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Former Baron Helps Revs Progress

September 26, 2002 - USL Second Division (USL-2)
South Jersey Barons News Release


The South Jersey Barons announced in June that they entered into an arrangement to allow Technical Director and Barons Head Coach Matt Driver to take the position of interim assistant coach for the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. Upon the appointment of Steve Nicol as the interim Head Coach of the MLS New England Revolution, the Barons were contacting regarding the availability of Matt Driver to assist in the first team coaching duties as assistant to Steve Nicol and have encouraged the move.

The New England Revolution had struggled up until this point in the season. With the appointment of Matt Driver and Steve Nicol the hope was for all of that to turn around. Matt and Steve were heading into an established program that found themselves in last place mid way through the season and in need of serious help to get back on track. When Matt accepted the position he said that he planed to help Steve Nicol and the New England Revolution in any way he could, but he would also still remain a strong presence in the day-to-day operations of the South Jersey Barons. Driver stated back in June "As the people who know the Barons know, Cliff and I had a vision to help develop soccer to another level in South Jersey and to put all South Jersey Players further up the food chain. We have got that momentum going and we will not stop. We have the backing of many community and business leaders and are on the verge of breaking ground on a facility that will help us accomplish our goals. I plan on being here to see this through and hopefully involvement with an elite organization like New England will assist in the process."

Matt and Steve had 3 ½ months to turn things around for New England and prove themselves in their new positions. They went straight to work and never looked back. When they arrived New England's record was 3-6-1 since they have come aboard they have posted a record of 9-9-1. This past weekend the New England Revolution became Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference Champions Sunday after the Chicago Fire defeated the Columbus Crew 1-0 at Cardinal Stadium. The Revs and Crew each finish the regular season with 38 points and New England wins the tie-breaker by virtue of a 2-1-1 record against the Crew. This is New England's first conference championship in the team's seven-year history.

The Revs clinched a playoff spot Saturday after defeating the MetroStars 3-0 at Gillette Stadium in front of 20,215 but had to wait for Sunday's result to determine their playoff seed and the conference title. The Revs won the Eastern Conference and became the second seed in the 2002 MLS Playoffs. The team will take on the Chicago Fire (seventh seed) in the first round on Thursday, September 26, at 7:30 PM at Gillette Stadium.

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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.

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