FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Coming off an undefeated run in SuperLiga 2010 group play, the New England Revolution returns to league action this weekend when club travels to PPL Park in Chester, Pa., to play Philadelphia Union for the first time. The Revs will enter Saturday afternoon’s match on 10 days’ rest, their longest such break for the remainder of the season. Revolution stars Shalrie Joseph and Kevin Alston are also headed to Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, this week for the 2010 MLS All-Star Game, set to take place on Wednesday evening at 8:30 p.m. ET. Saturday’s match against Philadelphia will be televised live on Comcast Sports Net, while radio listeners can catch the action live on 98.5 The Sports Hub. The 2010 MLS All-Star Game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and Telefutura.
The Revs will train on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before travelling to Philadelphia on Friday. All sessions will be held on the Lower Practice Field and are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Media wishing to attend any of the team’s training sessions must email the Revolution Communications office (media@revolutionsoccer.net) by the close of business on the previous day to RSVP and guarantee admittance, as well as to learn of any schedule changes. Please check with the Revolution Communication staff for an approximate time for media availability as it changes daily.
Listed below is the Revolution’s complete schedule through Thursday, Aug. 5. Please keep in mind that this schedule is subject to change.
New England Revolution Schedule: July 26-Aug. 5
Monday, July 26 – OFF
Tuesday, July 27 – Training (Lower Practice Field), 10 a.m.
Wednesday, July 28 – Training (Lower Practice Field), 10 a.m.; 2010 MLS All-Star Game (Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas), 8:30 p.m. – TV: ESPN2, Telefutura
Thursday, July 29 – Training (Lower Practice Field), 10 a.m.
Friday, July 30 – Travel to Philadelphia
Saturday, July 31 – at Philadelphia Union (PPL Park, Chester, Pa.), 3:30 p.m. – TV: Comcast Sports Net; Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub
Sunday, Aug. 1 – OFF
Monday, Aug. 2 – Training (Lower Practice Field), 10 a.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 3 – Training (Lower Practice Field or Gillette Stadium Field), 10 a.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 4 – SuperLiga Semifinals vs. Puebla FC (Gillette Stadium), 7 p.m. TV: Telefutura. Web: superliga2010.com
Thursday, Aug. 5 – Training (Lower Practice Field), 11 a.m.
NEW ENGLAND VS. PHILADELPHIA SERIES INFORMATION
Saturday afternoon’s match will be the first-ever meeting between the New England Revolution and Philadelphia Union.
This will be the first of two regular-season meetings between New England and Philadelphia this season ... the Revolution will host Union at Gillette Stadium for the first time on Aug. 28, 2010, to conclude the season series.
In the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft conducted last November, Union selected Revs goalkeeper Brad Knighton with the third of its 10 selections ... Knighton has yet to make an MLS appearance for Philadelphia, serving as its backup goalkeeper for most of the season.
The Revs are 9-7-3 all-time against expansion teams in their inaugural seasons ... that record includes two draws with the Houston Dyanmo, which was considered an expansion team after relocating from San Jose in 2006.
Since 2005, New England is 8-2-3 against expansion teams in their inaugural seasons ... the Revs went 1-5-0 against the Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion in 1998, just two years after MLS’s inaugural season.
PLAYER NOTES VS. PHILADELPHIA
Matt Reis is 8-2-3 in his Revolution career against expansion teams, posting an 0.63 goals against average and six shutouts.
NEWS & NOTES
REVOLUTION HELPS BREAK IN PPL THIS WEEKEND
When the Revolution takes the field at PPL Park this Saturday afternoon to face Philadelphia Union, New England will become the sixth team to play at the Chester, Pa., stadium since it opened on June 27 … Philadelphia has played three league matches and two friendlies at PPL Park in that time … Union opened the park against Seattle Sounders FC and has also played MLS clubs the San Jose Earthquakes (July 10) and Toronto FC (July 17) at its new stadium … Philadelphia has also played two friendly matches at PPL Park: Celtic F.C. on July 14 and Manchester United on July 21.
NEW ENGLAND LOOKS TO ESTABLISH ITSELF AT PPL
The Revs make their first-ever trip to Philadelphia’s PPL Park, which opened late last month and look to become only the second MLS team to take a victory away at Union’s new stadium … Philadelphia has set a 3-2-0 mark in all competitions since the grand opening on June 27, with a 3-1 victory over Seattle on PPL’s opening day … overall, Philadelphia is 2-1-0 at PPL Park in league play and 1-1-0 in friendlies that include a 1-0 win over Celtic F.C. and a 1-0 loss to Manchester United … the San Jose Earthquakes were the first visiting and first MLS team to beat Philadelphia in its new stadium at PPL Park when they beat Union, 2-1 on July 10.
REVS SET SUPERLIGA STANDARD
Prior to the Revolution’s 1-0 win over Monarcas Morelia in the SuperLiga group stage finale on July 20, no team had ever finished group play with a 3-0-0 record and gone un-scored upon … the final whistle blew last Wednesday and New England made SuperLiga history, becoming the first club in the four-year history of the tournament to win all three of its group play matches and shut out all challengers in the process … the Revolution improved its all-time SuperLiga group stage record to 7-0-2 in three years of participation, including a 6-0-0 mark against Mexican teams in group play (7-0-0 overall).
A RARE MATINEE MATCHUP
New England will face Philadelphia Union for the first time on Saturday in an abnormal fashion – in the afternoon … for only the second time this season and last scheduled time in 2010, the Revs will play an afternoon game, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. … the Revolution played its only other afternoon match this season on May 22 at BMO Field in a 1-0 loss at Toronto FC in a game that began at 1 p.m. …New England does not have another match scheduled this year that is tabled to start earlier than 7:30 p.m. ET.
AFTERNOON DISLIKE
It is not too often that the Revolution takes the pitch before 6 p.m. and the club would like to keep it that way … since the start of the 2008 season, New England is 2-4-1 in afternoon games and 0-1-0 this season – a 1-0 loss at Toronto FC on May 22 that began at 1 p.m. … the Revs will take to the field at 3:30 p.m. at Philadelphia in their last scheduled afternoon game this season and look to improve on their 22-38-11 all-time record during the regular season in games that started prior to 6 p.m. in the local time zone.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Philadelphia Union began Major League Soccer play in the 2010 season, joining the ranks of other Northeast regions with MLS teams: New England, New York, Toronto and now, Philadelphia … Philadelphia (309 miles) becomes the Revolution’s second-closest neighbor behind New York (224 miles) and ahead of Toronto (431 miles) … the Revs have another close neighbor entering the MLS fold in 2012: Montreal (310 miles) will join as Major League Soccer’s 19th team.
I-95 CORRIDOR GETTING CROWDED
The Revolution has now added another East Coast MLS city to its rivalry list … New York and D.C. have been clashing with the Revolution since the league began play in 1996, and now Philadelphia has joined the I-95 Corridor grouping of teams … the addition of Philadelphia to Major League Soccer brings the number of teams located on the I-95 corridor to four for the first time since the Miami Fusion folded in 2001 … the Fusion existed from 1998-2001 and also gave MLS four teams along I-95 for four seasons.
EXPANDING LEAGUE HORIZONS
With the addition of Philadelphia Union, MLS has added six teams since the start of the 2005 season, an average of more than one team per season … Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA both came into the league in the 2005 season, and San Jose’s franchise returned from a two-year hiatus in 2008 with new players (the San Jose franchise relocated to Houston after the 2005 season) … Seattle Sounders FC joined Major League Soccer in 2009 – the first club from the Pacific Northwest … the first club outside of American soil was added in 2007 when Toronto FC joined, and a second will be added next season in Vancouver, B.C., along with a team in Portland, Ore. … MLS plans to expand further in 2012 when Montreal is set to join league play … by the beginning of 2012, Major League Soccer will have expanded from 10 to 19 teams in eight years.
REVS FLEX VICTORY MUSCLE OVER EXPANSION CLUBS
For the 2005 season, Major League Soccer added two teams to the leagues and has continued the trend with one additional club every year since … the Revs have had great success against these expansion clubs in their first season of play, posting an 8-2-3 mark against first-year clubs since 2005 … New England has doubled up these first-year clubs, outscoring the six teams by a 22-11 margin in 13 regular-season matches:
Year T eam Record GF GA
2005 Chivas USA 1-1-0 1 1
2005 Real Salt Lake 2-0-0 5 1
2006 Houston 0-0-2 2 2
2007 Toronto FC 2-0-1 9 2
2008 San Jose 1-1-0 2 4
2009 Seattle 2-0-0 3 1
TOTAL: 8-2-3 22 11
NEW TEAM, FAMILIAR FACE
Although the Revs will face a new team in Philadelphia Union this weekend, the man strolling the sidelines for MLS’ newest team is a familiar face … Piotr Nowak coached D.C. United from 2004-2006 and won the MLS Cup in 2004 … the Revs had a 4-4-4 record against Peter Nowak-coached team in D.C. ... the Revs won the season series against United in 2005, going 3-1-0, and the teams tied the 2006 series, 1-1-2 … the Revs also met Nowak’s D.C. team twice in the postseason, with New England winning the 2006 Eastern Conference Championship at RFK Stadium (1-0 behind Taylor Twellman’s fourth-minute goal) after the teams played one of the most memorable postseason matches ever – the 2004 Eastern Conference final that saw the Revs thrice battle back from a deficit and fall in penalty kicks to United.
FORMER REV ON PHILLY
In the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft conducted last November, Philadelphia Union selected Revs goalkeeper Brad Knighton with the third of its 10 selections ... Knighton has yet to make an MLS appearance for Philadelphia, serving as its backup goalkeeper, but has featured twice in the Union’s international friendlies, starting matches against Celtic and Manchester United … Knighton was a member of the Revolution for three seasons, from 2007-2009, and made six starts, all last season … he recorded a 1-2-3 record during those starts and had a 2.33 goals against average while making 36 saves on 49 shots faced.
PEROVIC POINTS STREAK PICKS UP STEAM
Through the last four games in all competitions, midfielder Marko Perovic has racked up three goals and one assist, recording at least one point in each game since July 10 … Perovic’s run of four consecutive matches with one point is the first such run since Shalrie Joseph scored three goals and assisted on two others on a four-game stretch between May 23 and June 13 of last season … Joseph’s impressive run came in a four-game stretch against Eastern Conference clubs … Perovic looks to keep his streak going this Saturday when the Revs visit PPL Park and Philadelphia Union for the first time.
NOTHIN’ IN NET
New England is in the midst of its longest shutout streak of 2010 … the Revolution has not allowed a goal since the 85th minute of a 5-0 loss at Real Salt Lake on July 2 … Revs keepers have gone four-plus matches in all competitions without allowing their opponent to find the back of the net … Matt Reis picked up the first, third and fourth clean sheets of the scoreless run against LA during league play (July 10), and during SuperLiga play at Chicago (July 17) and at Gillette Stadium against Monarcas Morelia (July 20) … Bobby Shuttleworth recorded the first shutout of his career in the club’s SuperLiga 2010 opener against Pumas UNAM (July 14).
REIS LOOKS TO KEEP THE SHEETS CLEAN
Since returning to the Revolution lineup following offseason knee and shoulder surgeries, goalkeeper Matt Reis has shored up the Revs defense by recording shutouts in each of his last three appearances … Reis began the streak by shutting down one of Major League Soccer’s most prolific attacks this season in the Revs 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy (July 10) … he then backstopped the team to 1-0 win at Chicago (July 17) in SuperLiga, and helped the Revs to their first undefeated, untied, un-scored-upon run through SuperLiga’s group stage when he made three saves to shut out Monarcas Morelia, 1-0, on July 20.
A CONCENSUS 1-0 PICK
The Revs have enjoyed great success in three instances of SuperLiga participation since 2008, winning its group all three years and are still the only MLS team to win the tournament (2008) … after sweeping Group B in SuperLiga 2010 group play, New England has improved its all-time mark in the summer tournament to 8-1-3 … seven of the Revs’ eight all-time SuperLiga wins have been in 1-0 games, including all three so far this year … the Revs other victories in SuperLiga play were a 4-2 win over Santos Laguna in 2009’s group stage and the 2008 SuperLiga Final, which ended in a 2-2 draw, but the Revolution won, 6-5, on penalty kicks.
NEW ENGLAND ALL-STARS LOOK TO SHINE DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
Last week, the Revolution continued its tradition of sending players to the Major League Soccer All-Star Game … defender Kevin Alston and midfielder Shalrie Joseph were named to the MLS All-Star team on July 19, giving the Revs at least one all-star in 15 seasons of Major League Soccer’s existence … Joseph was named to his seventh all-star team in his eighth season, while Kevin Alston will play in his first all-star game in only his second season … Joseph and Alston were selected to the squad by LA Galaxy and All-Star head coach Bruce Arena.
REVOLUTION ALL-STARS: A BRIEF HISTORY
When Shalrie Joseph and Kevin Alston were named to the 2010 MLS All-Star team on July 19, Joseph added to his Revolution legacy while Alston joined an elite group of players from an illustrious club history … Alexi Lalas and Welton were the first Revolution players named as all-stars in 1996, and the club has had at least one player honored every year since … Shalrie Joseph is the all-time leader in Revolution history with seven selections; Taylor Twellman is second with five selections, while Steve Ralston and Matt Reis are tied for third with four selections apiece … New England twice had five players selected as all-stars – in 2005 and 2007 – and four players were selected on four separate occasions (2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008) … Twellman was named 2005 MLS All-Star Game MVP courtesy of the goal he scored and his performance in the MLS All-Stars’ 4-1 win over Fulham F.C.
THIS WEEK IN REVOLUTION HISTORY: July 26-Aug. 1
July 26, 1999: MLS allocated F Ariel Graziani to the Revolution.
July 30, 2002: Signed M Winton Griffiths off waivers from the LA Galaxy; signed M Marshall Leonard.
July 27, 2004: M Shalrie Joseph and M/D Steve Ralston named as reserve players to the MLS All-Star Game.
July 30, 2005: M Clint Dempsey, M Shalrie Joseph, D Michael Parkhurst, GK Matt Reis, and F Taylor Twellman played in MLS All-Star Game against Fulham FC in Columbus. F Pat Noonan was named as a starter but was unable to play because of injury. Twellman was named Honda’s MLS All-Star Game MVP.
YOUNG REVS PERFORM AT SUM CUP
The Revolution Youth Development Academy traveled to Houston, Texas, last week and began play in the fourth-annual Soccer United Marketing Under-17 Cup … all 16 MLS clubs are represented in tournament, with four teams of four groups and the top teams from each group advancing to the elimination round … the Revs are 0-2-0 so far and have been eliminated from semifinal qualification … New England dropped its Friday match, 1-0, to Chivas USA after conceding a 25th-minute goal and failed to equalize … the Revolution then lost a 3-1 decision to the Houston Dynamo on Saturday after battling back from a 1-0 deficit to level the score in the 42nd minute with a fantastic play by New England’s two Youth Development Academy East Conference Starting XI players … Diego Fagundez (Leominster, Mass.) found a streaking Felix DeBona (Everett, Mass.), who had entered the game just two minutes earlier, and DeBona placed a shot past the Houston goalkeeper to tie the score … the Revs relinquished control two minutes later when the Dynamo scored to take the lead for good … the Revolution plays its final group match on Monday night against Toronto FC, followed by a placement game on Tuesday night before travelling home to New England.
