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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 Revolution is 4-8-5 all-time in regular-season games played at Chicago, including 1-3-1 at Toyota Park … New England owns a 9-7-1 regular-season record against the Fire at home (7-6-0 at Gillette Stadium).
• Saturday night’s match is the first of two meetings between the Revolution and Fire this regular season, and the only one at Toyota Park … the regular-season series will conclude at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 17 in the Revs’ home finale.
• The Fire swept the 2008 regular-season series with the Revolution, winning all three games by a combined score of 9-1 … Chicago rolled to a 4-0 win in the first meeting at Toyota Park on April 3, while the Fire then earned a pair of victories at Gillette Stadium on May 3 (3-0) and Aug. 9 (2-1).
• The Revolution was eliminated by the Fire in the first round of the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs … the clubs played to a 0-0 draw at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 30 before Chicago earned a 3-0 victory at Toyota Park on Nov. 6 to advance to the Eastern Conference championship.
• New England and Chicago have met in six of the last seven postseasons (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) and the last four overall … in total, the teams have met in seven postseason series, all since 2000 … the Revolution leads the all-time playoff series, 4-3.
• The Revs have lost four straight regular-season games to the Fire and haven’t defeated Chicago in a regular-season match since May 6, 2007, when they earned a 3-1 victory at Gillette Stadium … New England is 1-6-0 in its last seven regular-season meetings with Chicago.
• New England’s last win against Chicago in all competitions was in the 2007 Eastern Conference championship game (Nov. 8), when Taylor Twellman’s spectacular bicycle kick was the only goal of the game to send the Revs to MLS Cup … the Revs are 0-4-1 against the Fire in all competitions since that match.
• Including a pair of postseason matches and a U.S. Open Cup meeting, the Revs have lost six straight games at Toyota Park and have been outscored, 13-2, in those six games … the Revolution hasn’t won in Chicago since July 8, 2006, when the club earned a 2-1 win.

PLAYER NOTES VS. CHICAGO

• Taylor Twellman leads the Revolution with 12 goals in 23 regular-season appearances against Chicago … he has also scored four of his 10 career postseason goals against the Fire.
• Steve Ralston has recorded nine career assists against the Fire, including five in 21 appearances with the Revolution … Ralston has also added six goals against Chicago, all of which have been scored during his time with the Revs.
• Jeff Larentowicz has two goals and two assists against the Fire in 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.
• During his time with the Revolution, Matt Reis is 7-10-2 in the regular season against Chicago with a 1.53 goals against average and three shutouts.

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING
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 an 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 second 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

PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE
While the Revolution has struggled in its last two matches while falling to consecutive shutout losses, the club’s record of 2-2-2 (8 pts.) six games into the season is far from disastrous … last season, New England was 3-2-1 (10 pts.) at this point in the season en route to a 10-4-3 start and a SuperLiga title … entering this week’s action, the Revs were just four points out of first place in the Eastern Conference and had at least one game in hand on every team ahead of them in the standings … not to mention, all this without the full-time services of Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston, Matt Reis, Chris Albright, Kevin Alston, Mauricio Castro and Gabriel Badilla, who have all missed at least four games this season.

REVOLUTION AND FIRE SET TO RENEW PASSIONATE RIVALRY
The Revolution will encounter a familiar foe on Saturday night (May 9) at Toyota Park, as the Chicago Fire has become a true rival for the Revs in recent years … while the teams are not traditional geographic rivals, the competition has been magnified between the clubs because of repeated meetings in the postseason and heated regular-season games … amazingly, the Revolution and Fire have met in the MLS Cup Playoffs in six of the last seven years, including the last four overall … also stoking the flames of the rivalry has been the level of competition, as the all-time series has been remarkably even in both the regular-season and the postseason … Chicago owns a slight edge in the all-time, regular-season series (15-13-6), while New England has the advantage in playoff series victories (4-3).

REVS TURN TO THOUGHTS OF REVENGE
As the Revolution prepares to return to Toyota Park on Saturday night (May 9) to take on the Chicago Fire, memories of a bitter end to the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs still linger … New England’s season ended on the Toyota Park surface at the hands of the Fire in 2008, as Chicago earned a 3-0 win on Nov. 6 to eliminate the Revolution from the postseason … after defeating Chicago in the playoffs each of the previous three seasons (2005, 2006, 2007), it was an unusual feeling for the Revs to be eliminated by the Fire, and it left a bitter taste … more than five months after that last meeting, New England finally has its chance to earn a measure of revenge against Chicago.

NO JOY AT TOYOTA PARK
Considering the Revolution’s remarkable performance in the first-ever match played at Toyota Park on June 11, 2006 – when the Revs scored two goals in second-half stoppage time to force a 3-3 draw – it would stand to follow that the club would have fond memories of the facility … however, since going 1-0-1 in their first two matches at Toyota Park, the Revs have lost six straight games at the Fire’s stadium and have been outscored, 13-2, in those six matches … included in that six-game stretch are a pair of postseason contests in 2006 and 2008 and a U.S. Open Cup meeting in 2006.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
After playing their first home game in almost a month yesterday afternoon, the Revs will return to the road once again this weekend when they travel to Chicago to battle the Fire on Saturday night (May 9) … the Revolution has already gone 1-1-2 in four road games this season, and will have to continue to earn points away from home as two of the club’s next three matches are on the road … New England is the only team in the league to have played just two home games entering this week’s action.

TWELLMAN INCHING CLOSER TO RETURN
Taylor Twellman took a huge step toward returning to the field this past weekend, as the Revolution’s all-time leading scorer dressed for the team’s game against the Houston Dynamo (May 3) and was on the bench during the match for the first time this season … Twellman has been recovering from severe whiplash symptoms stemming from a blow to the head that he received from former Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin while scoring a goal on Aug. 30, 2008, and has yet to take the field this season … however, the 2005 MLS MVP has recently ramped up his participation in training and has stated that he hopes to be returning to the field in the coming weeks, and taking part in pregame warm-ups and joining his teammates on the bench is a big step in that process.

LOCAL PRODUCT MIKE VIDEIRA EARNS FIRST MLS START
Milford, Mass., native Mike Videira made the first start of his MLS career on Sunday afternoon against the Houston Dynamo (May 3), playing 77 minutes as an attacking midfielder … Videira – who made his MLS debut as a substitute against Real Salt Lake on April 25 – was originally drafted by the Revolution in the second round of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft … however, the former Massachusetts high school standout signed a short-term contract with Hamilton Academical of the Scottish Premier League in the summer before returning to the U.S. to sign with the Revs in December 2008 … a graduate of the Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Mass., Videira played both high school soccer and club soccer (Boston Bolts) with current Revolution teammate Chris Tierney.

TEENAGER ASSENGUE SEES FIRST MLS ACTION
Cameroonian forward Stephane Assengue made his MLS debut on Sunday afternoon against the Houston Dynamo (May 3), entering the match in the 65th minute and becoming the fifth youngest player to ever play for the Revolution (18 years, 346 days) … Assengue signed with the Revolution on March 26, 2009, and joined his new teammates for the first time on April 7 … after dressing for New England’s games against D.C. United (April 17) and Real Salt Lake (April 25), Assengue finally took the field this past weekend when he replaced Kheli Dube for the final 25 minutes of the Revolution’s 2-0 loss.

OSEI ARRIVES
A full one month after he signed with the Revolution, Ghanaian defender Emmanuel Osei finally arrived in the United States late last week and was on the bench for New England’s match against Houston on Sunday afternoon (May 3) … Osei – who was signed by the Revs on March 31, 2009 – received his P-1 Visa on Wednesday, April 29, arrived into Boston’s Logan Airport the morning of Thursday, April 30, and completed his entrance physical that afternoon … the 26-year-old joined his teammates for training for the first time on Friday, May 1, and just two days later he was on the bench for the Revolution’s game against Houston.

REVS ANNOUNCE U16 AND U18 TRYOUT INFORMATION
The New England Revolution will conduct open tryouts for its Under-16 and Under-18 teams at locations around southern New England between May 26 and June 2 … entering its second season, the Revolution’s youth program is the only fully-funded youth program in New England, and competes in the prestigious U.S. Soccer Development Academy … players are eligible for the Under-16 team if they were born on January 1, 1993 or after … players eligible for the Under-18 team were born on January 1, 1991 or after.

Open Try-out Schedule

Tuesday, May 26: Andover, Mass. (Wood Hill Middle School, 11 Cross St., Andover, Mass., 01810)
Under-16s: 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Under-18s: 6:30 – 8 p.m.

Friday, May 29: Cranston, R.I. (Briggs/Chafee Sports Complex, Hope Rd., Cranston, R.I., 02921)
Under-16s: 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Under-18s: 6:30 - 8 p.m.

Tuesday, June 2: Marlboro, Mass. (Ghiloni Park, 239 Concord Rd., Marlboro, Mass., 01752)
Under-16s: 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Under-18s: 6:30 - 8 p.m.