NEW ENGLAND VS. CHIVAS USA SERIES INFORMATION

• New England leads the all-time, regular-season series between the two clubs, 5-3-2 … the teams have met just once outside of regular-season action, playing to a 1-1 draw in the SuperLiga 2008 group stage.
• The Revs have never lost to Chivas USA at Gillette Stadium, going 4-0-1 going in five meetings since the Goats’ expansion season in 2005 … New England has outscored Chivas USA, 11-2, in those five matches.
• Wednesday night’s match will be the first of two meeting New England and Chivas USA in the 2010 regular season … the Revs will visit the Home Depot Center on Sept. 10 to conclude the season series.
• New England’s 2-1 win over Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center on May 11, 2008, is the only game in the all-time series in which the visiting team has won.
• Eleven of the Revolution’s fourteen goals against Chivas USA have been scored in the second half, including the last seven overall.
• New England has allowed more than one goal against Chivas USA just twice in 10 regular-season meetings, a pair of 2-0 losses on June 30, 2007 and their most recent meeting, on Sept. 13, 2009 … the Revs, meanwhile, have scored multiple goals against Chivas USA four times, including three of the last four meetings.
• The Revs have conceded just nine goals to Chivas USA in 10 regular-season meetings for a goals against average of 0.90.
• New England and Chivas split the 2009 regular-season series, with each team winning a 2-0 decision at home … the Revolution struck first at Gillette on July 19, while the Goats evened the series at The Home Depot Center on Sept. 13.

PLAYER NOTES VS. CHIVAS USA

• Taylor Twellman leads the Revolution with four goals in seven career appearances (five starts) against Chivas USA … Twellman scored the game-winning goal in both of New England’s wins over Chivas USA in 2008, but he will be unavailable for Saturday’s match.
• Kheli Dube and Kenny Mansally have each scored one goal against Chivas USA … Dube’s strike was the game-winning goal in the 2009 home game at Gillette Stadium, while Mansally struck at The Home Depot Center in 2008.
• Chris Tierney also recorded an assist against Chivas USA, setting up Dube’s goal last season.
• Preston Burpo played for Chivas USA for the 2006 and 2007 seasons… during this time he appeared in 22 regular-season games, finishing with an 8-4-10 record … as a member of the Goats, Burpo made three starts against the Revs in 2006-07, going 1-0-2 with a 0.67 goals against average and one shutout.
• Matt Reis is the only member of the Revolution to have played every minute of every game against Chivas USA in the ten-game, regular-season series … he is 5-3-2 with three shutouts against the Goats but will be unavailable for Saturday’s match.

LAST MEETING

Chivas 2, New England 0
September 13, 2009 – The Home Depot Center (Carson, Calif.)
Matt Reis made eight saves in net for the Revolution, but Chivas USA scored a goal in each half and shut the visitors out to ensure a split in the regular-season series. Maicon Santos scored the game-winner for Chivas USA early in the first half, while Sacha Kljestan converted a penalty kick three minutes into stoppage time to secure the victory. The Goats’ defense was suffocating, holding the Revs without a shot until Sainey Nyassi registered an attempt in the 66th minute.

NEW ENGLAND VS. COLUMBUS SERIES INFORMATION

• Columbus leads the all-time regular-season series between the two teams, 25-16-9 … additionally, the Revs are 3-0-3 against the Crew in outside competitions, including the MLS Cup Playoffs (2-0-3) and the U.S. Open Cup (1-0-0)
• The Revolution is just 6-13-6 in Columbus in the regular season, including 5-8-6 at Crew Stadium since the facility opened in 1999 …after dropping their first five games at Crew Stadium, the Revs are 5-3-6 at the facility since 2002.
• Saturday night’s match will be the first meeting of the season between the Revs and the Crew, and the only meeting at Crew Stadium … the clubs will meet again on Sept. 25 at Gillette Stadium.
• New England has won just twice in its last eight meetings with Columbus dating back to the 2007 season … the Revs are 2-4-2 in that stretch, and have been shut out in three consecutive meetings before earning a 1-0 victory at Columbus on Oct. 25, 2009 in the regular-season finale.
• New England and Columbus split the 2009 season series, with each team winning 1-0 on the road … the Revs’ last season-series victory over the Crew came in 2006, when the Revolution went 2-1-1 against Columbus.
• The last five meetings between the Revs and Crew have resulted with one team getting shut out … New England is 2-3-0 in those matches with bookend wins, going 340 minutes during the stretch without a goal against Columbus.

PLAYER NOTES VS. COLUMBUS

• Taylor Twellman is the Revolution’s all-time leading scorer against Columbus, registering nine goals and three assists in 21 career appearances … Twellman will be unavailable for Saturday’s match while he recovers from a concussion.
•  Kheli Dube is the only active member of the Revolution with a goal against Columbus in their last five meetings, registering an 89th-minute game-winner in a 1-0 victory on May 24, 2008 at Crew Stadium … Dube will be available for Saturday’s match with the Crew following a one-game suspension he must serve after being shown a straight red card during Saturday’s match with FC Dallas.
• Preston Burpo is 1-0-2 in three career starts against the Crew – two games with Chivas USA in 2006 and one with Colorado in 2009 … Burpo has made five saves on nine shots and holds a 0.67 goals against average and one shutout.
• Matt Reis is 7-7-7 with a 1.39 goals against average and five shutouts in his Revolution career against the Crew … Reis’ last regular-season action came against Columbus, a 1-0 win in the Oct. 25, 2009 regular-season finale … Reis will be unavailable for Saturday’s match with Columbus as he recovers from offseason knee and shoulder surgeries.

LAST MEETING

New England 1, Columbus 0
October 25, 2009 – Crew Stadium (Columbus, Ohio)
The Revolution became just the second team in 2009 to defeat the Columbus Crew at home, a 1-0 win. Matt Reis ran his regular-season shutout streak to 302 minutes in the 1-0 victory in the 2009 regular-season, a streak still intact as Reis has not yet played this season. The game was scoreless until the 79th minute former Rev Jeff Larentowicz scored on a 19 yard free-kick to secure the final playoff berth for the Revs in the MLS Cup Playoffs.


NEWS & NOTES

MONTH OF MAY-HEM IS UNDERWAY
The Revs look for their first win in one of the busiest months of the club’s history against Chivas USA on Wednesday night … the club’s first midweek game of 2010 is followed by a trip to Columbus, Ohio, and a date with Eastern Conference foe, the Crew … the eight scheduled games in the month of May includes six regular-season contests, one U.S. Open Cup game and one friendly against an international opponent (SL Benfica) … the games will be played in close proximity to home, however, as five of the eight games will be held at Gillette Stadium and the farthest the Revs will have to travel is Columbus (May 8) … the Revs have played eight games in one calendar month only one other time in franchise history: August 2008.

BURPO SETS PERSONAL SAVES MARK
Preston Burpo made a career-high 10 saves against Dallas on Saturday, besting his previous mark of eight … Burpo also set a career mark for saves in a half, when he turned away seven shots in the first 45 minutes of play … his previous career-high eight saves came against the Revolution on July 7, 2007, at Gillette Stadium while Burpo was a member of Chivas USA.

ROOKIE REAPS BENEFITS AT THE RAZOR
Zack Schilawski tallied his team-leading fourth goal of the season on Saturday night and the rookie is currently tied for third place in the league scoring table as MLS' top-scoring first-year player … all four of Schilawski’s tallies have come at Gillette Stadium, including a hat trick in the home opener against Toronto (April 10) … New England could use Schilawski’s goal-scoring acumen to kick in on the road, as the Revs only have two goals in three road games and have been shut out twice.

REVS TO PLAY SHORTHANDED ON WEDNESDAY
Midfielder Joseph Niouky and forward Kheli Dube will both be unavailable for Wednesday’s match with Chivas USA … Niouky and Dube were both shown straight red cards during the second half of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with FC Dallas and will be suspended for the next match … 11 different players were booked in the match, six for New England and five for Dallas … the Hoops were shown five yellow cards, while the Revs received five yellows and two reds … Joseph Niouky received a yellow in the 65th minute and was shown a straight red in the 72nd minute for a late tackle from behind.

NEWBIES NEEDED TO STEP UP
Of the players who will be available for this week’s games with Chivas USA and Columbus, only three have ever tallied against the two opponents: Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally and Khano Smith … Dube and Smith each have a goal in their careers against Chivas and Columbus, while Mansally has one tally against Chivas … however, Dube will be unavailable for Wednesday’s match against Chivas because he will serve a one-game suspension for being drawing a red card during Saturday’s match with FC Dallas.

DUBE MAKES HELPING A HABIT
With another assist in Saturday night’s 1-1 draw with FC Dallas, Kheli Dube and is tied for third in MLS with three assists and leads the Revolution with his trio of helpers … Dube’s assists this season are his first after Dube went all of 2009 without recording any and picked up four during his 2008 rookie campaign … though he tied for the team lead with eight goals in 2009, Dube did not record any assists.

HOME TEAM KEEPS ‘EM SCORELESS
Six of the 10 all-time regular season matches between the Revolution and Chivas USA have ended with at least one team being shut out … each club has shut out the other team three times with the home team holding the visitor scoreless in each case … three consecutive matches between the clubs have ended as shutouts, with the Revs on the winning end of two of those.

CHIVAS WILL BE RELIEVED NOT TO SEE REIS
Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis has played every minute of all 10 matches between New England and Chivas USA since the Goats entered the league in 2005 … Reis holds a 5-3-2 record against Chivas and a 0.90 goals against average, his second-best mark against ay team he has played at least three times … Reis has also shut out the Goats three times … Preston Burpo will be the first Revs keeper not named Matt Reis to start between the pipes against Chivas USA … Burpo was a member of Chivas USA from 2006-2007, but has never faced his former team.

THESE REVS ARE CONNECTED
For the third time this season, Pat Phelan and Zack Schilawski will square off against a former college teammate … while at Wake Forest, this Revs pair won the 2007 NCAA championship with Chivas USA midfielder Michael Lahoud … Phelan and Schilawski also faced former teammates Ike Opara at San Jose (April 24) and Sam Cronin when Toronto FC was in town (April 10).

GOOD CHANCE FOR A GOOSE EGG
The Revs and Crew have played 51 regular-season games and 21 of those meetings, someone has been shutout in 41 percent of their matches between the two teams since 1996 … Columbus holds the shutout advantage, 12-7, while the teams have played to a 0-0 draw twice … one team has been shut out in five straight matches going into Saturday.

WESTERN CONFERENCE WOES
With the 1-1 draw last Saturday, New England is winless in its last six games against Western Conference teams, going 0-4-2 since the end of last season … the Revs last win over a Western Conference opponent came in a 2-1 victory over Seattle in Foxborough on Sept. 26, 2009 … since then, the Revolution has been outscored 8-3 in those six games … New England has another chance to snap the winless streak, when Chivas USA visits on Wednesday.

USOC MATCH FINALIZED
The Revolution will travel to face the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday, May 12 at 8 p.m. at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. during the play-in round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup ... New England’s opponent was finalized on Wednesday, April 27 when New York defeated the Philadelphia Union, 2-1, in the USOC play-in game ... May 12 will be the Revs’ first-ever game in the brand-new Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. … the U.S. Open Cup is a single-elimination tournament.

NEW ENGLAND TO HOST INTERNATIONAL POWERS CRUZEIRO AND SL BENFICA
The Revs recently announced that the club will host two international friendlies, one this month and one in June … New England first plays legendary Portuguese club SL Benfica on Wednesday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m., followed by Brazilian powerhouse Cruzeiro Esporto Clube on Sunday, June 13, at 7 p.m. inside Gillette Stadium … Cruzeiro, which is acclaimed for its player development system, boasts a current roster that features such Brazilian stars as Gilberto, Roger, Kleber and Fábio … founded in 1904, Benfica boasts a record 32 league titles (and is on the verge of its 33rd), 24 Portuguese Cup titles, and back-to-back Portuguese League Cups, including the 2009-10 championship.

REVOLUTION PLACES REIS ON THE SHELF AND SIGNS MURRAY
Te Revs placed goalkeeper Matt Reis on the disabled list late last week because of his ongoing rehabilitation from offseason surgeries on his left shoulder and left knee … Reis, who has already missed the first five games of the season, will miss at least six more … with a roster space opened up, the Revolution has signed goalkeeper Tim Murray to back up Preston Burpo and Bobby Shuttleworth for the foreseeable future.

A BIT ON TIM MURRAY
Newly signed goalkeeper Tim Murray has trained with the club since early March after four seasons at Providence College … Murray, who hails from Haverhill, Mass., made 60 starts over four seasons at PC and finished with a 1.01 goals against average and posted 27 shutouts while making 201 saves … the 22 year-old Murray also played his high school soccer at St. John’s Prep (Danvers).