FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (1-2-1, 4 pts.) returns to action this weekend following a bye week, traveling to the West Coast for the first time this year to face Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday.

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET, at Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field. Comcast SportsNet will televise the game live, while 98.5 The Sports Hub will have the game on the radio.

THIS WEEK’S TOP TWEETS

NOTE – Team reaction to Kevin Alston’s leukemia diagnosis appears at the end of this Weekly Update
ICYMI: LAST WEEK ON THE WEB
revolutionsoccer.net:
Revs Academy gets a bit of French flavor
Left knee swelling prompts Reis to rest
Joe-Max Moore elected to hall of fame
Fagundez earns a starting berth
Shuttleworth steps into the breach
VIDEO: RevsTV halftime feature: Academy Program
VIDEO: Fashion show recap
THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES
Alston takes leave to battle leukemia

Revolution defender Kevin Alston has been diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a rare but treatable form of leukemia … has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the team to undergo treatment … Alston’s medical treatment is not expected to require hospitalization and he expects to return to the team in the future … more information about CML can be found at the National CML Society’s site.

Fans can connect with Alston

Fans wishing to send thoughts to Kevin Alston can do so in two ways … they can email GetWellKevinAlston@gmail.com … tweets and other social media messages can be tagged with #GetWellKA.

Keeping busy in bye week

Despite the team’s bye last week, the Revs were still in action, earning a 4-0 win over new pro team, the New England Force at Gillette Stadium on Friday, April 5 … the Revs used goals from Clyde Simms (unassisted, 7’), Diego Fagundez (Kelyn Rowe, 43’), Lee Nguyen (penalty, 44’) and guest player Fernando Monge (Chris Tierney, 86’) to secure the win … every available, non-injured player participated in the scrimmage as Bobby Shuttleworth and Luis Soffner split time in goal … outside of Tierney and Stephen McCarthy – who both played 90 minutes – all other players played all or parts of a half.

Revs boast league’s best defense

Coming out of the team’s bye week, the Revolution boasts MLS’ top defense with a 0.50 goals against average through four games, tied with Sporting Kansas City (also 0.50 GAA) … the Revs have allowed just two goals, while posting two shutouts … only four teams in MLS have a team goals against average below 1.00: New England (0.50), Sporting Kansas City (0.50), LA Galaxy (0.75) and Montreal Impact (0.80).

Best defensive start posted

With two goals allowed in four games, the Revs have posted the best defensive start to the season in club history … the team’s previous best start was in 2006, when the team allowed three goals through four games … that year, the team went on to allow an MLS-low 35 goals in 32 games (1.09 GAA) with 10 shutouts.

Matt Reis is Mr. Clean (sheet)

Despite missing two games with knee irritation, Matt Reis has posted shutouts in both of his outings in 2013 … in the season opener at Chicago, Reis made four saves in the shutout … after missing the Philadelphia game (March 16), Reis made four saves against Sporting KC for his second shutout in as many tries … going back to 2012, Reis has posted shutouts in four of his last five appearances: Sept. 1, 2012 (0-0 vs. Philadelphia Union), Sept. 5, 2012 (2-0 vs. Columbus), March 9, 2013 (1-0 at Chicago) and March 23, 2013 (0-0 vs. Sporting KC) … overall, Reis has 72 career shutouts (63 with the Revs) to rank fourth all-time in MLS history.

THIS WEEK IN ROCHESTER

• On Saturday, April 6, the Rhinos wrapped up their preseason schedule with a 2-0 win over Cornell University
• Revs midfielder Gabe Latigue, on loan to Rochester, earned an assist on the team’s first goal against Cornell
• The Rhinos open their USL PRO season on Saturday, April 13, in a road match at VSI Tampa Bay FC, following by a road tilt at Orlando FC on Sunday, April 14.
• The Revs currently have four players on loan to the Rochester Rhinos as part of the teams’ affiliation agreement: defender Bilal Duckett, Latigue, forward Matt Horth and defender Tyler Polak.

SATURDAY’S OPPONENT & SERIES INFORMATION

Revolution vs. Seattle (regular-season): 3-3-1

Home: 2-1-1

Away: 1-2-0

TEAM NOTES AGAINST SEATTLE

• The teams have split the seven previous meetings between the two teams, 3-3-1
• The Revs are 1-2-0 in three previous meetings at CenturyLink Field in Seattle … after winning their first-ever trip (a 1-0 victory in 2009), the Revs have dropped their last two trips
• Saturday’s match is the only regular-season game between the two teams this season … this is the second year in a row the teams will only meet once
• The teams played to a 2-2 draw at Gillette Stadium in the only match played between the teams in 2012
• Seattle won the season series in 2011, winning both games … Seattle earned a 2-1 win at Century Link Field on June 26 and later beat the Revs, 2-1, on Oct. 1, at Gillette Stadium
• In six of the teams’ seven meetings, the clubs have combined to score at least three goals … only one match – the first-ever contest in 2009 in Seattle, which the Revs won, 1-0 – has seen a single goal scored
• Four of the seven meetings have been one-goal games … each team is 2-2-0 in the one-goal games

PLAYER NOTES AGAINST SEATTLE

• Only one current player – Diego Fagundez – has scored more than one goal against Seattle … Fagundez – who has two goals against the Sounders – scored just his second career MLS goal against Seattle on Oct. 1, 2011, and he then added the 95th-minute equalizer in the 2-2 draw on June 30, 2012 … his 2011 goal came in his first career start … both goals came at Gillette Stadium
• Four other players – Chad Barrett, Sainey Nyassi, Saer Sene and Chris Tierney – all have single goals against the Sounders … Barrett’s goal came in 2010 as a member of Toronto FC
• Chris Tierney scored his first-career MLS goal when the Revs hosted Seattle on Sept. 4, 2010
• Matt Reis is 3-2-1 all time against Seattle with an 1.33 goals against average and one shutout
• Bobby Shuttleworth made his first-ever MLS start at Seattle on June 5, 2010, taking the loss in the 3-0 defeat
• Former Revs captain Shalrie Joseph, now a member of the Sounders, scored three goals in six appearances against Seattle as a member of New England … Joseph’s three goals came in the first two meetings between the teams, which included game-winning goals in both 2009 matches games

REVOLUTION ACADEMY UPDATE
Revs Academy sweeps Met Oval on the road

All three of the Revolution Academy’s youth teams were in action last weekend, sweeping Met Oval on the road in Maspeth, N.Y., for a combined 3-0-0 record … the Under-18s earned a 5-2 victory, while the Under-16s and Under-14s shut out their opponents, 4-0 and 1-0, respectively … the U18s and U16s are the road again this weekend, traveling to Montreal on Saturday, April 13, to take on the Montreal Impact, before continuing on to Rochester, N.Y., where they will meet Revolution Empire – New England’s affiliate youth club – on Sunday, April 14 … the U14s are off, and will return to action the following weekend when all three teams are away against the New York Red Bulls

Apajee earned national player of the week honors

Under-16 midfielder Danny Apajee earned U.S. Soccer Development Academy Player of the Week honors for the last weekend in March … he scored two goals in the U16s’ 3-1 win over BW Gottschee on March 30 … the award was announced on Friday, April 5.

Youth Teams on extended undefeated runs

All three of the Revs’ youth teams are in the midst of extended undefeated runs as they into head this weekend’s schedule ... the Under-18 team has gone 12 games unbeaten, while the Under-16 team in the middle of a six-game unbeaten streak … the Under-14s are 7-2-0 (21 pts.) and have a four-game unbeaten streak with three straight shutouts.

Season to-date records

Heading into this weekend’s games, the Under-18s are 10-2-2 (29 pts.) overall and rank second in the Northeast Division of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s East Conference based on points per game … the Under-16s hold a 8-2-4 record (28 pts.) and are currently in fourth place in the division … the Under-14s are now 8-2-0 (24 pts.), which is good for third in U.S. Club Soccer’s Northeast Pre-Academy League based on points per game.

Summer Player Development Programs enrolling

The Revolution Academy’s Player Development Programs are now enrolling for summer sessions, with locations all over New England … the Revolution Academy trains players of all abilities in all aspect of the game, including ball mastery, speed of play, coordination and balance and movement with and without the ball … the objective of all the training programs is to replicate the speed, tempo and environment of the Revolution Youth Teams’ training sessions … through the age-appropriate player development sessions, the Revolution Academy fosters an atmosphere that is competitive, challenging, demanding and fun … encouragement and support from the professional coaching staff allows every player to gain a better understanding of – and continued passion for – the game … more information, including the full spring and summer schedule, is availableHERE.

TEAM REACTION TO ALSTON’S LEAVE OF ABSENCE