Sports stats



MLS New England Revolution

Revs and Fire to open 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium

October 27, 2008 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution will train in Foxborough twice this week before opening the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs against the rival Chicago Fire on Thursday night in front of a national television audience on ESPN2. Game One of the two-game Eastern Conference Semifinal Series will kickoff at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, Oct. 30, at Gillette Stadium, with ESPN2's coverage beginning with a live pregame show at 7:30 p.m. ET.

NEW ENGLAND VS. CHICAGO SERIES INFORMATION

Chicago owns a slight edge in the all-time, regular-season series between the two teams, 15-13-6.

The Fire swept the season series with the Revolution in 2008, winning all three games by a combined score of 9-1 ... Tomasz Frankowski scored twice to lead Chicago to a 4-0 victory on April 3 at Toyota Park ... Chris Rolfe recorded the game-winner in the 29th minute as Chicago claimed a 3-0 victory at Gillette Stadium on May 3 ... the Fire overcame Taylor Twellman's third-minute goal as defenders Gonzalo Segares and Wilman Conde struck in the final 10 minutes to lift Chicago to a 2-1 victory on August 9 at Gillette Stadium.

The Fire's victory in the season series marked the third straight year that Chicago won the annual series.

New England owns a 9-7-1 regular-season record against the Fire at home (7-6-0 at Gillette Stadium) ... the Revs are 4-8-5 all-time in regular-season games played at Chicago.

PLAYOFF NOTES

With this year's meeting, the Revs and Fire will have met in six of the last seven postseasons (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) and the last four overall ... in total, the teams will have met seven times in the postseason, all since 2000.

New England 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 Championship at Gillette Stadium.

New England has ended Chicago's season in the playoffs four of the last 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 winner of the New England-Chicago postseason matchups has advanced to MLS Cup each time.

Each team is undefeated against the other on its home field in the playoffs (New England is 6-0-0, Chicago is 5-0-0).

PLAYER NOTES VS. CHICAGO

Taylor Twellman leads all Revs players in both goals (12) and assists (5) in regular-season games against Chicago ... he has also scored four of his 10 career postseason goals against Chicago.

Jeff Larentowicz has two goals and two assists against the Fire in just nine career regular-season games, marking his best offensive output against any team.

Wells Thompson scored his only MLS goal against Chicago in a 3-1 victory on May 6, 2007 ... he also recorded his first career assist on Taylor Twellman's bicycle-kick goal in the 1-0 win in the 2007 Eastern Conference Championship.

In his Revs career (regular season), Matt Reis is 7-10-2 with a 1.53 goals against average and three shutouts ... Reis also has two career postseason shutouts in four appearances against Chicago.

2008 SEASON MEETINGS

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, and 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 for a tackle on Brandon Prideaux, reducing the Revs to 10 men ... Chicago cashed in on its numerical advantage, as Frankowski's pair of tallies in the 22nd and 39th minutes were sandwiched around a Cuauhtemoc Blanco 37th-minute penalty kick.

Chicago 3, New England 0

May 3, 2008 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Goals from Chris Rolfe, John Thorrington and Stephen King lifted Chicago to its second victory of the season over the Revolution ... the Fire stunned the home crowd in the 29th minute when Rolfe gave the visitors the lead ... Chicago doubled its advantage in the 50th minute, as Thorrington side-footed a low effort inside the right post ... King completed the scoring in the 76th minute with his first career goal, a close-range rebound.

Chicago 2, New England 1

August 9, 2008 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Taylor Twellman made his first start of 2008 and scored in the third minute, but late goals by Gonzalo Segares and Wilman Conde lifted Chicago to the series sweep ... Twellman gave the Revs the early lead when he rose to head home Mauricio Castro's corner kick ... Shalrie Joseph was issued his second yellow card in the 74th minute, reducing the Revolution to 10 men ... Segares evened the score at 1-1 in the 81st minute, firing a 30-yard shot that knuckled at the last minute and fooled goalkeeper Matt Reis ... Conde scored the game-winner five minutes later, bundling home a rebound after Reis had saved Tomasz Frankowski's initial shot.

NEWS & NOTES

FAMILIAR FOES

For the fourth straight year, the New England Revolution and Chicago Fire will meet in the MLS Cup Playoffs, beginning with Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium ... an intense rivalry has developed between the clubs, stoked by repeated postseason encounters ... this will be the sixth time in the last seven years - and the seventh time overall - that the Revs and Fire meet in the postseason ... the clubs have previously met in the 2000, 2002-03 and 2005-07 playoffs ... New England owns the edge in overall playoff series victories, having advanced past Chicago four times in the previous six encounters - including each of the last three years on the way to the MLS Cup Final ... perhaps the most thrilling playoff meeting between the two clubs came in last season's Eastern Conference Final, when Taylor Twellman's spectacular bicycle kick earned the Revolution a 1-0 victory and sent the club to its third consecutive MLS Cup Final.

CHICAGO LOCKS UP SECOND SEED, HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE

With a 5-2 victory over the New York Red Bulls last Thursday night at Toyota Park, the Chicago Fire secured the number two seed in the Eastern Conference and home-field advantage in the first round of the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs against the Revolution ... Chicago finished with a record of 13-10-7 (46 pts.), just three points ahead of New England, which closed the season at 12-11-7 (43 pts.) ... as a result of the final seeding, the Revs will now host Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series at Gillette Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 30, with kickoff set for 8 p.m. ET ... the Fire will host the decisive second game of the two-game, aggregate-goals series on Thursday, Nov. 6, at Toyota Park with kickoff set for approximately 8:45 p.m. ET.

REVOLUTION, FIRE EACH PERFECT AT HOME IN POSTSEASON SERIES HISTORY

Never has home-field advantage been so evident as it is in the postseason history between the New England Revolution and Chicago Fire ... in 11 all-time postseason matches between the two clubs, the home team is a perfect 11-0-0 ... the Revs hold a slight advantage, having won all six meetings in Foxborough, while the Fire has won the five matches played in the Windy City ... although the home team has ultimately won each game, it has rarely been easy - eight of the 11 meetings have been one-goal games, including each of the last five dating back to 2003.

REVS UNDEFEATED AT HOME IN PLAYOFFS

Through eight previous postseason appearances and 13 designated home matches in the playoffs, the Revolution has never lost a home playoff game ... the Revs are an undefeated 9-0-4 at home in their postseason history - but they're just 3-7-3 away from home and 0-3-1 at neutral sites ... the only playoff match that New England has ever lost at Gillette Stadium was the 2002 MLS Cup Final, in which the club fell, 1-0, in overtime to the Los Angeles Galaxy ... however, because that match was the MLS Cup Final and the venue had been pre-determined, it was officially a neutral site.

WIN AND YOU'RE IN

Six times the Revolution and Fire have met in the MLS Cup Playoffs, and six times the winner of the series has gone on to represent the Eastern Conference in the MLS Cup Final ... the Revs have gone through the Fire in each of their four trips to the league's championship match (2002, 2005, 2006, 2007), and have ended Chicago's season en route to the final in each of the last three years ... the Fire defeated the Revolution in 2000 and 2003 on its way to the MLS Cup Final ... however, while the winner of the Revs-Fire series has always reached the championship match, that club has never taken home the title, losing on all six occasions ... New England has never won a title, while Chicago's only triumph came in the club's expansion season of 1998.

REVS CLOSE BOOK ON REGULAR SEASON

The Revolution concluded the 2008 regular season with a 3-1 loss to the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, bringing an end to the club's 13th year of regular-season play ... New England finished in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 12-11-7 record (43 pts.), marking the fourth straight year that the club finished with a record above .500 ... the Revs secured a postseason berth for the seventh consecutive season - the longest active streak of playoff appearances in the league - and the ninth time in club history.

REVS IN UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY ENTERING POSTSEASON

For the first time in four years, the Revolution will not have home-field advantage in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs and will have to battle through the postseason as a lower seed, as the club finished the season in third place in the East ... New England was the regular-season champion of the Eastern Conference in 2005 and the runner-up in both 2006 and 2007, as the club advanced to the MLS Cup Final each year ... in fact, the Revs have never reached the MLS Cup Final from a position lower than second - they've advanced to the championship match as the top seed twice and as the second seed twice ... however, the Revolution has advanced past the first round as a lower seed; the club reached the 2004 Eastern Conference Final after finishing fourth in the East with a record of 8-13-9.

BADILLA AND SMITH SUSPENDED FOR GAME ONE

Defender Gabriel Badilla and midfielder Khano Smith will be suspended for Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinals Series against the Chicago Fire on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium, as both received red-card ejections in the Revolution's final regular-season match against the Kansas City Wizards this past Saturday night ... both players were shown straight red cards in the first half - Badilla for fouling Claudio Lopez in the box in the 26th minute and Smith for a hard tackle on Herculez Gomez in the 42nd minute ... barring any further sanctions from the league, both players will be available for Game Two on Thursday, Nov. 6, at Chicago's Toyota Park.

TWELLMAN FINISHES 2008 STUCK ON 99 ...

Taylor Twellman will have to wait until 2009 to score his 100th career regular-season goal, as the 28-year-old forward finished the 2008 campaign stuck on 99 ... Twellman is just one goal shy of becoming the fifth player in Major League Soccer history - and the first in Revs' history - to score 100 goals ... Twellman is currently ranked fifth in MLS career goals, five behind fourth-place Jeff Cunningham (104), currently of FC Dallas, and 23 shy of D.C.'s Jaime Moreno (122), the league's all-time leading goal scorer ... the U.S. National Team member has scored his 99 goals in just 172 games, while all four players ahead of him on the charts have made at least 260 career appearances ... Twellman is on pace to become the league's youngest 100-goal scorer.

... BUT HE LIKES SCORING IN THE POSTSEASON, TOO

Although he can't add to his regular-season goal-total any longer this season, Taylor Twellman can continue to climb the all-time MLS postseason scoring charts ... Twellman has scored 10 career postseason goals in 21 appearances, tying him with current Chivas USA head coach Preki for sixth all-time ... of Twellman's 10 playoff strikes, four have been game-winners, tying him for second all-time in the category.

TWELLMAN IS NEW ENGLAND'S PLAYOFF HORSE

If you've seen the New England Revolution score a playoff goal in recent years, chances are it was scored by Taylor Twellman ... the 28-year-old has scored six of the Revolution's last seven postseason goals, including all three in the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs as the club advanced to the title match ... Twellman has put the ball in the back of the net in six of the Revolution's last seven playoff matches, including each of the last two Eastern Conference Championships and MLS Cup Finals.

HEAPS IS IRON MAN

Defender Jay Heaps was one of just six players in Major League Soccer - and the only member of the Revolution - to play every minute of every game in the 2008 regular season ... it marked the first time in Heaps' 10-year career that he accomplished the feat ... of the six players to play 2,700 minutes this season, four were goalkeepers, making Heaps and Kansas City defender Jimmy Conrad the only two field players to earn "iron man" status ... Heaps also moved into fifth-place on MLS' all-time list of career minutes played in the Revs' regular-season finale, passing Los Angeles Galaxy legend - and current assistant coach - Cobi Jones (25,157) ... Heaps has now played 25,193 minutes in his regular-season career and is just 49 minutes behind Jason Kreis (25,242) for fourth place.

LARENTOWICZ NOTCHES CAREER-HIGH FOURTH GOAL

Jeff Larentowicz scored his fourth goal of the season in the 90th minute of the 3-1 loss to the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night, marking a new career-high for the defensive midfielder ... the fourth-year player has become progressively more involved in the Revolution's attack during the course of his career, as he has increased his goal-scoring total in each of his professional seasons ... the Brown alum's previous career-high for goals had been three, set last season ... Larentowicz also added three assists in 2008.

REVOLUTION ANNOUNCES 2008 TEAM AWARDS

Captain Steve Ralston was named 2008 New England Revolution Team MVP, as announced by the team in a pregame ceremony prior to the regular-season finale against the Kansas City Wizards at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 25 ... Michael Parkhurst was named the club's Defender of the Year, while forward Adam Cristman was named the team's U.S. Soccer Foundation Humanitarian of the Year ... goalkeeper Matt Reis was also honored during the ceremony, as he was presented with the Revere Cup, signifying him as the Midnight Riders' Man of the Year ... the Midnight Riders is one of the Revolution's independent supporters groups.

RALSTON CAPTURES REVOLUTION'S GOLDEN BOOT

Steve Ralston won the 2008 Revolution Budweiser Golden Boot, finishing with a career-high eight goals in his 13th year in the league ... despite being tied with Taylor Twellman for the team-lead in goals, Ralston won based on the first tie-breaker, which was assists ... Ralston finished the season with seven assists, while Twellman recorded two ... amazingly, the pair finished tied for the team-lead in goals despite each missing significant time because of injury ... Ralston missed nine games this season - including the last two of the regular season with a broken right fibula that is expected to keep him out of the MLS Cup Playoffs - while Twellman missed 14 games because of various injuries to his knee, ankle and hip.

REVS RESERVES FINISH 2008 SCHEDULE

The New England Revolution reserves closed out their 2008 season on Saturday night with a 3-0 loss to the Kansas City Wizards reserves at Gillette Stadium ... the Revs reserves finished the season with a record of 2-7-2 (8 pts.).

Check out the New England Revolution Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...

Major League Soccer Stories from October 27, 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