MLS New England Revolution

Revs return to Foxborough to host FC Dallas

March 30, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - After beginning the 2009 season with a pair of road matches, the New England Revolution will train in Foxborough four times this week before opening its home schedule against FC Dallas at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 4, at Gillette Stadium.

NEW ENGLAND VS. DALLAS SERIES INFORMATION

The Revolution leads the all-time, regular-season series with FC Dallas (formerly the Dallas Burn), 21-9-1 ... the Revs are 10-5-0 at home against Dallas, including 6-1-0 at Gillette Stadium, while they are 11-4-1 on the road against the Hoops.

Saturday night's match is the first of two meetings between the Revs and Hoops this season ... the teams will meet again on Sept. 30 at Pizza Hut Park.

New England swept the two-game season series against FC Dallas in 2008 ... the Revs earned a 1-0 win in Dallas on April 24 and a 2-1 victory at Gillette Stadium on June 6.

New England is 13-3-0 against Dallas under head coach Steve Nicol dating back to 2002.

The Revolution has won five straight matches against FC Dallas at Gillette Stadium.

The Revs have won nine of their last 10 meetings with FC Dallas dating back to 2004 (9-1-0), including each of the last five matches.

FC Dallas hasn't beaten New England since May 20, 2006, when the Hoops earned a 4-0 win at Pizza Hut Park ... Dallas hasn't won in New England since July 16, 2003 - a 2-1 victory at Gillette Stadium.

The Revolution has an all-time winning percentage of .694 against Dallas, which represents the club's highest winning percentage against any team it has faced more than six times.

New England defeated Dallas, 3-2, to win its' first-ever cup championship in the U.S. Open Cup Final on Oct. 3, 2007.

PLAYER NOTES VS. DALLAS

Taylor Twellman is New England's all-time leading scorer against Dallas with 14 goals, a figure that marks his greatest total against any MLS team ... amazingly, Twellman has scored his 14 goals in just 13 appearances, while seven of those strikes have been game-winners.

Steve Ralston is the Revolution's second leading scorer against Dallas with five goals, including three in 13 appearances with the Revolution ... Ralston has also added 14 career assists against the Hoops, including seven with the Revolution.

Shalrie Joseph has two goals and one assist in 13 appearances against Dallas.

Jay Heaps is the club's all-time leader in games played (17) and games started (16) against Dallas.

Matt Reis is 9-2-0 in his New England career against the Hoops, posting a 1.18 goals against average and five shutouts.

LAST MEETING

New England 2, FC Dallas 1

June 6, 2008 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Steve Ralston and former Revolution forward Adam Cristman scored first-half goals and goalkeeper Matt Reis made a career-high 10 saves as the Revs held off FC Dallas, 2-1 ... Cristman opened the scoring in just the fifth minute when he headed home Sainey Nyassi's right-wing cross, while Ralston doubled the lead when he converted a 22nd-minute penalty kick ... Reis was a stalwart between the pipes, making double-digit saves in a regular-season match the first time in his career ... although second-half substitute Arturo Alvarez scored a late consolation goal for the visitors, the Revs held on for the win.

NEWS & NOTES

REVS SET FOR 2009 HOME OPENER

After beginning their season on the road for the 13th time in 14 seasons with matches in San Jose and New York, the Revs will finally open their 2009 home schedule when they host Western Conference foe FC Dallas at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night (April 4) ... the match will be the Revolution's first at Gillette Stadium in more than five months, as the club hasn't taken the field on home turf since drawing 0-0 in Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against Chicago on Oct. 30, 2008 ... however, this will still be the second-earliest home opener in Revolution history in terms of the date ... the only time the Revs played a home match earlier in the calendar year was last season, when they opened the year at Gillette Stadium against Houston (March 29, 2008).

RECENT SUCCESS IN HOME OPENERS

New England is 8-5-0 in home openers since Major League Soccer's inaugural season in 1996, although that mark includes two shootout wins, one overtime win and one shootout loss ... despite their mediocre all-time record in home openers, the Revs have won their last two home openers in dominating fashion, outscoring their opponents, 7-0 ... the Revolution earned a 4-0 win over Toronto FC in the 2007 home opener, while the club powered to a 3-0 victory against the Houston Dynamo in the 2008 opener.

A DISTINCT UPPER HAND

The Revs have had more success against FC Dallas than they have had against any other MLS team ... New England has an all-time winning percentage of .694 against Dallas (21-9-1), which represents the club's highest winning percentage against any team it has faced more than six times ... among teams that the Revolution has faced more than 10 times, the club has a winning percentage above .500 against only one other team (New York, .571).

REVS GOING STREAKING AGAINST FC DALLAS

While New England has found success against Dallas consistently since MLS' inaugural season in 1996, the club's dominance in the series has never been more apparent than in recent years ... the Revs have won nine of the last 10 regular-season meetings between the clubs, including each of the last five overall and the last five at Gillette Stadium ... additionally, the Revolution defeated Dallas, 3-2, in the 2007 U.S. Open Cup Final ... Dallas hasn't defeated New England since May 20, 2006, while the Hoops haven't earned a single point at Gillette Stadium since a 2-1 win on July 16, 2003.

FOUR POINTS FROM TWO GAMES = FAST START

While it's still very early in the 2009 season, the Revs have already done something that they'd only done twice before in club history, and that's begin the season with four points from their first two matches ... the Revolution also began both the 2005 and 2006 seasons with one win and one draw through two games, and it's worth noting that the club advanced to the MLS Cup Final in both seasons ... New England has never won its first two games of the season.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE REVOLUTION'S STARTING LINEUP

Like Benjamin Button, the Revolution's starting lineup just keeps getting younger ... after fielding a starting eleven with an average age of 25.1 years old in the season opener against San Jose (March 21), New England got even younger against New York on Saturday night (March 28) with an average age of just 24.2 years old ... while the 10 field players were the same for both matches, 34-year-old goalkeeper Matt Reis was replaced by 24-year-old Brad Knighton for the New York match, as Reis was a late scratch with swelling in his right knee ... against the Red Bulls, the Revolution's starting lineup had an average of just 1.5 years of MLS game experience entering the 2009 season.

REVS SIGN AFRICAN FORWARD STEPHANE ASSENGUE OMBIOGNO

The Revolution announced on Thursday, March 26 that the club has signed Stephane Assengue Ombiogno, a forward from Cameroon, to a Major League Soccer contract to play for the Revs ... he will occupy one of the team's seven available international roster spots and will join the team pending release of his U.S. P-1 Visa ... the 19-year-old striker comes to the Revolution from Daga Young Stars, a regional team in the Western African country of Cameroon.

GOALKEEPER BRAD KNIGHTON MAKES MLS DEBUT

Third-year goalkeeper Brad Knighton made his MLS debut with a start against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night (March 28), making three saves and helping the Revolution earn a 1-1 draw ... Knighton earned the starting nod when first-choice goalkeeper Matt Reis was a late scratch from the gameday roster because of pain and swelling in his right knee ... after spending the first two years of his career as the third goalkeeper behind Reis and Doug Warren, Knighton earned the backup job prior to the 2009 season when Warren was waived ... with Reis scheduled to undergo a scan on Monday, Knighton is prepared to take over the starting role if Reis misses extended time.

ITALIAN RIVALS AC MILAN AND INTER MILAN TO BATTLE AT GILLETTE STADIUM

Italian Serie A powers AC Milan and Inter Milan will meet at Gillette Stadium at 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 26, in just the teams' second-ever match outside Europe ... the game will be part of the World Football Challenge, a six-city round robin tournament that will also feature English Premier League club Chelsea and Mexican side Club America ... some of the best players in the world are expected to be on display, including Kaká and Ronaldinho of AC Milan and Adriano and Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Inter Milan ... in addition to Gillette Stadium, the tournament will be played at the Rose Bowl, the Georgia Dome, MT&T Bank Stadium, Stanford Stadium and the new Cowboys Stadium from July 19 to July 26.

Check out the New England Revolution Statistics



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