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MLS New England Revolution

Revs continue postseason push

September 21, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Just two points back of the final playoff spot with six games remaining in the regular season, the New England Revolution (9-8-7, 34 pts.) will host expansion club Seattle Sounders FC for the first time at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, at Gillette Stadium.

NEW ENGLAND VS. SEATTLE SERIES INFORMATION

Saturday night's match will be the second meeting between the Revolution and Sounders FC, and the first-ever at Gillette Stadium ... the clubs met for the first time on Aug. 20 at Qwest Field, with the Revs earning a 1-0 win behind the strength of Shalrie Joseph's 21st-minute goal.

The Revolution is one of just two visiting teams to win at Seattle's Qwest Field this season, along with the Kansas City Wizards.

Since the most recent wave of expansion in 2005, New England is 7-2-3 against expansion teams in their inaugural seasons ... the Revs are 8-7-3 all-time against expansion teams, as they went 1-5-0 against the Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion in 1998, just two years after MLS's inaugural season.

While the Revs are 5-0-1 in their first meetings with expansion teams since 2005 (Seattle Sounders FC - 2009, San Jose Earthquakes - 2008, Toronto FC - 2007, Houston Dynamo - 2006, Chivas USA - 2005, Real Salt Lake - 2005), they're just 2-2-1 in their second meetings with those teams entering Saturday night's match against Seattle.

With New England's 1-0 win on Aug. 20, Sounders FC became the fourth expansion team since 2005 to be shut out by the Revolution in their first meeting ... the Revs also shut out San Jose, Toronto and Chivas USA in their first meetings, while RSL managed one goal in a 4-1 loss and Houston scored in a 1-1 draw.

PLAYER NOTES VS. SEATTLE

Shalrie Joseph scored the only goal of the game - his career-high sixth of the season - in the Revolution's 1-0 win over the Sounders on Aug. 20 at Qwest Field.

Steve Ralston and Edgaras Jankauskas recorded assists on Joseph's game-winning goal on Aug. 20 in Seattle.

Matt Reis was not forced to make a save in recording his sixth shutout of the season in the 1-0 win on Aug. 20 ... he faced a first-half penalty kick, but Fredy Montero's effort struck the crossbar.

NEW ENGLAND - SEATTLE CONNECTIONS

Revolution midfielder Sainey Nyassi's identical twin brother, Sanna, plays midfield for the Sounders ... the twins missed playing against each other by just two minutes when the teams met on Aug. 20, as Sainey started but was replaced by a substitute in the 67th minute, while Sanna entered the match in the 69th minute.

Seattle defender James Riley spent the first three years of his career in New England (2005-07) after being drafted by the Revolution in the second round (21st overall) of the 2005 MLS SuperDraft ... Riley was selected by the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2007 Expansion Draft and spent last season in the Bay Area, but was selected in his second straight Expansion Draft in 2008 by Seattle.

Sounders midfielder Michael Fucito is a native of Westford, Mass., and a 2009 graduate of Harvard University ... Fucito trained with the Revolution early in the season while completing his degree at Harvard.

Seattle's Director of Youth Development, Darren Sawatzky, was on original member of the Revolution and spent two seasons (1996-97) with the club ... Sawatzky made 54 appearances (24 starts) with the Revs and recorded five goals and five assists.

LAST MEETING

New England 1, Seattle 0

August 20, 2009 - Qwest Field (Seattle, Wash.)

Shalrie Joseph matched his career high with his sixth goal of the season to guide the Revolution to a 1-0 victory in the club's first-ever meeting with the expansion Sounders ... Joseph scored the game's only goal in the 21st minute, finishing off a string of one touch passes between Jeff Larentowicz, Edgaras Jankauskas and Steve Ralston ... Seattle's best chance to equalize came in the 44th minute when Fredy Montero was awarded a penalty kick, but the Sounders forward blasted his effort off the crossbar ... goalkeeper Matt Reis was not forced into a save in recording his sixth shutout of the season.

NEWS & NOTES

MLS CUP PLAYOFFS WATCH: REVS PULL WITHIN TWO POINTS OF FINAL POSTSEASON SPOT

Last Friday night's 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls pulled the Revolution (9-8-7, 34 pts.) within two points of the final spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs with six games remaining ... the Revs jumped from 11th place into a tie for ninth in the overall standings because both Toronto FC (9-10-7, 34 pts.) and Real Salt Lake (9-10-7, 34 pts.) lost ... all three teams are just two points behind D.C. United (8-6-12, 36 pts.) for the eighth and final playoff berth, and they're three points behind Colorado (10-8-7, 37 pts.) and Chivas USA (11-9-4, 37 pts.), which are tied for tied for sixth place ... the Revs have two games in hand on Toronto, RSL and D.C.

REVOLUTION LOOKS TO CAPITALIZE IN ONLY HOME GAME DURING MONTH-LONG SPAN

After playing back-to-back road games at Chivas USA (Sept. 13) and New York (Sept. 18), the Revs will be happy to return to the familiar confines of Gillette Stadium on Saturday night ... with points at a premium and the final playoff spots still within arm's reach, the Revolution will want to take advantage of this weekend's match, as the club will go back on the road for a pair of away games next week ... overall, New England is in the midst of playing four of five away from home, while the club finishes its season by playing five of eight on the road ... in a four-day span, the Revs will visit FC Dallas (Sept. 30) and the Colorado Rapids (Oct. 3) before finishing the season with matches against Eastern-Conference leaders Columbus (twice) and Chicago ... entering this week's action, the Revolution is 6-3-3 at home and 3-5-4 on the road.

REVS AND SOUNDERS LOCKED IN BATTLE FOR POSTSEASON

As seems to be the case just about every weekend this time of year, Saturday night's match between the Revolution and Sounders has direct playoff implications for both sides ... the Revs (9-8-7, 34 pts.) are currently tied for ninth in the overall standings, two points behind D.C. (8-6-12, 36 pts.) for the eighth and final playoff spot ... meanwhile, Seattle (9-6-11, 38 pts.) occupies fifth place overall and is just three points behind LA (10-5-11, 41 pts.) for the second automatic postseason berth in the Western Conference ... the standings are so tight, however, that the ninth-place Revs are just four points back of the fifth-place Sounders and have an advantage with two games in hand.

LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN: NYASSI TWINS AIM TO MAKE HISTORY ON SATURDAY NIGHT

After narrowly missing out when the clubs first met on Aug. 20 at Qwest Field, identical twin brothers Sainey and Sanna Nyassi once again hope to become just the second set of brothers - and the first set of twins - to ever face each other in an MLS match when the Revs and Sounders square off on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium ... Revolution midfielder Sainey started in New England's 1-0 win over Seattle one month ago, but was replaced by a substitute in the 67th minute, just two minutes before Sounders midfielder Sanna entered the game ... according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only brothers to ever face each other in an MLS match are Troy and Jamil Roberts, who squared off for two minutes at the end of an Earthquakes-Galaxy match in 2008.

WELCOME TO GILLETTE STADIUM, SOUNDERS FC

Expansion club Seattle Sounders FC will make its first-ever visit to Gillette Stadium on Saturday night to battle the Revolution with a critical three points on the line ... the Revs are 6-3-3 at home this season and will be looking to rebound after dropping their last match at Gillette Stadium to the Kansas City Wizards on Sept. 5 ... New England has not lost at home to an expansion team since the recent round of expansion began in 2005, going 5-0-1 at Gillette Stadium against first-year teams in that time span ... the only expansion team to earn a point against the Revolution at Gillette Stadium since 2005 was the Houston Dynamo, which relocated from San Jose at the start of the 2006 season.

TWICE AS NICE: REVS LOOK TO STAY PERFECT IN SECOND MEETING WITH SOUNDERS

While Saturday night's match will mark the Sounders' first-ever visit to Gillette Stadium, it will not be the first meeting between New England and Seattle ... the clubs squared off for the first time on Aug. 20 in front of a sell-out crowd at Qwest Field, and the Revs earned a 1-0 win behind the strength of Shalrie Joseph's 21st-minute goal ... with the victory, the Revolution became just the second visiting team to take a full three points from Qwest Field, joining the Kansas City Wizards ... not only did the Revs shut down the high-powered Sounders' attack, but they actually held Seattle without a shot on goal.

FOR FIRST TIME IN WEEKS, REVS TO HAVE FULL COMPLEMENT OF PLAYERS AVAILABLE

The Revolution will regain the services of forward Edgaras Jankauskas and midfielder Wells Thompson for Saturday night's match against the Sounders after the pair was suspended for last Friday night's draw with the New York Red Bulls ... Jankauskas was serving a one-game ban after receiving a straight red card in the 2-0 loss to Chivas USA (Sept. 13), while Thompson was suspended because of yellow card accumulation ... previously, Shalrie Joseph was suspended for the Chivas USA match after he was red-carded in the Revolution's 4-2 loss to the Kansas City Wizards (Sept. 5) ... Saturday night will mark the first time since the Wizards match that the Revolution won't have any players unavailable because of suspension.

NYASSI FLASHES BRILLIANCE WITH SPECTACULAR GOAL

With a possible showdown with his twin brother Sanna on the horizon Saturday night, Sainey Nyassi will surely be bragging to his sibling about the remarkable goal he scored last Friday night against the New York Red Bulls ... Nyassi received a pass in space on the right wing and used a stepover and a series of jukes to elude his defender before rifling a shot into to the far upper corner from inside the box ... it was the 20-year-old's second goal of the season and his first since April 4, when he scored the game-winning goal against FC Dallas with a fantastic finish ... the young Gambian now has four career goals, and two of his previous three strikes have earned MLS Goal of the Week honors.

TWO LEGENDARY COACHES SET TO SQUARE OFF ON SATURDAY NIGHT

As Revolution head coach Steve Nicol closes in on his 100th career win, he is set to battle one of the two men who has already reached that mark, Seattle Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid ... prior to joining Seattle for its expansion season, Schmid spent six years with the LA Galaxy (1999-2004) and three seasons with the Columbus Crew (2006-08), winning an MLS Cup title with each ... with a career record of 122-92-68, Schmid is just two wins behind current U.S. National Team head coach Bob Bradley (124) for most wins all-time ... Nicol, meanwhile, is third on the list with a record of 96-74-61 in an eight-year stint with the Revolution, making him the longest-tenured head coach in MLS ... the Revs have reached the playoffs every year in which Nicol has been in charge and have won four Eastern Conference championships under his guidance.

MLS ANNOUNCES 2010 SCHEDULE FORMAT

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber has announced that for the first time in its history, MLS will not play league games during the group phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup ... MLS will not schedule any league games between June 11 - 25, 2010, when the first 48 games of the 64-game tournament will take place ... additionally, the league does not plan to schedule games on the dates of the World Cup Semifinals or Final ... it was also announced that with the addition of the Philadelphia Union next season, every team will play a balanced 30-game schedule in 2010, facing each of the other 15 teams twice - once home, once away ... MLS plans to announce each club's 2010 home opener in the near future.

OCT. 25 GAME VS. CREW MOVED TO ESPN2/ESPN DEPORTES

The Revolution's match at the Columbus Crew on Sunday, Oct. 25 - the final match of the 2009 MLS regular season - has been picked up by ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes ... the game, which could have significant playoff implications around the league, will now be televised nationally, instead of regionally on TV38 as originally scheduled ... it will be the Revolution's third match televised on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes this season ... so far the Revs are 1-0-1 in ESPN matches in 2009 - a 1-1 draw at D.C. on April 17 and a 1-0 win at Seattle on Aug. 20.

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