MLS New England Revolution

Revs continue postseason push against league-leading Columbus Crew Saturday

Published on October 5, 2009 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Still holding on to the eighth and final spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs with three games remaining in the regular season, the New England Revolution (10-9-8, 38 pts.) continues its quest for a postseason berth against the league-leading Columbus Crew at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Gillette Stadium.

NEW ENGLAND VS. COLUMBUS SERIES INFORMATION

Columbus leads the all-time, regular-season series between the two teams, 24-15-9 ... the Revs are 3-0-3 against the Crew in outside competitions, however, including the MLS Cup Playoffs (2-0-3) and the U.S. Open Cup (1-0-0). The Revolution is 10-11-3 all-time at home against the Crew, including 6-5-2 at Gillette Stadium ... Columbus is one of just three teams - along with the Kansas City Wizards and San Jose Earthquakes - to have a winning record against the Revs in Foxborough. Saturday night's match will be the first meeting of the season between the Revs and Crew, and the only one at Gillette Stadium ... the clubs will meet again in just two weeks in the league's regular-season finale on Oct. 25 at Crew Stadium. This match marks the latest in the calendar year (Oct. 10) that two MLS teams have met for the first time in a season ... the previous latest first meeting of a season was Sept. 23, 1999, when the Crew and Chicago Fire faced off for the first time that year. This will be the first meeting between the Revs and Crew in more than one full year ... the clubs last played on Sept. 27, 2008. Columbus won the 2008 season series, 2-1-0 ... the teams split a pair of meetings at Crew Stadium, with New England earning a 1-0 win on May 24 and Columbus grabbing a 4-0 victory on Sept. 6 ... the Crew then won the rubber match at Gillette Stadium, 1-0, on Sept. 27. New England has won just once in its last six meetings with Columbus dating back to the start of the 2007 season ... the Revs are 1-3-2 in that stretch, including 0-2-1 at Gillette Stadium. The Revs had gone undefeated (4-0-2) in six straight matches against the Crew at Gillette Stadium before dropping the last two meetings in Foxborough. PLAYER NOTES VS. COLUMBUS

Taylor Twellman is the Revolution's all-time leading scorer against Columbus, registering nine goals and three assists in 21 career appearances ... Twellman is currently on the disabled list (concussion) and will be unavailable on Saturday night. Steve Ralston is New England's second-leading scorer against the Crew with six goals and seven assists in 23 career appearances as a member of the Revolution ... Ralston will also be unavailable on Saturday night because of a torn right ACL, which ended his 2009 season on Sept. 26. Kheli Dube scored the Revolution's only goal against Columbus in 2008, an 89th-minute game-winner in a 1-0 victory on May 24 at Crew Stadium. Matt Reis is 6-6-7 with a 1.41 goals against average and four shutouts in his Revolution career against the Crew. LAST MEETING Columbus 1, New England 0 September 27, 2008 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Chad Marshall's goal off a corner kick in the 35th minute was all the MLS-leading Crew needed to earn a 1-0 win under steady rain at Gillette Stadium ... the only goal of the game was created by Robbie Rogers, whose corner kick from the left was whipped to the back post, where Marshall charged forward to power a header into the net for his fourth goal of the season ... despite the Crew playing the final 25 minutes with 10 men after defender Frankie Hejduk was issued his second yellow card, the home side couldn't find an equalizer.

NEWS & NOTES

MLS CUP PLAYOFFS WATCH: REVS STRENGTHEN GRIP ON POSTSEASON SPOT

Although the Revs managed just one point from a pair of road games last week, they still strengthened their hold on the eighth and final spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs with now three games remaining in the regular season ... the Revolution (10-9-8, 38 pts.) remains eighth in the overall standings and is now two points ahead of ninth-place D.C. (8-8-12, 36 pts.) with a game in hand on United ... New England also pulled within three points of Chicago (10-7-11, 41 pts.) - currently second in the East - and has a game in hand on the Fire ... the Revs and Fire will meet at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17, in the Revolution's regular-season home finale.

POSTSEASON RACE COMING DOWN TO THE WIRE

With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, the race for the MLS Cup Playoffs is as tight as it's ever been ... entering this week's action, five teams currently occupying playoff spots are within just three points of each other, meaning that the race for postseason positioning will truly come down to the wire ... the Chicago Fire (10-7-11, 41 pts.), Seattle Sounders FC (10-7-11, 41 pts.) and Chivas USA (12-9-5, 41 pts.) are all tied for fourth place in the overall standings, while the Colorado Rapids (10-8-10, 40 pts.) occupy seventh ... the Revs (10-9-8, 38 pts.) - who are just three points behind the three teams tied for fourth place - currently occupy the eighth and final playoff spot.

REVS TO FINISH THE SEASON WITH TWO OF THREE AT HOME ...

With points at a premium in the ever-tightening race for the MLS Cup Playoffs, the Revs will have the chance to lock up a spot in the postseason with two of their final three regular-season games at home ... the Revolution will host back-to-back games at Gillette Stadium in the next two weekends, first welcoming the Columbus Crew on Saturday, Oct. 10, followed by the Chicago Fire on Saturday, Oct. 17 ... the Revs will then finish the regular season on the road in Columbus at Crew Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 25 ... entering this week's action, the Revolution is 7-3-3 at home.

... WITH A TRIO OF GAMES AGAINST THE TOP TWO TEAMS IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE

While the Revs will be delighted to play two of their final three regular-season games at home, they will be hosting some of the toughest competition in the league ... the Revolution will play two matches against the league-leading Columbus Crew (Oct. 10 at Gillette Stadium, Oct. 25 at Crew Stadium), which became the first team to clinch a playoff spot last week ... sandwiched in between the pair of showdowns with the Crew is a meeting with the Chicago Fire (Oct. 17 at Gillette Stadium), one of the Revolution's fiercest rivals and the club currently occupying second place in the Eastern Conference.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Although the 2009 MLS regular season is winding to a close, the Revs and Crew are just getting reacquainted ... the clubs will meet for the first time in 2009 on Saturday, Oct. 10, marking the latest in the calendar year that two MLS clubs have ever had their first meeting of a season ... according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the previous record for latest first meeting was Sept. 23, 1999, when the Crew played the Chicago Fire for the first time that year ... Saturday night's match will be the 28th game of the season for both New England and Columbus.

REVS AND CREW MEET FOR FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN A YEAR ...

Thanks to a bizarre quirk in the schedule, the Revs and Crew will be meeting for the first time in more than a year when they square off at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night ... the clubs last played on Sept. 27, 2008, in a regular-season game in Foxborough ... by the time New England and Columbus play on Saturday, it will have been 379 days between meetings, which is the Revolution's second-longest stretch between games against a single opponent ... the Revs went 430 days between games against the LA Galaxy from May 1, 2004 to July 4, 2005 ... this will be the sixth time that the Revolution has gone more than a year without playing an opponent, not including San Jose's absence from the league in 2006-07.

... BUT THEY'LL WAIT JUST TWO WEEKS FOR THEIR NEXT SHOWDOWN

After going 379 days between meetings from Sept. 27, 2008 to Oct. 10, 2009, the Revolution and Crew will square off again just 15 days later on Oct. 25 in the regular-season finale ... both matches will be nationally televised, with the Oct. 10 contest to be carried by Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Sports en Español and the Oct. 25 game to be broadcast by ESPN2/ESPN Deportes ... New England and Columbus played twice in quick succession at the end of last year, as well, going just three weeks between games on Sept. 6, 2008 and Sept. 27, 2008 ... the Crew won both meetings in September of last year.

UNWELCOME GUESTS: CREW HAS RECORD OF SUCCESS IN FOXBOROUGH

The Revs will be happy to return to Gillette Stadium this weekend after completing their two-game road trip, but they'll welcome a guest which has historically had success in New England ... Columbus is 11-10-3 in 24 previous visits to Foxborough, making the Crew one of only three clubs - along with San Jose and Kansas City - to have a winning road record against the Revolution ... the tide has turned slightly since the Revs moved into Gillette Stadium in 2002 - going 6-5-2 against the Crew at the facility - but the struggles have returned in recent years as New England is 0-2-1 in its last three home games against Columbus.

LEGENDARY DUO'S ABSENCE HITS HARD AGAINST THE CREW

Steve Ralston (R ACL tear) and Taylor Twellman (concussion) - both out for the remainder of the season - are missed no matter who the Revolution's opponent, but their absence could be even more pronounced against the Crew ... Ralston has recorded 12 goals and 15 assists in 44 career appearances against Columbus, including his time with the Tampa Bay Mutiny (1996-2001) ... his 12 goals are by the far the most he's scored against any opponent, while his 15 assists represent his second-best total against any team ... Twellman has added nine goals and three assists in 21 career appearances against the Crew ... together, the duo has combined for 21 goals and 18 assists in 65 appearances against Columbus.

LOCAL PRODUCT COLALUCA MAKES FIRST CAREER MLS START

Coventry, R.I., native Nico Colaluca made his first career MLS start last Saturday night in Colorado, playing 82 minutes as a withdrawn forward in the Revolution's 1-1 draw with the Rapids ... Colaluca had made seven previous league appearances - all as a substitute - including three with the Revolution and four with the Rapids, the team which drafted him sixth overall in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft ... the graduate of La Salle Academy (Providence) was acquired from Colorado in May of this season in exchange for fellow Generation adidas player Rob Valentino.

DUBE STRIKES AGAIN TO MOVE INTO TIE FOR TEAM GOAL-SCORING LEAD

The back-and-forth battle for the Revolution's goal-scoring lead continued last Saturday night in Colorado, when Kheli Dube scored his eighth goal of the season to tie Shalrie Joseph for the team lead ... Dube has now doubled his scoring output from last season, when he scored four goals en route to being named a finalist in rookie of the year voting.

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