MLS New England Revolution

Revolution Return to Gillete Stadium to Host Toronto FC

Published on July 27, 2009 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Currently riding a two-game winning streak following consecutive shutout victories over Western Conference opponents, the New England Revolution returns to conference play this weekend when the club hosts Toronto FC at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 1 at Gillette Stadium. The Revs will train in Foxborough four times this week in preparation for the match.

The Revolution will train on the Lower Practice Field at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday, Wednesday, 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 Revolution training session on the Gillette Stadium grounds must notify the Revolution Communications office (media@revolutionsoccer.net) by 5 p.m. the day before to RSVP and guarantee admittance. Media availability usually begins between 11 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. for 10 a.m. sessions, although the length of training sessions can and will vary.

All media who plan on attending Saturday's match against Toronto FC must submit their requests to the Revolution Communications office (media@revolutionsoccer.net) by 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, to be considered.

SPECIAL NOTE: Because of the special events taking place at Gillette Stadium throughout the summer, Lot 6 is not currently open for media parking. All media visiting Gillette Stadium are asked to park in Lot 5C, adjacent to Lot 6.

Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION SCHEDULE: July 27-Aug. 2

Monday, July 27 - OFF

Tuesday, July 28 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.

Wednesday, July 29 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.

Thursday, July 30 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.

Friday, July 31 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.

Saturday, Aug. 1 - vs. Toronto FC (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.), 7:30 p.m. ET ... TV: TV38 ... Radio: WEEI Radio Network

Sunday, Aug. 2 - OFF

NEW ENGLAND VS. TORONTO SERIES INFORMATION

* New England and Toronto have met just six times in the overall MLS regular-season series since TFC entered the league as an expansion team in 2007, with the Revs holding a 3-1-2 record against their Eastern Conference opponent. * The Revolution has won all three previous meetings between the two teams at Gillette Stadium and has outscored Toronto FC, 9-1, in those three matches. * Saturday night's meeting will conclude the 2009 regular-season series between New England and Toronto ... the two clubs already met once at BMO Field in Toronto on May 23, as TFC came from behind to earn a 3-1 win. * Toronto's 3-1 win in the season's first meeting on May 23 at BMO Field was the club's first-ever victory over the Revolution in six tries. * With a win or a draw against the Revs on Saturday night, TFC would win the season series with New England for the first time in the club's three-year history ... the Revolution went 2-0-1 against Toronto in 2007 and 1-0-1 last year. * Toronto FC is the third-closest team to the Revolution in terms of geographical distance behind traditional rivals New York and D.C. * New England has outscored Toronto, 13-7, in the six-game series ... the Revs have balanced their attack, scoring eight goals in the first half and five in the second half, while six of TFC's seven goals have been scored after the halftime break. * The Revolution and TFC have never met outside of the MLS regular season.

PLAYER NOTES VS. TORONTO

* Taylor Twellman is New England's leading scorer against Toronto, having scored four goals in just four appearances (three starts) ... he will be unavailable for Saturday night's match, however, as he is currently on the disabled list with a concussion. * Steve Ralston has struck for two goals and a team-leading three assists in just five appearances against TFC ... both of Ralston's goals came in the Revs' 2-1 victory when Toronto last visited Gillette Stadium on June 28, 2008, earning him Player of the Week honors for Week 14 last season. * Pat Phelan was originally drafted by Toronto in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft (10th overall), but was traded to New England on June 4, 2008, before making a first-team appearance for the Reds. * The first two assists of Chris Tierney's career were recorded in his two previous appearances against Toronto FC at BMO Field ... Tierney now has three career assists. * Shalrie Joseph scored New England's only goal in the 3-1 loss to TFC on May 23 ... Joseph has two career goals against Toronto in six appearances. * Matt Reis is 3-1-1 with 1.20 goals against average and two shutouts in five career appearances against Toronto FC.

LAST MEETING Toronto 3, New England 1

May 23, 2009 - BMO Field (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

Shalrie Joseph gave the Revs an early lead with his third goal of the season, but Toronto stormed back with three unanswered goals to claim its first-ever win over the Revs in six tries ... Joseph guided a header inside the right post from Chris Tierney's cross in the 12th minute, but Amado Guevara equalized just one minute later ... New England had multiple chances to take the lead again, but it was Toronto that scored next as Dwayne De Rosario scored the eventual game-winner on a breakaway in the 67th minute ... just three minutes later, Guevara scored his second, sending a curling free kick into the box which cleared everyone and bounced into the upper right corner, past New England goalkeeper Matt Reis, who had come out into traffic.

NEWS & NOTES

REVOLUTION GAINS GROUND IN CROWDED EASTERN CONFERENCE

With their 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo last Saturday night, the Revs gained significant ground in the Eastern Conference standings on a weekend in which only one other team in the East managed a victory ... the Columbus Crew were 3-2 winners over Toronto FC, but the Chicago Fire, D.C. United and the Kansas City Wizards all drew their games, while the New York Red Bulls lost ... New England (6-5-5, 23 pts.) is now seven points behind the first-place Crew (7-3-9, 30 pts.), while six points or fewer separate the Revs from the Fire (7-3-8, 29 pts.), D.C. (6-3-10, 28 pts.) and Toronto (7-7-5, 26 pts.) ... the Revs still have multiple games in hand on every team ahead of them in the East, including three games in hand on Columbus, D.C. and Toronto.

REVS READY TO SPEND AUGUST IN FOXBOROUGH ...

The Revolution kicks off a critical summer stretch when it hosts Toronto FC on Saturday night (Aug. 1), as the club will play four of its five games in the month of August within the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium ... in addition to hosting Toronto, the Revs will also welcome the LA Galaxy (Aug. 8), Real Salt Lake (Aug. 23) and the San Jose Earthquakes (Aug. 29) to New England in a four-week span ... the Revolution will spend just three nights on the road in August, for a trip to Seattle to face Sounders FC on Aug. 20.

... WHERE THEY'VE BEEN ALMOST UNBEATABLE THIS SEASON

Seven points out of first place in the Eastern Conference with multiple games in hand, the Revolution will want to make the most of its August home-stand to position itself before entering the playoff push ... the Revs enter this weekend with a 4-1-2 regular-season record at Gillette Stadium, where they haven't lost a league game since May 3 ... New England is 3-0-2 in its last five home games and has outscored its opponents, 9-2, in that stretch ... overall, the Revs play five of their next six games at home before finishing the season playing five of their last eight games on the road.

NEW ENGLAND UNDEFEATED AGAINST TORONTO FC AT HOME

The Revolution begins its August home-stand against a club which it has had significant success against in the past, Toronto FC ... in three previous games against TFC at Gillette Stadium, the Revs are a perfect 3-0-0 and have outscored Toronto, 9-1 ... in fact, New England's only loss to TFC in the overall series was on May 23 of this season, when Toronto earned a 3-1 victory over the Revs at BMO Field.

EASTERN CONFERENCE CLASH MAGNIFIED BY CURRENT STANDINGS

Every game becomes increasingly more important as the 2009 season pushes beyond its midway point and into the late summer, but Saturday night's conference showdown between the Revolution and Toronto FC takes on additional meaning because of the clubs' current positions in the Eastern Conference standings ... the Revolution (6-5-5, 23 pts.) is just three points back of Toronto (7-7-5, 26 pts.) with three games in hand entering this weekend's action ... with a win, the Revs would pull level with TFC for fourth place in the East and would still have played three fewer games than Toronto.

SHUTOUT STREAK REACHES 352 MINUTES; JUST 32 MINUTES SHY OF CLUB RECORD

With a 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo last Saturday night at Robertson Stadium, the New England Revolution extended the second-longest shutout streak in club history to 352 minutes ... the Revs haven't allowed a goal since the eighth minute of the 1-0 loss to the LA Galaxy on July 4, shutting out the Kansas City Wizards (July 11), Chivas USA (July 19) and now the Dynamo (July 25) in the three games since ... if New England holds Toronto FC scoreless until the 33rd minute on Saturday night, the Revolution will break the previous club record shutout streak of 384 minutes, established from April 23 - May 21, 2005 ... this is just the third time in club history that the Revolution has earned three consecutive shutouts in the same season, while the club has kept four straight clean sheets just once (during the club-record 384-minute shutout streak).

REIS HOPES TO CARRY REMARKABLE JULY SUCCESS INTO AUGUST

Goalkeeper Matt Reis is a legitimate candidate for Major League Soccer's Player of the Month award for July after conceding just one goal in four games and leading the Revs on a remarkable shutout streak ... in guiding the Revolution to a 2-1-1 record, Reis kept three consecutive clean sheets and is currently the catalyst behind the second-longest shutout streak in club history (352 minutes) ... the veteran netminder closed out the month with a 0.25 goals against average and a .964 save percentage after stopping 27 of 28 shots faced ... Reis' month was highlighted by a career-high, 11-save performance in a 0-0 draw with the Kansas City Wizards on July 11.

DUBE SCORES ANOTHER GAME-WINNER

Second-year forward Kheli Dube appears to have rediscovered the form which made him a finalist for the 2008 Rookie of the Year award, as he notched his second consecutive game-winning goal in last Saturday night's 1-0 win over Houston ... Dube now has three goals on the season and all three have been game-winners, tying him for the league-lead in that category ... the Zimbabwean has been a streaky goal-scorer in his first two seasons, scoring all four of his goals in a five-game stretch in 2008 ... after recording the Revolution's opening goal of the 2009 season on March 21, Dube didn't score again until July 19 against Chivas USA, going nine straight appearances without finding the back of the net ... with goals in back-to-back games, perhaps Dube is embarking on another of his streaks.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY

The Revolution has strung together back-to-back wins over Chivas USA and the Houston Dynamo in the last two weekends, and perhaps it has something to do with the club finally gaining a bit of stability ... the Revs dressed the same starting 11 for both of their recent wins, marking just the second time this season that they were able to dress the same lineup in consecutive regular-season games ... the only other time this season that New England has dressed the same starters in back-to-back games was for the June 7 match against the New York Red Bulls and the June 13 game against the Kansas City Wizards.

HEAPS HELPS U.S. NATIONAL TEAM TO SECOND-PLACE FINISH IN GOLD CUP

After waiting 11 years to make his first appearance for the U.S. National Team, Jay Heaps made four consecutive starts for his country in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup to help lead the Americans to a second-place finish in the regional tournament ... Heaps earned his first-ever cap in the 2-2 draw with Haiti on July 11 at Gillette Stadium, then proceeded to play the full 90 minutes both in the quarterfinal win over Panama (2-1; July 18) and the semifinal victory over Honduras (2-0; July 23) ... the Longmeadow, Mass., native closed out the tournament with a start in the 5-0 loss to Mexico in the title match before being shown his second yellow card - and subsequent red card - in the 88th minute ... with the Gold Cup complete, Heaps will now return to the Revolution this week.

INJURY FORCES JOSEPH TO WITHDRAW FROM MLS ALL-STAR TEAM

After struggling to return from a knee injury which forced him to miss two regular-season games and the entire SuperLiga 2009 competition, Shalrie Joseph has withdrawn from the MLS All-Star team to continue his rehabilitation ... Joseph missed seven games in all competitions from June 21 - July 19 with bone bruising in his right knee, caused as a result of missing cartilage ... the Revolution's leading goal-scorer has since returned to played 45 minutes in each of New England's last two games, but has thus far been unable to play a full 90 minutes with the injury ... Joseph was elected to his sixth consecutive All-Star team as a First XI selection, marking his fourth straight First-XI nod ... he was replaced on the All-Star team by Real Salt Lake's Will Johnson.

Check out the New England Revolution Statistics

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



Major League Soccer Stories from July 27, 2009


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