FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Since the very first game of the 2025 season – a 0-0 draw in Nashville – the Revolution have prided themselves on their defensive fortitude. And it’s only gotten better since.
With just seven goals against through nine games, the Revs are currently tied with Supporters’ Shield leaders Vancouver Whitecaps FC for fewest goals conceded in MLS. The Revs have not only secured three straight wins, but also three straight shutouts, putting them on track to set a new club record for best defensive start through 10 games, if they can keep up another clean sheet in Toronto.
Having already matched the club record for best defensive start at this stage of the season, the Revolution look a lot different from this moment just one year ago, when they had conceded 18 times through their first nine games.
“I think, the three wins in a row, we’ve also had three clean sheets which is important. We need that. I think our mentality, above all, is our strength along with the unity between teammates. We’re all working day to day and keeping our responsibilities,” said defender Brayan Ceballos, who has played all 90 minutes of his eight appearances with the team this season. “We’re doing well on things like duels and crosses, things that we’ve been working on in training and you’ve seen that reflected in games.”
Much of this defensive success can be credited to the Revolution’s revamped back line, bolstered in recent games with a shift in tactics – moving from a flat back four and transitioning to three center backs, starting the last three games with Ceballos alongside fellow newcomers Mamadou Fofana and Tanner Beason.
“When we first saw those three guys together, you could feel that this could be a good group. Then, they needed to do it in the game, but I think they fit together in a good way,” explained head coach Caleb Porter. “Brayan is so athletic and loves to be in duels, so in a three [-man back line] he can go and get in duels and that is his best quality. Mama [Fofana] is more of a cerebral player that reads the game and organizes, and he’s a great guy in the center of that three. And Tanner is a guy that balances the other two out. He’s an American center back that knows our league, that’s kind of a steady-eddy, and he’s left-footed which is great for our buildup and passing. He’s good in the air and speaks Spanish and English, which helps with the organization.”
Both Fofana and Ceballos feel a level of comfort with three in the back, having played in the formation prior to their arrivals in MLS, so it was a transition they were quick to grasp.
“When I was in France and when I was in Turkey, I played four years like this. Not in central [defense], I played on the left or right, but it doesn’t matter. If I can help the team with what I do, I will continue to do this,” explained Fofana. “As I said, it’s an important moment now. We are winning, it’s good, but it’s football. We have to stay humble and ready to play every game like this, and to keep working.”
Of course, no defense would be complete without its goalkeeper, and Aljaž Ivačič has been a brick wall when it’s come to supporting New England in the last few games. The Slovenian shot stopper has been honored with a starting spot on MLS Team of the Matchday twice this season – both in the last three games, with 34 saves to date in 2025.
“I think he [Ivačič] does a good job. When we need him, he makes good saves. I think he’s important for the team,” said Fofana. “We have to keep up what we are doing and keep pushing, because we just played nine games. We are in a good [form], but we have to continue to work and keep pushing.”
After ending Charlotte FC’s eight-game home win streak last weekend, the Revolution have bumped themselves up to 10th place in the Eastern Conference, an improvement Porter said must continue to get better.
As New England continues their run of away games, they head next to BMO Field to take on Toronto FC on Saturday afternoon (4:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). Sitting near the bottom of the table with just a single win, Porter warned against thinking it will be a simple task. The Canadian side has had a good run of defensive form – just two goals against in their last five games – and as the Revolution continue to search for more goals and more wins, they will need to ramp up the creativity to keep seeing success.
“They are learning what it takes to win games. It starts with training and it starts with the right mentality to improve,” Porter said. “We can’t get casual and complacent here; there is nothing to celebrate at all. We’re in 10th place and we have to keep fighting to get up the table. This game in Toronto is going to be a very difficult game. It would be easy to look at where they are at in the table and, if human nature kicks in, you think, ‘Oh yeah, this will be a game that’s set up for us.’ But it doesn’t happen that way, and it doesn’t work out that way in this league. As soon as you start thinking that way, you lose.”
