MLS New England Revolution

Revs return home for early-season rematch with the Chicago Fire on Saturday night

Published on April 27, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution will train in Foxborough four times this week in preparation for the club's home match against the rival Chicago Fire at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 3 at Gillette Stadium.

The team will train on the Lower Practice Field at Gillette Stadium on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with each session 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.

All media who plan on attending Saturday's match against Chicago must submit their requests to the Revolution Communications office by 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 1 to be considered.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION SCHEDULE: April 28-May 4 Monday, April 28 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 29 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 30 - OFF Thursday, May 1 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m. Friday, May 2 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m. Saturday, May 3 - vs. Chicago Fire (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.), 7:30 p.m. ET ... TV: TV38 ... Radio: WEEI Radio Network Sunday, May 4 - OFF

NEW ENGLAND VS. CHICAGO SERIES INFORMATION With a 4-0 win in the season's first meeting on April 3 at Toyota Park, Chicago tied the all-time, regular-season series between the two clubs, 13-13-6. New England owns a 9-5-1 regular-season record against the Fire at home (7-4-0 at Gillette Stadium) ... the Revs are 4-8-5 all time in regular-season games played at Chicago. The Revs are 2-5-1 in their last eight regular-season meetings with Chicago dating back to 2006. Chicago won the 2007 three-game, regular-season series, 2-1-0 ... the Revs earned a 3-1 victory in the only meeting at Gillette Stadium, while the Fire took both games played at Toyota Park (1-0 on April 7; 2-1 on Oct. 6). Chicago owns a slight advantage in all competitions - 20-19-6 - including both playoff and U.S. Open Cup matches ... New England has had the edge 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 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. 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 mark 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 against the Fire in just seven career games ... both goals came last season ... he had one goal and one assist in the 3-1 win on May 6, 2007 to record his first career multi-point game. Wells Thompson scored his only MLS goal during the 2007 season against Chicago in the 3-1 victory on May 6. In his career with the Revolution, Matt Reis has a 1.41 goals against average against Chicago with a 7-8-2 record, including three shutouts. LAST MEETING Chicago 4, New England 0 April 3, 2008 - Toyota Park (Bridgeview, Ill.) Tomasz Frankowski scored the first two goals of his MLS career as part of Chicago's four-goal first-half outburst, as the Fire defeated the Revolution, 4-0 ... Chad Barrett gave the hosts the lead in the fourth minute before Jeff Larentowicz was shown a straight red card in the seventh minute for a tackle on Brandon Prideaux, reducing the Revs to 10 men ... Frankowski's pair of tallies in the 22nd and 39th minutes were sandwiched around a Cuauhtemoc Blanco 37th-minute penalty kick.

NEWS & NOTES

REVENGE ON THEIR MINDS When the Revs host the Chicago Fire on Saturday night (May 3) at Gillette Stadium, it will be New England's first rematch of the 2008 season ... on April 3 at Toyota Park, Chicago took advantage of Jeff Larentowicz's early red card and exploded for four first-half goals en route to a 4-0 victory ... with a rivalry developing between the two squads in recent years - in part due to numerous meetings in the MLS Cup Playoffs - Saturday night's early-season rematch takes on even more importance for the Revs.

HONORS EVEN The rivalry between the Revolution and the Fire has been stoked over the series' history by how evenly the teams have been matched ... with a 4-0 victory in the season's first meeting between the clubs on April 3, the Fire evened the all-time, regular-season series at 13-13-6 ... Chicago owns the slightest of edges in all competitions - 20-19-6 - including both playoff and U.S. Open Cup matches, while the Revs have a slight advantage in MLS Cup Playoffs meetings, 6-5-0.

SHORTHANDED REVS ANSWER THE CALL New England earned a 1-0 victory over MLS' last remaining unbeaten team, FC Dallas, last Thursday night (April 24) despite missing six regular starters ... Taylor Twellman (right meniscus surgery), Steve Ralston (dislocated left shoulder), Chris Albright (left ankle bone bruise), Jeff Larentowicz (right ankle sprain), Sainey Nyassi (right adductor strain) and Mauricio Castro (red card suspension) were all unavailable for the match.

YOUTH SERVED New England has put out the youngest starting lineup (based on average age) of all MLS teams so far this season ... through their first six games, the average age of the Revs' starting lineup is 25 years, 246 days, while FC Dallas is the second-youngest at 25 years, 277 days ... those two squads are the only two in the league under the age of 26 ... New England's next opponent, Chicago (28 years, 46 days), has started the third-oldest starting lineup.

CASTRO SET TO RETURN After missing the April 24 match at FC Dallas while serving a mandatory one-game suspension for a red card he received on April 19 at New York, Mauricio Castro will once again be available for selection for the May 3 showdown with Chicago ... prior to his suspension, Castro had started all five games this season for the Revolution.

MAN-GAME LOST NUMBER ALREADY CREEPING UP The Revs have lost 25 man-games because of injuries six games into the season ... Taylor Twellman (6), Steve Ralston (5), Chris Albright (4), Wells Thompson and Matthew Britner (3 each), former Rev Joe Franchino (2) and Jeff Larentowicz and Sainey Nyassi (1 each) have all missed games because of injury this year.

HILGENBRINCK BECOMES LATEST REV TO EARN FIRST CAREER START On Thursday night against Dallas, Chase Hilgenbrinck became the fifth Revolution player to earn his first career MLS start ... he joined Mauricio Castro, Sainey Nyassi, Kenny Mansally and Amaechi Igwe as Revs players who've made their first-career MLS start in 2008 ... Hilgenbrinck made three substitute appearances prior to Thursday's game.

LINEUP MIX-UP Head coach Steve Nicol has used five different starting lineups in the team's first six games of the season ... in fact, he has only used the same starting 11 in back-to-back games once this season - against Colorado (April 12) and at New York (April 19) ... myriad early-season injuries, suspensions and international duty for starters have had to alter Nicol's plans almost every game this season.

NICOL RACING UP THE ALL-TIME WINS LIST Head coach Steve Nicol picked up his 78th career win on April 24 at FC Dallas (1-0), bumping him into a tie for seventh place with Tim Hankinson on MLS's career wins list ...Bob Bradley (124) and Sigi Schmid (100) occupy the top two spots, with Schmid being the only active coach besides Nicol in the top 10 ... Nicol has led the Revs to 277 points over his seven-year coaching career, which is the fourth-highest total in MLS history ... during his tenure in Foxborough - which began full-time in 2002 - Nicol has led the Revs to each of the last six Eastern Conference Championship matches and four of the last six MLS Cups, including each of the last three.

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