FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Saturday night’s match in Montréal will be New England’s 10th road game in 15 to start this season. Looking at their schedule, the Revs knew this would be a tough few months of games, but they’ve been fearless on the road – earning 13 of their 20 points away from home. In their last eight outings, New England has gone unbeaten, with six of those results coming outside the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium.
In a midweek clash on Wednesday night, the Revolution managed to take another point on the road against D.C. United. The draw was New England’s fourth in a row, continuing to grind out points as the visiting side.
“We’re right there to take the three points and we don’t. I think it’s disappointing, but we have to move on from it quickly. We have two days to turn around and go on the road again at Montréal. At the end of the day, it’s still a point on the road,” explained head coach Caleb Porter following Wednesday’s result. “We’ll recover, and then we need to throw everything into this final road game of the week and push to get those three points.”
While the focus remains firmly on the next match in Montréal, there’s some relief on the horizon, with New England’s road-heavy stretch finally easing up after Saturday night. The Revs will spend the entire month of June at home with three games at Gillette Stadium before heading back on the road on July 5.
“We knew these first 15 games were going to be extremely difficult with 10 games of the 15 on the road, if my math is right. If you could imagine 10 road games out of 15, that’s a daunting start of the season,” said Porter. “We’re picking up points. I know we dropped two points today, there’s no doubt, but we continue to pick up points and be tough to beat. Now, we just have to put it behind us and go and win at Montréal.”
Even with two-thirds of their games thus far being played away, the Revolution have remained one of the best defensive teams in the league. It’s that consistency in the back that has built the foundation for New England’s season.
Conceding only 14 goals through their 14 games, New England enter the weekend tied for the second-best defensive record in MLS.
“I think there are a lot of defenders that we have, and our goalie [Aljaž Ivačič] of course, that all buy into the fact that we have to be strong defensively in order to be a good team in this league. I think that’s what we’ve done over the last [eight] games, and we have to continue to do that,” said defender Brandon Bye. “I think the wins will come. It’s a little disappointing, a couple games in a row now that we drop points at the end. But we have to keep pushing and see games out.”
While Porter has emphasized the mentality of this roster – not wanting to accept anything less than three points – he’s still proud of their ability to avoid defeat on the road. With a string of home games ahead, the coming month presents a prime opportunity for the Revolution to climb the Eastern Conference table.
“We have to keep it all in perspective. We’ve definitely felt like we’ve dropped some points over the last several games, but we’re not getting beat and we’re still picking up points. Every point matters, and every point adds up, so when the dust settles this is still a point and we’re surviving through this brutal stretch with 10 road games out of the first 15,” Porter said. “And, obviously, three road games this week. We’re going through a lot of adversity, we have injuries, and guys are buckling down. They’re giving everything.”
The Revs currently sit 10th in the East – just outside the playoff field – but with two games in hand on most of the conference, New England’s points-per-game put them in a promising position for the rest of the season, if they can continue performing and secure more three-point victories.
In their final road game until July, the Revolution face off with CF Montréal on Saturday night at Stade Saputo at 7:30 p.m. ET.
