NEW ENGLAND VS. CHICAGO SERIES INFORMATION

• Chicago owns a slight edge in the all-time, all-competitions series between the two teams, 25-20-9 … the Fire has the advantage in the regular season, (15-13-8), U.S. Open Cup (2-0-0) and SuperLiga meetings (1-0-0), but the teams are tied in the postseason series (7-7-1).
• The Revs are 16-9-3 at home against the Fire in all competitions … that record includes a 9-7-2 mark in regular-season games, a 7-0-1 record in MLS Playoffs and an 0-1-0 mark in the U.S. Open Cup and SuperLiga … New England is 12-7-2 against Chicago in all competitions at Gillette Stadium since the facility opened in 2002.
• New England and Chicago played to a pair of draws in the 2009 regular-season series: 1-1 at Toyota Park on May 9 and 0-0 at Gillette Stadium on October 17 … it was the first time the Fire did not win the regular-season series since 2005.
• In addition to two regular-season meetings, the clubs also played in the semifinal round of SuperLiga 2009 on July 15 … the Fire won that match at Gillette Stadium, 2-1, and advanced to the tournament’s title match.
• The Revolution’s last regular-season win over the Chicago Fire came at Gillette Stadium on May 6, 2007, a winless streak that has now reached six regular-season contests … six matches is the longest either club has gone without a win over the other since Chicago’s expansion season in 1998.

PLAYER NOTES VS. CHICAGO

• Taylor Twellman is the Revolution’s all-time leading scorer against the Fire with 12 goals, while he has added five assists in 23 career regular-season appearances ... he has also scored four of his 10 career postseason goals against the Fire.
• Steve Ralston has recorded nine career assists against the Fire, including five in 21 appearances with the Revolution ... Ralston has also added six goals against Chicago, all of which have been scored during his time with the Revs.
• Matt Reis is 7-10-4 with a 1.43 goals against average and four shutouts in his regular-season Revolution career against the Fire … Reis also has three career postseason shutouts in seven appearances against Chicago ... the Revs are 0-4-2 in the current stretch.

NEWS & NOTES

REVOLUTION LOOKS TO REBOUND FOLLOWING SLOW START
The Revs return to the pitch on Sunday night against the Chicago Fire at Gillette Stadium in search of their first win this month … after New England began the season with two wins in its first three matches, the Revolution has gone 1-6-2 in its last nine MLS games … though the Revs have struggled early in 2010, they have fared much better at home than on the road, posting a 2-2-2 record this year at Gillette Stadium … New England has not gone winless in June since the team was 0-4-0 in June of 1998.

TWO REVS PLAYERS READY TO SERVE IT UP FOR CHARITY
Revolution defender Darrius Barnes and midfielder Chris Tierney will step behind the bar at McGreevy’s Boston and will serve drinks for charity on Wednesday, June 23 at 5:30 p.m. … Barnes and Tierney will be raising money to benefit the Claddagh Fund, the non-profit organization founded by McGreevy’s co-owner and Dropkick Murphys member Ken Casey … the Claddagh Fund provides assistance to organizations that share in friendship, love and loyalty – prioritizing the needs of children and targeting organizations that support a myriad of children’s causes … the Rev Girls will also be in attendance with give-aways and to oversee a raffle in which all proceeds will also go to the Claddagh Fund.

READY TO RIP AFTER THE BREAK
The Revolution took a similar three-week break from MLS regular-season action last year and came on strong in league play after the break … New England was 4-4-4 before going on a 20-day respite from MLS play between June 14 and July 3 in 2009 … the Revs then went on a tear during the next nine games, compiling a 5-2-2 record that ultimately helped the club qualify for the postseason … similarly, this year, the Revs are amidst a 21-day break from league play (longest in MLS) from June 6-26 at about the same time after 12 regular-season games, the same amount of games played before last year’s break in action.

PLAYING WITH FIRE
Though the Chicago Fire may not be the Revolution’s most common opponent, it is certainly the Revolution’s fiercest foe and most evenly matched ... the Fire holds a slight 15-13-8 edge in the regular-season series since 1998, but all bets are off in the postseason ... New England and Chicago are knotted up at 7-7-1 since the teams first met in the 2000 playoffs ... additionally, the Revs and Fire have met twice in U.S. Open Cup action and once in SuperLiga ... the Fire has won all three of those meetings.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?
The Revolution comes in to Sunday night’s game looking to flip the script in the next chapter of the 2010 season ... although the Revs are off to a slow start, they lie only three points behind their next opponent - the Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference standings ... the Fires sits in fourth place in MLS’s Eastern Conference with 14 points, while the Revs are in sixth place with 11 ... the Kansas City Wizards are sandwiched between them with 12 points ... with a win on Sunday and Wizards and D.C. United losses this weekend, the Revs could climb as high as fourth place in the standings.

TIME TO END THAT FIERY STREAK
The Revs currently hold a six-game regular-season winless streak against the Fire ... the stretch, which dates back to 2007, began with four consecutive wins by Chicago followed by draws in the clubs’ two meetings in 2009 ... the Fire has been an equal opportunity points gainer against the Revolution lately, as it is 2-0-1 at both Toyota Park and Gillette Stadium since the streak began in 2007.

REIS LOOKING TO RETURN TO REGULAR-SEASON ACTION
Sunday’s matchup with the Chicago Fire could mark Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis’s first MLS action since the end of last season - against the Chicago Fire ... the Revs all-time goalkeeper has been sidelined for most of 2010 while he recovered from offseason shoulder and knee surgeries, but did return for his first game on June 13 in an international friendly match with SC Cruzeiro in which Reis started, played the first half and made two saves while allowing one goal.

KEEPER COMES BACK WITH STREAK INTACT
Matt Reis is returning between the Revolution pipes with a noticeable streak intact from last season ... Reis has not allowed a regular-season goal since the 36th minute of a 1-0 loss to the Columbus Crew on Oct. 10 of last season ... Reis went the second half of that game and the final two matches of the season without allowing a goal ... his shutout streak is now at 234 minutes and includes a 0-0 draw with Sunday’s opponent, the Chicago Fire from Oct. 17, 2009.

SHALRIE JOSEPH TAKES TIME TO CLIMB THE CHARTS
If Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph plays 60 minutes in Sunday’s match against Chicago, he will become just the third player in Revolution history to amass 17,000 minutes played … Joseph currently sits in third behind Jay Heaps (21,619 minutes played) and Steve Ralston (17,643 minutes played).

JOSEPH HELPS REWRITE THE RECORD BOOKS
Although Shalrie Joseph has missed a significant portion of the season to this point, his contributions while on the field are undeniable … the feisty facilitator has picked up three assists in four games this year and has crept into a tie with Taylor Twellman for fourth place on the Revs all-time assist chart with 28 helpers … Joseph began the season alone in seventh place on the Revs assist list and needs just two more to be all alone in third.

THE REVS WON’T HAVE RALLY’S HELP
The Revs were expecting to have one of their all-time great catalysts back in the lineup for Sunday’s match against the Chicago Fire, but Steve Ralston dislocated his elbow in his first minute of play against Cruzeiro on June 13 and is out for 4-6 weeks … in 21 career appearances against Chicago while with the Revolution, Ralston is tied with Taylor Twellman for the most assists (5) for a current Revolution player against the Fire … though New England will be without the services of Ralston and Twellman on Sunday, Shalrie Joseph is right on their heels with four assists against the Fire in 19 career regular-season appearances.

THIS WEEK IN REVOLUTION HISTORY: JUNE 21-27

• June 21, 1999: F Joe-Max Moore named MLS Player of the Week after netting two goals - including the game winner in the 81st minute- and an assist in the Revolution’s 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Mutiny at Raymond James Stadium two days earlier.
• June 22, 2006: M Clint Dempsey scored the U.S.’s lone goal against Ghana in the team’s final game of group play at the 2006 FIFA World Cup ... Dempsey’s goal was the only goal scored by a U.S. player at the 2006 tournament.
• June 22, 2007: F Taylor Twellman named to the United States 2007 Copa America Squad
• June 25, 2009: D Jay Heaps named to the United States’ 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup Squad
• June 26, 2007: Head coach Steve Nicol named head coach of the 2007 MLS All-Stars
• June 27, 1998: F Joe-Max Moore and D Mike Burns return to the Revolution after competing for the U.S. in the World Cup in France

YOUTH UPDATE
The New England Revolution youth teams both qualified for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s playoffs that begin this weekend in Greensboro, N.C. … the USSDA’s playoff system is set up much like the World Cup, with each team playing three games against the other clubs in its pool with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the next round … the Under-16s kick things off for the youth Revs on Friday, June 25, against Sockers FC (Ill.) followed by matches against Greensboro (N.C.) on Saturday and Lonestar Aztex (Texas) on Monday … the Under-18s play their first game on Saturday, June 26, against Indiana United, while they square off against Concorde Fire (Ga.) on Sunday and conclude pool play against the Lonestar Aztex (Texas) on Tuesday.