NEW ENGLAND VS. SAN JOSE SERIES INFORMATION

• Saturday marks the 32nd all-time meeting between two of the original MLS teams … San Jose leads the all-time, regular-season series between the two clubs, 16-11-4.
• The Revs have struggled on their past trips to San Jose, going 5-7-3 in 15 previous road games against the Earthquakes … New England hasn’t fared much better in Foxborough against its Western Conference foe, going 6-9-1 in 16 matches at Gillette Stadium.
• The Revs won the 2009 regular season series, 2-0-0 … it was New England’s first season series win over San Jose since July 22, 2000 … the Revolution gutted out a 1-0 win at Buck Shaw Stadium in the club’s first meeting on March 21, the club’s first win in San Jose since 2000 ... New England then completed the season sweep in Foxborough with a 2-1 win at Gillette Stadium on Aug. 29.
• 2006-2007 marked a two-year gap where San Jose Earthquakes operations were suspended and the players and coaches were moved to Houston to play as the expansion Dynamo … the San Jose club retained its name and historical records and when the team was re-introduced to the league at the 2007 All-Star Game, the Earthquakes were “revived” in 2008 and are considered to have been on hiatus in 2006 and 2007.
• New England picked up its first win at Buck Shaw Stadium on March 21, 2009 with a 1-0 season-opening victory … the Revs are now 1-1-0 at Buck Shaw Stadium, which is on the campus of Santa Clara University.
• Before the franchise moved to Houston, the Earthquakes used to play their home games at Spartan Stadium, home to the San Jose State University athletic teams … in 13 games at Spartan Stadium from 1996-2005, the Revs went 4-6-3 with two shootout wins (1996 and 1997).
• The Revolution is 3-1-0 against San Jose since the team returned to the league in 2008 … the Revs enter Saturday’s game riding a two-game winning streak against the Earthquakes.
• In the 31 all-time meetings between the two clubs, San Jose has outscored New England, 59-42 … there have been nine shutouts recorded in the series, with five posted by the Revs’ defense and four by the Earthquakes’ … New England has shut out San Jose once in each of the past two seasons, a 2-0 win in Foxborough on May 17, 2008 and a 1-0 win at San Jose on April 21, 2009.
• The Revolution and Earthquakes have never met outside the MLS regular season

PLAYER NOTES VS. SAN JOSE

• Only two current Revs have scored goals against San Jose while playing for the Revolution: Taylor Twellman (three goals in 10 appearances) and Kheli Dube (two goals in three appearances) … Twellman is the only current Rev to score against San Jose for the Revolution during its first stint in the league.
• Kheli Dube is the only current Revolution player to score against the Earthquakes since the club re-entered the league in 2008, striking twice … Dube scored his first career goal in his first career start on May 17, 2008 in the Revs’ 2-0 win at Gillette (the other goal was an own goal) … the Zimbabwean then scored the only goal of the game in the Revolution’s season-opening, 1-0 win at Buck Shaw Stadium on March 21, 2009.
• Preston Burpo has played against San Jose twice in his career, both starts while a member of the Colorado Rapids in 2009 … also a one-time member of the Earthquakes, Burpo allowed one goal in each of the 1-1 draws … Burpo’s starts against San Jose came within less than a week of each other last September (Sept. 18 and Sept. 23).
• Matt Reis is 3-3-2 in his Revolution career against San Jose with a 1.13 goals against average and two shutouts … all three of Reis’ wins and clean sheets have been recorded since the club re-entered the league in 2008.

LAST MEETING

New England 2, San Jose 1
August 29, 2009 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Former Revs Wells Thompson and Steve Ralston tallied second-half goals to lift New England to a 2-1 victory over visiting San Jose, giving the Revs their first season sweep over the Earthquakes since 1998. San Jose pulled off a late goal in the second minute of stoppage time to when Ramon Sanchez tallied his first professional goal to pull within one, but Matt Reis and the back line held the lead for a one-goal victory.

NEWS & NOTES

NEW ENGLAND KNOWS THE WAY TO SAN JOSE
With the come-from-behind win on Saturday night, the Revolution moved into a first-place tie with Kansas City and New York in the Eastern Conference with six points … the Revs will face a San Jose Earthquakes club coming off its first win of the season, a 2-1 road victory over the Chicago Fire … the club is returning to the West Coast for the second time in first four weeks of the season, its shortest term between California trips since 2008 when the Revs played at LA and San Jose within two weeks of each other.

NICOL JOINS ELITE COMPANY
With the victory on Saturday night, head coach Steve Nicol became the third head coach in MLS history to reach the 100-win plateau, joining Seattle's Sigi Schmid (126) and current U.S. Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley (124 wins) ... all three coaches picked up their 100th win at home and Nicol is the first to achieve the feat since Schmid reached the 100-win mark in 2008.

BREAKDOWN OF NICOL’S MILESTONE WIN
Steve Nicol is the league's longest active coach with his current position with the Revs beginning in May 2002 (240 games) and is the first to win 100 games with one team ... there have been 67 coaches in MLS history and Nicol is the third to amass 100 wins … Nicol picked up his 100th win in his 240th game, good for a .548 win pct. … the other active coach with 100 victories, Sigi Schmid, currently coaches the Seattle Sounders … when the Revs travel to Seattle to play the Sounders on June 5, it will mark the first time in MLS history that two coaches with 100+ wins have squared off against one another

SCHILAWSKI MAKES A RECORD DEBUT
With his hat trick on Saturday night, Zack Schilawski thrust his name into MLS record books, becoming the first rookie to register three goals in his home debut … in the span of 11 minutes in the second half, Schilawski ensured a tie for second place in league scoring going into Week 4 of MLS play … his hat trick was the ninth in Revolution history and the first since Kheli Dube scored three times against Real Salt Lake at Gillette Stadium on Aug. 23, 2009 … it was first time an MLS rookie recorded a hat trick since former Rev Pat Noonan Oct. 25, 2003 in a 5-2 win over the Metrostars.

HE SHOOTS…HE SCORES!
Zack Schilawski’s three goals came on his first three shot attempts of the season, meaning he is tied for the league lead in scoring percentage (1.000) … Schilawski became just the fourth MLS player to score on his first three shot attempts, joining Roberto Brown, Jesse Marsch and Marquis White as the only players to achieve such a feat … Brown did it most recently in 2007 and Schilawski is the only player to do it in one game … no player in MLS history has ever scored on his first four shot attempts.

BURPO CONTINUES TO IMPRESS IN GOAL
Preston Burpo has been more than a steady replacement in goal while Matt Reis recovers from offseason surgeries … Burpo has allowed only two goals in three games and is tied for second in the league with a 0.67 goals against average … he also stands alone in third with a 77.8 save pct. through three games, turning away seven of nine shots he has faced this season.

BURPO SET TO FACE OLD MATES
When Preston Burpo takes the field at Buck Shaw Stadium on Saturday night, he will see several familiar faces … since 2000, Burpo has played seven seasons in the MLS for five different organizations, all west of the Mississippi … he backed up Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon early in 2008, and played with Jason Hernandez for Chivas USA from 2006-07 and Bobby Burling in 2007.

ANOTHER DEMON DEACON-NECTION
For the second consecutive game, Pat Phelan and Zack Schilawski will face a former college teammate when the Revs face the Earthquakes on Saturday night … San Jose defender Ike Opara played at Wake Forest with Zack Schilawski from 2007-09 and with Pat Phelan in 2007 … the trio won the 2007 NCAA National Championship … last week, Phelan and Schilawski faced former college teammate Sam Cronin of Toronto FC, although Cronin did not play.

DUBE HAPPY TO HELP
Kheli Dube became the third player in MLS this season to record two assists in one game and is currently tied for second in the league in overall assists … Dube’s tallied the first two-assist game of his career and the helpers were his first since the Revolution dropped a 2-1 decision at D.C. United on Oct. 16, 2008, a span of 33 regular-season games … though he tied for the team lead with eight goals in 2009, Dube did not record any assists.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS IN HOME OPENER
Perhaps lost in the shuffle of Schilawski’s hat trick and Nicol’s 100th victory was the return of Shalrie Joseph and MLS debut of Marko Perovi? … Joseph returned as a starter in his customary defensive midfield position, played 75 minutes and picked up an assist while wearing the captain’s armband after missing the first two games with a right hip flexor strain … Perovi? made his MLS debut when he came on in the 70th minute as a substitute for Kheli Dube and played as a withdrawn forward … upon completion of his immigration requirements early last week, Perovi? returned to the team on Friday, April 9 after training with them with for a week last month in North Carolina … he signed with the Revs on March 26.

OFFENSE IS HEATING UP
After going scoreless for the first 170 minutes of the season, the Revolution offense has exploded for six goals in the last 100 minutes of play … the Revs have fared much better in the second half of games so far this season, scoring all six goals during the second frame … additionally, the team still has not surrendered a second-half goal … the Revs’ six goals are the most in Major League Soccer so far this season and the team is tied for third in the league with five assists … New England is ranked third in goals per game (2.00) through Week 3.

EARTHQUAKE MVP TO FACE HOMETOWN TEAM
San Jose Earthquakes forward and 2009 team Most Valuable Player Ryan Johnson was born in Kingston Jamaica, but has close ties to the state of Massachusetts … Johnson attended Melrose High School where he won Boston Globe Player of the Year his senior season (2002) … he later played for the Cape Cod Crusaders of the USL Premier Development League … he has one goal in his career against New England, which came in a 4-0 Earthquake win at home on Aug. 18, 2008.

OPEN CUP DATE ANNOUNCED
As the top seed in the MLS play-in bracket for the 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the Revolution will travel on Wednesday, May 12 to play winner of the New York Red Bulls-Philadelphia Union play-in game, which his being played on Tuesday, April 27 ... home venues for the first round of the play-in bracket were determined by coin flip on Tuesday, March 2 ... the No. 1 seeded Revs lost a coin toss and will therefore play the winner of the NYRB-PHI game on the road.

TORONTO TIME CHANGE
The New England Revolution’s match on Saturday, May 22, against Toronto FC at BMO Field in Toronto will now kick off at 1 p.m. ET … it had previously been scheduled as a 4 p.m. kick … the game will be televised in New England on Comcast SportsNet and the live game call can be heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub.

YOUTH UPDATE
The Revolution Youth Academy road tripped to Pennsylvania last weekend and came home empty-handed, going a combined 0-3-1 in two games apiece for the U16s and U18s … the U16s dropped a 3-0 decision to PA Classics on Saturday, but salvaged a tie against FC Delco on Sunday … Felix DeBona (Everett, Mass.) and Colin DeNormadie (Lincoln, Mass.) tallied in the game for the youth Revs … the Under-18 team suffered two losses by a combined score of 9-0, losing 6-0 to PA Classics on Saturday and 3-0 to FC Delco on Sunday … the U16s’ record dropped to 4-5-1 while the U18s fell to 6-5-0 on the season … the youth Revs return to action at Gillette Stadium next weekend against Seacoast United on Saturday and Empire United on Sunday.