NEW ENGLAND VS. COLORADO SERIES INFORMATION

• Saturday marks the 35th all-time meeting between two of the original MLS teams … Colorado leads the all-time, regular-season series between the two clubs, 16-11-7.
• Tonight’s match is the first of two regular-season games between the Revs and Rapids, and is the only meeting in Foxborough … the teams will meet in Colorado on Saturday, Sept. 18 to wrap-up the 2010 series.
• New England holds an 8-5-4 advantage at home, but is just 3-11-3 all-time against Colorado on the road.
• The Revolution has not won the season series against Colorado since 2001, which was the first time they won since the first two season series in 1996 and 1997 … the teams have drawn the series in six of the last eight years, with the Rapids winning the series in 2005 and 2008.
• Since 2005, the Revs are only 2-4-4 against the Rapids and have not won outright since a 2-1 victory at home on Sept. 27, 2007when Khano Smith tallied an 88th minute goal to secure the 1-0 victory … the clubs have played to a 1-1 draw in three consecutive matches.
• The Revolution and Rapids have never met outside the MLS regular season, although there is a chance that the teams could meet late in May this year in a U.S. Open Cup play-in match if both teams advance in their opening matches.
• The Revolution and Rapids have never met outside the regular season.

PLAYER NOTES VS. COLORADO

• The Revolution and Rapids completed one of the biggest offseason trades of the year, with the Revs receiving Cory Gibbs and Preston Burpo, and a third-round selection in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft and allocation money, in exchange for Jeff Larentowicz and Wells Thompson.
• Nico Colaluca was also acquired from the Rapids, coming to the Revs in exchange for Rob Valentino, on May 6, 2009.
• Taylor Twellman leads the Revs with nine career goals against the Rapids, while he’s also added three assists in 13 appearances.
• Kenny Mansally has one goal and one assist against Colorado, notching the game-tying goal in the 1-1 draw at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Sept. 20, 2008 to give the Revs their first point in Colorado since 2004.
• Kheli Dube scored, heading in Mansally’s free kick, in the team’s last visit to Colorado – Oct. 3, 2009 – in a draw against the Rapids.
• Preston Burpo has made three starts against the Rapids – all coming in 2006 when he was with Chivas USA – going 1-0-2 with a 1.67 goals against average.

LAST MEETING
New England 1, Colorado 1
October 3, 2009 – Dick’s Sporting Good’s Stadium (Commerce City, Colo.)

Kheli Dube buried a header from Kenny Mansally’s free kick past current Rev and former Rapids keeper Preston Burpo in the 29th minute to give the Revolution a first half lead. But the Rapids’ top scoring threat, Conor Casey, converted a penalty kick in the 58th minute to pull the teams even. Nico Colaluca, who was traded to the Revs from Colorado early last season, made his first career start against his former team and nearly scored New England’s second goal in the 43rd minute when he unleashed a 25-yard blast that Burpo just got a hand on for the save.

NEWS & NOTES
REVS RETURN HOME TO TAKE ON THE RAPIDS

Revolution returns to Gillette Stadium Saturday night to play the Colorado Rapids in its second home game of the season … the Revs are coming off a 2-0 loss to San Jose while the Colorado Rapids scored three set-piece goals in a 3-1 win over Toronto FC on Sunday afternoon to improve to 2-1-1 on the season … both clubs are tied for second place in their respective conferences, with the Rapids toting seven points to the Revs' six.

NEW ENGLAND EMBARKS ON SEASON-LONG HOMESTAND

Starting with its game against the Colorado Rapids at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night, the Revolution begins its longest home stand of the season, a three-game stretch where the Revs will face all Western Conference foes at home in a twelve-day span … the home stand covers matches against Colorado, FC Dallas (May 1) and Chivas USA (May 5) … New England will also face Chivas, Colorado and FC Dallas in consecutive road games, also in a twelve-day span, from September 10-22.

TRADE PARTNERS CROSS PATHS

The Revs and Rapids made one of the biggest trades last offseason when New England sent Jeff Larentowicz and Wells Thompson to Colorado for Preston Burpo and Cory Gibbs, a draft pick and allocation money… the two clubs will meet Saturday night for the first time since the trade …Larentowicz has made four appearances in Colorado, starting three and scoring his first goal for Colorado in the Rapids 3-1 win over Toronto FC on Sunday … Thompson has made four appearances with one start this season, scoring twice in the Rapids win over Kansas City in a U.S. Open Cup Qualifier … Burpo has started all four games in goal for the Revolution and is among the league leaders in goalkeeping statistics … Gibbs has also started all four games for the Revolution at defender, serving as captain for three of the first four games this season.

LINEUP WITH A DIFFERENT LOOK

After using identical starting lineups in the first two games of the season, head coach Steve Nicol has used two different starting lineups in the last two games … Darrius Barnes made his first start of the season at center back after returning from a right hip flexor strain that held him to one minute of action before Saturday ... Barnes was a late addition to the lineup after Emmanuel Osei was unable to go because of lingering pain in his left foot suffered in training earlier in the week … Marko Perovi? made his first start in MLS in San Jose at forward, where Kheli Dube had started the first three games of the season … Perovi? registered three shots in the loss and was very active on the ball during the entire match.

SHALRIE ON THE MEND…AGAIN

Shalrie Joseph missed Saturday night’s game in San Jose and has been unavailable for three of the first four games this season with a right hip flexor strain … Joseph started the home opener win against Toronto (April 10) and registered an assist, but re-aggravated the injury during the game and missed the whole week of training … he has been traditionally very durable throughout his eight-year career, averaging 27 games played during his seven full seasons in the league … Joseph in fewer than 27 games only once in 2003, when he played 23.

BURPO CONTINUES TO IMPRESS IN GOAL

Preston Burpo has been more than a steady replacement in goal while Matt Reis recovers from his offseason shoulder and knee surgeries … Burpo has allowed only four goals in four games and is tied for fourth in the league with a 1.00 goals against average … he is ranked fifth in MLS in goals against average (1.00), saves (11) and save percentage (.733) through four games.

DESPITE TROUBLE OUT WEST, OFFENSE STILL ON TRACK

Despite being shut out in two of its four games this season, the Revolution attack still ranks among the league leaders in major offensive categories … through four games, the Revs have scored six goals - good for third in MLS - and have tallied five assists, good for sixth place … the club has unleashed 45 shots, landing 20 on net, good for fourth and third in the league, respectively.

RECENT TROUBLE WITH THE WESTERN CONFERENCE

With the 2-0 loss last Saturday, New England is winless in its last four games with Western Conference teams, going 0-3-1 since the end of last season … the Revs last win over a Western Conference team came in a 2-1 victory over Seattle in Foxborough on Sept. 26, 2009 … since then, the Revolution has been outscored 5-1 in those four games against Dallas (1-0 loss, Sept. 30), Colorado (1-1 draw, Oct. 3), LA (1-0 loss, March 27) and San Jose (2-0 loss, April 17).

OPEN CUP DATE ANNOUNCED

As the top seed in the MLS play-in bracket for the 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the Revolution will travel on Wednesday, May 12 to play winner of the New York Red Bulls-Philadelphia Union play-in game, which his being played on Tuesday, April 27 ... home venues for the first round of the play-in bracket were determined by coin flip on Tuesday, March 2 ... the No. 1 seeded Revs lost a coin toss and will therefore play the winner of the NYRB-PHI game on the road.

YOUTH UPDATE

The New England Revolution youth teams went a combined 2-1-1 this weekend in their first games on the season at Gillette Stadium … Seacoast United came into Foxborough on Saturday afternoon with the U16s pulling off a 5-2 victory and the U18s playing to a 2-2 draw … Felix DeBona (Everett, Mass.) and Diego Fagundez (Leominster, Mass.) scored twice for the U16s while Jonni Ventura (Westminster, Mass.) tallied twice for the U18s in the draw … the youth teams squared off against Empire United on Sunday, with the U16s capturing a 2-1 win and the U18s dropping a 3-1 decision to cap off the weekend … Daniel Tchen (Concord, Mass.) and Fagundez scored for the U16s in the win while Ventura netted the only goal for the U18s in the loss … the youth teams next square off against FC Greater Boston Bolts on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.