MLS New England Revolution

Undefeated Revs set to make their first-ever visit to Rio Tinto Stadium to face Real Salt Lake

Published on April 20, 2009 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Still unbeaten through four games, the New England Revolution (2-0-2, 8 pts.) will train in Foxborough three times this week before traveling to face Real Salt Lake on Saturday, April 25, at the recently-opened Rio Tinto Stadium.

NEW ENGLAND VS. REAL SALT LAKE SERIES INFORMATION

New England and Real Salt Lake have met just eight times since RSL entered the league as an expansion team in 2005 ... the Revs hold a slight advantage in the series with a record of 3-2-3.

Saturday night's match is the first of two meetings between the Revolution and Real Salt Lake this season, and the only one at Rio Tinto Stadium ... the regular-season series will conclude on Aug. 23, when the Revs host RSL at Gillette Stadium.

Real Salt Lake won the 2008 regular-season series, 1-0-1 ... RSL earned a 2-1 win at Rice-Eccles Stadium on June 21, while the teams played to a 2-2 draw at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 4. Saturday night's match will be the Revolution's first-ever at Real Salt Lake's new home, Rio Tinto Stadium ... the facility opened on Oct. 9, 2008, when RSL and the New York Red Bulls played to a 1-1 draw.

The Revolution is 2-1-1 in four previous trips to Utah, but all four of those matches were played at Real Salt Lake's previous home, Rice-Eccles Stadium ... New England is 1-1-2 against RSL at Gillette Stadium.

The Revs are just 1-2-3 in their last six meetings with Real Salt Lake after winning the first two games of the all-time series. New England has scored six of its 11 goals against Real Salt Lake after the 75th minute ... RSL has never scored a goal against the Revolution after the 75th minute. New England and Real Salt Lake have never met outside of the MLS regular season.

PLAYER NOTES VS. REAL SALT LAKE

Taylor Twellman is the only current member of the Revolution to have scored multiple career goals against Real Salt Lake ... Twellman has three goals and one assist in six appearances against RSL. In six career appearances, Jeff Larentowicz has one goal and one assist against RSL, both of which came in a 2-1 win at Rice-Eccles Stadium on July 28, 2007 ... Larentowicz scored the game-winner on a free kick in the 82nd minute. Defender Jay Heaps is the only active member of the Revolution to have recorded multiple career assists against RSL ... Heaps has two assists in eight career appearances. Matt Reis and Jay Heaps have both played every minute of every game against RSL in the all-time series (eight games, 720 minutes). Matt Reis is 3-2-3 in his career against Real Salt Lake, posting a 1.13 goals against average and three shutouts.

LAST MEETING

New England 2, Real Salt Lake 2

October 4, 2008 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.) Steve Ralston and Taylor Twellman scored goals two minutes apart in the game's final minutes to erase a two-goal deficit as the Revolution earned a come-from-behind draw ... Real Salt Lake scored first in the 13th minute when Javier Morales lofted a shot over Matt Reis after the Revs goalkeeper had come off his line to clear a loose ball ... former Rev Andy Williams extended the visitors' lead to 2-0 in the 73rd minute, but New England struck twice in the closing stages to earn the draw ... Ralston scored the Revolution's first in the 77th minute, firing a shot inside the left post from the top of the box, while Twellman notched the equalizer in the 79th minute with another long-range effort.

NEWS & NOTES

REMARKABLE START CONTINUES FOR RESILIENT REVS

With the club's 1-1 draw at D.C. United last Friday night (April 17), the Revolution stayed unbeaten and remained in second place in the Eastern Conference, despite playing one fewer game than every other team in the conference ... this marks just the second time in club history that the Revolution has been undefeated through four games ... the Revs began the 2005 season with a record of 3-0-1 en route to an 11-game unbeaten run (7-0-4).

REVOLUTION ONE OF THREE UNBEATEN TEAMS STILL STANDING ...

Three teams entered Week Five of the Major League Soccer season undefeated - including the New England Revolution - while all three emerged still unbeaten following the weekend's results ... the Revs (2-0-2, 8 pts.) are joined by Chivas USA (4-0-1, 13 pts.) and the Chicago Fire (2-0-3, 9 pts.) as the only unbeaten teams remaining in the league ... every other team in the league except two - D.C. United and the Los Angeles Galaxy - has at least two losses.

... DESPITE THE CLUB'S EARLY-SEASON TRAVELS ...

The Revolution's undefeated start to the season is made all the more impressive by the club's difficult schedule, which has the Revs playing four of their first five matches - and five of their first seven - on the road ... New England is one of only two teams in the league - along with the Colorado Rapids - to have only played one home game at this point in the season, but the Rapids will play their second home game this weekend, while the Revs remain on the road ... the Revolution has already gone 1-0-2 away from Gillette Stadium, making the club one of just four teams in the league without a road loss.

... AND AN EVER-EXPANDING INJURY LIST

Not only have the Revs begun the season undefeated while playing primarily on the road, but they've also continued to pile up the points despite dealing with an astonishing injury list ... the Revolution has lost 21 man-games because of injuries just four games into the season, while the figure jumps to 22 with an added suspension ... Taylor Twellman, Mauricio Castro and Gabriel Badilla (4 each), Matt Reis (3), Steve Ralston, Chris Albright and Kevin Alston (2 each) have all missed games because of injury this season, while Albright has missed an additional game because of suspension ... the Revs lost 94 man-games because of injury in 2008, a figure which they are on pace to shatter if the current injury situation continues.

NEXT STOP, RIO TINTO STADIUM

Saturday night's match against Real Salt Lake will mark the Revolution's first-ever visit to Rio Tinto Stadium, a state-of-the-art, soccer-specific complex that was opened on Oct. 9, 2008, in Sandy, Utah ... the Revs have made four previous trips to Utah to battle RSL, but all four of those matches were played at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where New England went 2-1-1 ... although Real Salt Lake has played just six MLS games at Rio Tinto Stadium entering Saturday night, the club has already created a massive home-field advantage, going 4-1-1 at its new home, including 2-0-0 in a pair of matches in 2009 ... the only visiting team that has taken any points from Rio Tinto Stadium is the New York Red Bulls, who earned a 1-1 draw in the first-ever game played at the stadium and a 1-0 win in the 2008 Western Conference Championship.

AN EXPANSION TEAM NO MORE

Although the Revolution holds a slight advantage in the all-time series against Real Salt Lake with a record of 3-2-3, the club has struggled against RSL in recent years, going 1-2-3 in the teams' last six meetings ... New England won the first two meetings between the clubs, sweeping the 2005 regular-season series when RSL was an expansion team ... however, the Revs have beaten Salt Lake just once since that expansion season - a 2-1 win at Rice-Eccles Stadium on July 28, 2007 ... RSL has risen from perennial cellar-dweller to a postseason threat in recent years, as the club reached the 2008 Western Conference Championship before falling just one game short of the MLS Cup title match.

TAKE A DEEP BREATH - REVS SUCCESS IN UTAH

Despite the high altitude in Utah and the effect that the thin air normally has on visiting players, the Revs have defied logic and actually have a better record on the road against RSL (2-1-1) than they have at home (1-1-2) ... what makes this particular statistic even more intriguing is the Revolution's alarming all-time record in Colorado (3-11-2), which has often been attributed to the difficulties of playing in a similarly high altitude ... whatever the reason, the Revolution has been able to deal with the conditions in Utah and will hope that success carries into Real Salt Lake's new home, Rio Tinto Stadium.

GETTING AN EARLY START

In a change from previous years, the Revolution will travel to Salt Lake City on Thursday for Saturday night's match, giving the team an extra day to get acclimated in Utah ... in past years, the team has typically only traveled two days before a game for West Coast trips to the Pacific time zone ... however, the change was made this year to help the players get acclimated to Real Salt Lake's new facility, Rio Tinto Stadium, while the switch was also aided by an easier travel schedule on Thursday ... the Revolution did travel to Salt Lake a day early once before - for the match on June 24, 2006 - but that was because the team traveled directly from Columbus, where the Revs played the Crew on June 21.

JOSEPH DISPLAYS OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER

With his 50th-minute goal in the 1-1 draw at D.C. United last Friday night (April 17), Shalrie Joseph has already surpassed his 2008 offensive production just four games into the 2009 season ... the perennial MLS MVP candidate recorded one goal and one assist in 27 appearances last season, while he's already notched one goal and two assists in just four appearances in 2009 ... an imposing central midfielder, Joseph has made a name for himself around the league as a dominating force, patrolling the middle of the park and serving as the fulcrum of the Revolution's system ... however, with the Revs employing a 4-4-2 formation instead of the 3-5-2 setup that the club used in previous years, Joseph's role in the attack has increased.

RETURNING FROM INJURY, RALSTON MAKES HIS PRESENCE FELT

Captain Steve Ralston made his first start of 2009 in the 1-1 draw with D.C. United last Friday night (April 17) and made an immediate impact, recording his league-record 129th assist on Shalrie Joseph's 50th-minute goal ... Ralston had made his season debut as a halftime substitute in the previous match against FC Dallas (April 4), scoring the game-winning goal with an 80th-minute penalty kick ... the 34-year-old veteran missed the first two games of the season with a strained right quad, which he sustained during preseason training.

ALBRIGHT JOINS THE WALKING WOUNDED

Defender Chris Albright became the latest member of the Revolution to be bitten by the injury bug, as the veteran right back has suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and will require surgery ... Albright has made just one appearance this season, as he was suspended for the season opener against San Jose (March 21), missed the match at New York (March 28) with inflammation in his right ankle, and was unavailable for the D.C. match (April 17) after discovering the severity of his knee injury ... a timetable for Albright's return has not been set.

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