FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (2-2-0, 6 pts.) remains on the road this week and travels to FC Dallas Stadium to face FC Dallas (1-2-1, 4 pts.) at 8:30 p.m. ET, on Thursday, April 5.
The match will be televised regionally on Comcast SportsNet alternate channels and will also be carried locally on the radio by 98.5 The Sports Hub’s HD2 station. CSN’s alternate-channel details can be found HERE.
Thursday’s match at Dallas will mark the first and only time that the clubs meet this season. Last season, the teams split the regular-season series, with Dallas picking up a 1-0 win at home on June 4, followed by a 2-0 Revolution win on Sept. 10, at Gillette Stadium.
SERIES INFORMATION VS. FC Dallas
Team Notes vs. FC Dallas
· The Revolution leads the all-time, regular-season series with FC Dallas (formerly Dallas Burn), 23-11-3 … the Revs are 11-6-2 on the road at Dallas, including a 3-2-1 mark in regular-season games at FC Dallas Stadium
· Saturday’s match will be the first – and only – time that the two teams meet in 2012 …this is the first year since 1996 that the teams will not meet at least twice
· The Revs split the 2011 season series against Dallas, with each team picking up the win at home … Dallas took the first match, 1-0, on June 4, at Pizza Hut Park, while the Revs earned the win, 2-0, on Sept. 10, at Gillette Stadium
· After going 15-3-0 against Dallas between 2001 and April 2009, the Revs are 1-2-2 against the Hoops in the last five meetings, dating back to Sept. 30, 2009 … the Revs’ lone win in that span came last Sept. 10, in a 2-0 win at Gillette Stadium to snap a four-game winless run against Dallas
· New England has a regular-season winning percentage of .662 against Dallas is .662, the second-highest winning percentage against any team in MLS against whom they’ve played at least 10 matches (Houston is first with a .667 winning percentage)
· New England split or won the season series every year from 2000 to 2011
· The teams have met outside the MLS regular season once when the Revs defeated Dallas, 3-2, to win the 2007 U.S. Open Cup, their first-ever cup championship, on Oct. 3, 2007 at Pizza Hut Park
Player Notes vs. FC Dallas
· Shalrie Joseph is the active leading scorer against Dallas with four goals and two assists in 18 appearances … one of Joseph’s goals came in the teams’ last meeting – a 2-0 Revolution victory – on Sept. 10, 2011, at Gillette Stadium
· Sainey Nyassi has recorded one goal and one assist against Dallas … his goal came on April 4, 2009
· Benny Feilhaber and Chris Tierney have also recorded assists against FCD … Feilhaber’s came on Sept. 10, 2011 on Rajko Lekic’s goal at Gillette Stadium … Tierney picked up an assist on Shalrie Joseph’s headed goal at Dallas on Sept. 22, 2010
· Clyde Simms is also credited with an assist against Dallas – on a Ben Olsen goal at FCD on Sept. 1, 2007 - his coming in his days with D.C. United
· Matt Reis is 10-4-1 in his New England career against Dallas, posting a 1.13 goals against average with six shutouts
TEAM NOTES
Historic Success Against Dallas
The Revs have been able to find success against Dallas since 1996, as New England holds a 23-11-3 advantage in the all-time regular season series … the Revs’ regular-season winning percentage of .662 against Dallas is the second-highest winning percentage against any team in MLS against whom the Revs have played at least 10 matches … the Revs have a .667 winning percentage against Houston – the team’s best mark against an opponent - in far fewer meetings (12 regular-season contests).
Hoops Have Revs’ Number Recently
After almost a decade of dominance against Dallas – the Revs went 15-3-0 against the Hoops between 2001 and April 2009 – the Revs are 1-2-2 in their last five meetings, dating back to Sept. 30, 2009 … the Revs’ 2-0 victory on Sept. 10, 2011, at Gillette Stadium, snapped a four-game winless streak against Dallas … the Revs have not won at Dallas since a 1-0 win on April 24, 2008.
A Matchup of Legends in Net
Thursday’s contest could mark the 15th time that legendary goalkeepers Matt Reis and Kevin Hartman meet in the same game … Reis holds a 6-5-3 record with 64 saves against his former LA Galaxy teammate, while Hartman holds a 5-6-3 record against Reis, and has recorded 46 saves in the contests between two of the six members of the 1,000 save club.
Reis Nearing Win #100
Saturday’s night’s win at LA was the 99th of Matt Reis’ career and he enters Thursday’s game at Dallas one shy of 100 … Reis won 17 games with the Galaxy from 1998 to 2002 before earning his last 82 wins with the Revolution … when he reaches win number 100, Reis will become just the sixth goalkeeper in MLS history to reach the 100-win mark, joining Kevin Hartman (172), Zach Thornton (131), Nick Rimando (124), Joe Cannon (109) and Scott Garlick (107).
Sure is Nice to Win Twice in a Row
For the first time in 40 games, the Revs have won two consecutive matches as the Revs picked up a 3-1 win at LA on Saturday, following the 1-0 home-opener win on March 24 … the last time the Revs won back-to-back games was October 2010, after a 2-1 win at Houston on October 10 was followed by a 1-0 shutout against Kansas City on Oct. 16, 2010, at Gillette Stadium.
Can They Push it to Three?
After consecutive wins, New England enters Thursday with a chance to push the win streak to three games – something the Revs haven’t been able to do since late August 2009 … in a 10-day stretch from Aug. 20 to Aug. 29, the Revs won at Seattle (1-0) before returning home to beat Real Salt Lake (3-1) and San Jose (2-1) at Gillette Stadium.
These Revs Don’t Waste Time
The Revs lead MLS with three goals in the first 15 minutes of games, passing New York and San Jose (two each) … after a first-minute goal in the home-opener on March 24, the Revs struck early once again on Saturday with a 10th minute goal from Kelyn Rowe and Chris Tierney’s goal in the 13th minute … in 2011, the Revs scored just nine goals in the first 15 minutes of games.
Back to Level Ground, Revs Seek Winning Record
Despite losing the first two matches of 2012, the Revs have moved back to .500 in MLS play with consecutive wins in their last two games … the last time the Revs held a .500 winning percentage in MLS play was back in May of 2011, when the Revs were 3-3-4.
Road Warriors Battle On
The Revs enter Thursday’s contest at Dallas with a road victory, a feat they weren’t able to accomplish last season until July 20, when the Revs earned a 1-0 win at D.C. … a win at Dallas on Thursday would be the team’s second of the campaign and would surpass the 2011 road win total (1) and match the team’s 2010 road win total (2) … Thursday’s match marks the fourth road game in five total matches to begin 2012.
Sène Uses His Head Repeatedly
At 6-3, Saer Sène has become a target for crosses into the box, and the 25-year-old has delivered with a header goal in each of the last two matches … following a first-minute strike on March 24 off Chris Tierney’s cross, Sène headed home Ryan Guy’s service in the 65th minute to give the Revs a 3-0 lead at LA … Sène’s two goals lead the club in scoring.
Sène Makes Strikes Count
With two goals on just three shots, Saer Sène now has a 66.7 scoring percentage, second in MLS behind four players with a 100 percent scoring percentage on one shot/goal: Bernardo Anor (Columbus), Brad Evans (Seattle), Andrew Jean-Baptiste (Portland) and Jonny Steele (Salt Lake) … Sène, however, is the only player in MLS who has scored at least two goals and has scoring percentage higher than 50 percent.
Tierney a Key to Early Success
Chris Tierney has now factored in a Revolution goal in each of the last two games … after picking up the game-winning assist on Saer Sène’s goal against Portland on March 26, Tierney scored the game-winning goal against LA in the 13th-minute goal on Saturday … Saturday’s goal was Tierney’s fourth of his career, and his first non-free-kick goal since Sept. 2010.
Shalrie Making It Happen
Shalrie Joseph recorded his first two assists of 2012 on Saturday night in LA, the third multiple-assist match of his career … he registered his 32nd career assist on Kelyn Rowe’s goal (which was credited by MLS on Monday), and later earned his 33rd career assist on Chris Tierney’s goal … Joseph now sits third on the Revolution’s career assist list, two behind second place Joe-Max Moore’s 35 assists.
Thursday Viewing Parties
The Revolution is sponsoring two viewing parties in the New England area this Thursday as the Revs take on FC Dallas at 8:30 p.m. … the Rev Girls will be on hand at Conor Larkins (329 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Mass.) and RiRa Providence (50 Exchange Terrace, Providence, Rhode Island), giving fans chances to win prizes and other giveaways during the broadcast.
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Youth teams make historic finish in South Africa
The Revolution U-17 team – comprised only of players from its Under-16 team – returned home on Monday after a sixth place finish at the Future Champions Gauteng tournament in South Africa … the team completed the tournament with a 1-3-1 record among 12 international teams, making the Revolution the highest ranked American team in Future Champions history … a full recap of the entire trip can be found in various blog posts, available HERE.
