product of Phoenix, Ariz., youth club Santos FC signed with the Revs following an extended trial ... Tyler, 19, spent the 2007 calendar year training with Centro Atlético Fénix of Uruguay's top division.

REVOLUTION'S EXCLUSIVE POSTGAME SHOW, "REVSWRAP," DEBUTS

The Revs' postgame show, "RevsWrap," - which will be shown exclusively on the team's official Web site, revolutionsoccer.net, following all TV38 broadcasts this year - debuted following the Revolution's game against Colorado on Saturday, April 12 ... Revolution Broadcasting Executive and play-by-play voice Brad Feldman and analyst Greg Lalas will host the 15-minute show ... additionally, viewers will have the opportunity to be involved in the show by submitting questions or comments directly to the broadcast booth during the show.

RESERVES UPDATE

The Revolution reserves are currently 0-1-1 (1 pts.) following their first two games of the Reserve Division schedule ... the team opened with a 3-0 loss to the Chicago Fire reserves on April 4 at the Toyota Park Practice Field before earning a 2-2 draw with the Kansas City Wizards reserves on April 10 at the Swope Park Training Center ... Argenis Fernandez has scored both of the reserves' goals, while Kheli Dube has recorded two assists.

Check out the New England Revolution Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Major League Soccer Stories from April 14, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central