MLS New England Revolution

Revs close out regular-season schedule on Saturday night

Published on October 20, 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 before finishing the 2008 regular season with a home game against the Kansas City Wizards at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Gillette Stadium.

NEW ENGLAND VS. KANSAS CITY SERIES INFORMATION

Kansas City leads the all-time series between the two teams, 16-11-7.

Saturday night's match is the third and final meeting between the Revs and Wizards this season, and the first and only meeting at Gillette Stadium ... the teams have already split a pair of matches at CommunityAmerica Ballpark; New England defeated Kansas City, 3-1, on April 9, while the Wizards shut out the Revs, 1-0, just two weeks ago on Oct. 11.

The Revs have struggled at home against the Wizards, going 5-8-4 all-time in Foxborough and just 1-5-4 at Gillette Stadium since the facility opened in 2002 ... New England is 6-8-3 all-time on the road against Kansas City.

The Revolution's 1-0 loss to the Wizards on Oct. 11 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark snapped New England's streak of three consecutive wins against Kansas City.

The Revs and Wizards split the first 12 meetings of the all-time series with six wins apiece, but New England has struggled against Kansas City since ... even with wins in three of the last four meetings, the Revs have still won just five of their last 23 matches with the Wizards (dating back to 2000).

Last year, the Revs won the regular-season series for the first time since 1999, going 2-1-0 against Kansas City.

New England and Kansas City have never met outside of MLS regular-season action.

PLAYER NOTES VS. KANSAS CITY

Taylor Twellman leads the Revs with five career goals against Kansas City in 15 appearances ... Twellman has also added three assists.

Steve Ralston leads New England with 11 career assists against the Wizards, including six in 16 appearances with the Revs ... however, Ralston suffered a broken right fibula in the Revs' meeting with the Wizards two weeks ago and will be unavailable for Saturday night's match.

The Gambian Duo of Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi each scored in the Revolution's 3-1 win against the Wizards at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on April 9 ... Mansally's goal was the first of his career, while he also notched his first assist on Nyassi's goal ... both players missed the Oct. 11 meeting while representing Gambia.

Khano Smith has recorded one goal and four assists in 11 career appearances against the Wizards, marking his highest offensive output against any team.

Matt Reis is 5-5-5 in his Revolution career against Kansas City, posting a 1.21 goals against average and recording four shutouts.

LAST MEETING

Kansas City 1, New England 0

October 11, 2008 - CommunityAmerica Ballpark (Kansas City, Kan.)

Jimmy Conrad scored the only goal of the game in the 61st minute to help the Wizards defeat the Revs and remain in playoff contention ... New England played the final 78 minutes of the game without captain and leading scorer Steve Ralston, who suffered a broken right fibula on a tackle by Herculez Gomez in the 12th minute ... the Wizards broke a scoreless tie from a corner kick early in the second half, as Conrad met Jack Jewsbury's service at the near post and placed his header under the crossbar.

NEWS & NOTES

REVS, FIRE STILL DEADLOCKED ENTERING FINAL WEEKEND

With both New England and Chicago falling to defeat on the road last week, the Revs and Fire remain tied for second place in the Eastern Conference entering the final week of the 2008 regular season ... the clubs - which will meet in the first round of the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs regardless of the final weekend's results - currently maintain identical 12-10-7 records for 43 points ... New England took a 1-0 lead against D.C. last Thursday night at RFK Stadium, but two late goals from Francis Doe earned United a 2-1 victory ... with that result, Chicago had a chance to clinch the second seed in the East and home-field advantage in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series with a win on Saturday in Toronto, but the Fire dropped a 3-2 decision, meaning that the seeding won't be decided until the final round of games this week.

PLAYOFF SEEDING BETWEEN REVS AND FIRE TO BE DECIDED THIS WEEK

While New England and Chicago have known for weeks that they will meet in the first round of the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs as the second and third seeds in the Eastern Conference, which side will have home-field advantage won't be decided until this upcoming week - the final round of regular-season games ... the Fire could wrap up the second seed as early as Thursday night, when the club hosts the New York Red Bulls at Toyota Park ... Chicago needs only to match New England's result to clinch second place, because if the teams finished tied on points, the Fire would win the tie-breaker based on its head-to-head victory in the season-series ... therefore, a Chicago win on Thursday night assures them of the second seed, while a loss or draw leaves the door open for the Revs to secure the spot on Saturday night against Kansas City.

REVOLUTION-FIRE PLAYOFF SERIES TO BE ON ESPN2'S PRIMETIME THURSDAY

ESPN2 will televise both games of the New England Revolution-Chicago Fire Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs as part of its season-long Primetime Thursday lineup ... Game One of the two-game, aggregate-goals series will be played on Thursday, Oct. 30, while Game Two will be played on Thursday, Nov. 6 ... locations and kickoff times for both games will be announced at a later date as the teams' final playoff seeds are still undetermined heading into the final weekend of regular-season action ... in addition the game coverage, ESPN2 will also preview both games with live pregame shows.

REGULAR SEASON COMES TO A CLOSE

Saturday night's meeting with the Kansas City Wizards will bring an end to the Revolution's 2008 regular season - the club's 13th year in the league ... New England is currently 12-10-7 (43 pts.) and is guaranteed to finish above .500 for the fourth consecutive season, while the club has already secured its seventh straight playoff berth - the longest active streak of playoff appearances in the league ... the Revs finished 6-6-3 on the road - tying them for the most road wins in the league - while they're 6-4-4 at home entering Saturday night's final match.

AN IMMEDIATE CHANCE FOR REDEMPTION

Usually after a team takes a tough loss to a conference foe, it's months before it gets a shot to redeem itself and play that club again ... however, after dropping a 1-0 loss to Kansas City less than two weeks ago on Oct. 11, the Revs will have a chance to play the Wizards yet again when they host them on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium ... the previous meeting represented a loss for the Revolution in more ways than one, as captain and MLS Most Valuable Player candidate Steve Ralston was lost for the regular season to a broken right fibula in the 12th minute ... now, just two weeks later, New England has an opportunity to dent Kansas City's playoff hopes and gain momentum for its own postseason run with a victory on Saturday night.

WIZARDS HAVE NOT BEEN A WELCOME GUEST IN FOXBOROUGH

Historically, Kansas City is not a team that the Revolution has enjoyed welcoming to Foxborough ... the Revs have gone just 5-8-4 all-time at home against the Wizards for a winning percentage of .412, representing the Revolution's second-worst home winning percentage against any team in the league ... the only team New England has fared worse against at home is the San Jose Earthquakes, whom the Revs are 4-9-2 (.263) against in Foxborough ... the Revs are better than .500 at home against every other team in the league except Columbus (10-11-3, .479) ... although the Revs were 4-3-0 against the Wizards in the old Foxboro Stadium, they are 1-5-4 since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002.

REVS AIM TO STOP SKID BEFORE PLAYOFFS START

With one game remaining in the regular season and the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs starting next week, the Revolution is eager to put an end to its current five-game winless run ... the stretch - which includes three losses and two draws - is the Revs' longest winless streak of the season ... prior to this current spell, New England had not gone more than three matches without a win all season.

THROUGH IT ALL, TWELLMAN BACK ON TOP

Despite missing half of the season because of various injuries to his knee, ankle and hip,Taylor Twellman is now tied for the Revolution team-lead in goals after scoring his eighth of the season on Thursday night at D.C. ... Twellman struck in the 58th minute, scoring perhaps the easiest of his 99 career regular-season goals by tapping the ball into an empty net after being set up by Mauricio Castro ... the 28-year-old forward is now tied with Steve Ralston for the team-lead in goals with eight ... Twellman has been the Revolution's top scorer in five of his six seasons with the club, including each of the past three.

TWELLMAN HITS NUMBER 99; JUST ONE SHY OF HISTORIC 100

With 99 career regular-season goals to his name, Taylor 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 171 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.

HEAPS ON VERGE OF IRON MAN FEAT

Barring any injuries or unusual alterations to New England's lineup on Saturday night against Kansas City, Jay Heaps is set to play every minute of every regular-season game for the first time in his 10-year career ... Heaps is one of just six players in the league to have played every minute (2,160) of all 29 games this season, and one of just two field players - along with Kansas City defender Jimmy Conrad - to accomplish the feat ... the veteran defender - who has totaled 3,149 minutes in all competitions this season - has played every minute of 31 games twice before in his career (2005 and 2006), but that was when the league played a 32-game schedule.

REVOLUTION TO PRESENT TEAM AWARDS ON SATURDAY NIGHT

The 2008 New England Revolution Team Awards will be presented on the Gillette Stadium field prior to kickoff of Saturday night's match against the Kansas City Wizards ... awards for Most Valuable Player, Defender of the Year and Humanitarian of the Year will be presented by the Revolution, while the Midnight Riders will also honor their Man of the Year ... the Revolution's Golden Boot Award - reserved for the team's leading goal-scorer - is still yet to be determined.

GOLDEN BOOT TO BE DETERMINED SATURDAY NIGHT

With just one game remaining in the regular season, the Revolution's 2008 Golden Boot Award - reserved for the team's leading goal-scorer - is still yet to be determined ... Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston are currently tied for the team-lead with eight goals, while Adam Cristman is third with six tallies ... however, Cristman was lost for the season more than two months ago when he underwent surgery on his right big toe, and Ralston is currently out with a broken right fibula, suffered in a 1-0 loss to the Wizards on Oct. 11 ... should Twellman not score on Saturday night and finish tied with Ralston on eight goals, the first tiebreaker would be assists ... Ralston finished with seven assists on the season, while Twellman has two entering Saturday night.

RESERVES TO FINISH SEASON AFTER FIRST-TEAM GAME ON SATURDAY NIGHT

The New England Revolution reserves will play their final game of the 2008 season on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, as they will host the Kansas City Wizards reserves on the stadium field immediately following the first-team game ... the Revs' reserves are currently 2-6-2 (8 pts.) and have been mathematically eliminated from winning the reserve division ... New England's reserve team earned a 2-2 draw with the Wizards' reserves in their previous meeting on April 10.

ALBRIGHT'S COMEBACK SEASON A CLEAR SUCCESS

The 2007 season was supposed to be the continuation of Chris Albright's maturation as one of the U.S.' top defenders and MLS' marquee players, but a torn right hamstring in just the fifth game of the season ended Albright's campaign almost before it began ... in the offseason, he made his way back to the field, appearing in all five of Los Angeles' games as the club embarked on a series of exhibitions ... but on Jan. 18, 2008, Albright got the news that he was changing addresses, moving cross-country to play for the Revolution ... still rehabbing his hamstring, Albright joined an already strong team that had a steady defensive scheme - a 3-5-2, much different for a right back than the 4-4-2 formation he had molded his defensive game into with the Galaxy ... despite the obstacles, Albright flourished in 2008, starting every game for which he's been available and playing 90 minutes in each ... except for four games missed early in the season with a bone bruise in his ankle, Albright has been a consistent and strong presence at right back for the Revs, proving that he is the embodiment of a "Comeback Player."

PARKHURST CONTINUES TO SET FAIR PLAY STANDARDS

One year after winning the MLS Fair Play award, Michael Parkhurst continues to define a new standard for Major League Soccer defenders ... having committed just eight fouls in 29 MLS games this year, Parkhurst is averaging one foul committed almost every four games ... with no cautions in MLS play in 2008 - and a card-less stretch dating back to July 22, 2006 - Parkhurst has proven that central defenders do not need to use brawn to help teams succeed ... despite the unusual interruptions and changes in the Revolution's formation and personnel this year, Parkhurst has consistently played stellar defense against the league's top scoring threats game-in and game-out, as evidenced by his selection to the United States Olympic squad that competed in Beijing.

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Major League Soccer Stories from October 20, 2008


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