FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Revolution will play twice this week, first traveling to Kansas City to face Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday night in the final round of MLS’ U.S. Open Cup play-in bracket. The winner of that match will earn a place in the third round (round of 16) of the formal U.S. Open Cup bracket.
On Saturday, the team will return home to face the LA Galaxy at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m., and the match will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet and nationally in Spanish on Galavision. On the radio, 98.5 The Sports Hub will have the live call of the game.
SERIES INFORMATION AGAINST LA GALAXY
Team information vs. LA
- Saturday’s game will be 35th all-time meeting between the Revs and Galaxy, with LA leading the all-time regular-season series history, 15-13-6
- New England has a modest two-game undefeated streak against LA following the teams’ 1-1 draw at The Home Depot Center on March 20
- The Revs are 9-5-2 against LA at home, including a 6-1-2 mark at Gillette Stadium … New England’s 2-0 win against LA last year at home snapped the team’s only two-game winless streak ever against LA at Gillette Stadium
- The Revs are 4-10-4 against LA on the road, including a 4-8-3 mark at The Home Depot Center … the Revs are 2-2-1 in their last five visits to LA to face the Galaxy
- The winner of Saturday’s game will win the 2011 season series between the teams … the Revolution and Galaxy split the 2010 season series, with LA winning the opener, 1-0, in Carson, Calif., on March 27, and the Revs winning the return leg, 2-0, on July 10, at home
- LA won the first four season series (1996-99) between the two clubs, but nine consecutive season series were either won by the Revs or drawn between 2000 and 2008 ... LA won the 2009 series prior to last year’s split
- New England and LA have met in the MLS Cup Playoffs twice - both the 2002 and 2005 MLS Cup Final ... the Galaxy won both meetings in overtime, 1-0 ... the 2002 meeting was in Foxborough, while the 2005 match was at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas
- The Revs and Galaxy have played in one U.S. Open Cup match - the 2001 championship game in Fullerton, Calif., which LA won, 2-1, in overtime
Player Notes vs. LA
- Shalrie Joseph has recorded five goals and two assists in 16 career appearances against the Galaxy, tied for his second-highest offensive output against any team (Kansas City – 2 goals, 5 assists) ... Joseph has only produced greater numbers against New York (2G, 8A)
- Sainey Nyassi and Marko Perovic have scored one goal apiece against the Galaxy, with both players finding the net in a 2-0 win over the Galaxy on July 10, 2010, at Gillette Stadium
- Perovic also has recorded one assist against LA, picking up the helper on Shalrie Joseph’s goal at The Home Depot Center earlier this year
- Defender Ryan Cochrane has faced the Galaxy 17 times in his career – giving him more games against LA than any other player on the New England roster … Cochrane has scored two of his four career goals against LA
- Matt Reis - who made 39 appearances for the Galaxy from 1998-2002 - is 6-2-4 in 12 regular-season matches against his former club ... he has recorded four shutouts while maintaining a 0.92 goals against average
TEAM NOTES
KC up First, Then LA
Before the Revs host the LA Galaxy on Saturday, the team will first travel to Kansas City to face Sporting KC in the final round of MLS qualifying for the 2011 U.S. Open Cup … the winner of Wednesday’s match will enter the formal U.S. Open Cup bracket in the third round (round of 16) later this summer … Wednesday’s match will be streamed live on revolutionsoccer.net
Busy Stretch – and Much Traveling – Ahead
Starting with last Saturday’s game at San Jose, the Revs are in the midst of a three-game-in-eight-days stretch, with a U.S. Open Cup Play-In match sandwiched between league contests at San Jose (May 21) and against LA (May 28) … with two of those games on the road, the Revolution will travel approximately 7,910 air miles in eight days … on Thursday, May 19, the Revs flew to San Francisco and returned Sunday, before turning around and flying direct to Kansas City on Tuesday for Wednesday’s Play-In match, and return through Chicago on Thursday.
Feilhaber Gets the Call
Benny Feilhaber was called into the U.S. National Team for its upcoming match against Spain and the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup (June 5-25) … Feilhaber is among the 23 players called in by U.S. head coach Bob Bradley, and he will meet up with the team in Cary, N.C., on Sunday, May 29, following Saturday’s match against LA … Feilhaber has 38 appearances with the National Team, and his goal against Mexico in the 2007 Gold Cup Championship helped the U.S. claim its fourth title overall.
Tierney Strikes Gold Late
Chris Tierney scored his first goal of the 2011 season on Saturday night in San Jose … his 86th-minute left-footed free kick pulled the Revs within one goal against the Earthquakes … the goal was Tierney’s second career goal after he netted his first goal against Seattle on Sept. 4, 2010, and his first career free kick goal.
First Free-for-All
Chris Tierney’s free kick goal on Saturday at San Jose was the team’s first direct free kick goal in 2011 … in 2010, Marko Perovic scored three free kick goals, but the Serb has missed all but four games this season with injuries … Tierney, as well as Benny Feilhaber, Zak Boggs and Kenny Mansally, have become the team’s first-choice free kick and set-piece takers in Perovic’s absence this year.
Lineup Stability for the First Time
For the first time this season, Steve Nicol deployed the same lineup in multiple games – and in Saturday’s case, back-to-back games – when the same starting 11 started its second consecutive game at San Jose … Nicol has used 10 different lineups in 11 games … prior to Saturday’s game, when Nicol ran out the same starters as the May 14 game against Vancouver, he had twice used the same 10 field players as the previous starting lineup – against Portland (April 2) and at Vancouver (April 6) - but the goalkeepers were different in both games: Matt Reis vs. Portland and Bobby Shuttleworth at Vancouver.
adidas’ New Predator on Display Saturday
At Saturday’s game, adidas will unveil in the U.S. for the first time its newly-redesigned Predator soccer cleat at Gillette Stadium ahead of the Galaxy match … the lightest and most accurate Predator to date, the adiPower Predator incorporates unique technologies that make it the perfect cleat for ultimate ball control … MLS adiPower Predator players include the Revs’ own Shalrie Joseph, LA’s Omar Gonzalez, Portland’s Kenny Cooper and Kansas City’s Teal Bunbury … the new cleats will be on display in the Patriot Place Plaza before Saturday’s game, and fans will have a chance to enter to win a pair of the new cleats when they are available in July.
MLS Futbolito Returns July 17
Hundreds of soccer players from all over the region will be in action on Sunday, July 17, when Futbolito, the official 4-v-4 tournament of Major League Soccer, returns to the New England area … MLS Futbolito is being presented locally by MetroPCS … for the first time ever, the men’s premier championship match will be played on the game field during halftime of the Revolution’s match against the Philadelphia Union that evening … registration is currently open at MLSfutbolito.com and interested participants with questions can call toll-free at 1-888-MLS-FUTBOLITO … the entrance fee is $150 per team for those competing in the Adult Premier Division, and $120 per team for all other participants.
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT NEWS
The Under-18 and Under-16 teams each played two matches at Durfee High School (Fall River, Mass.) during last weekend, taking on Empire United on Saturday, May 21, before playing Seacoast United on Sunday, May 22 … the squads came out of the weekend with a combined 1-1-2 record … the U18s played to a pair of draws with Cole Denormandie (Lincoln,Mass.) scoring twice against Empire United in the 3-3 result and then assisting on Fabio Machado’s (Leominster, Mass.) goal against Seacoast in the 1-1 deadlock.
The U16s dropped a 3-2 decision to Empire with goals from Devin Devoy (North Attleboro, Mass.) and Willis Griffith (Amherst, N.H.), before posting a 4-0 win on Sunday against Seacoast with goals from Peguy Ngatcha (Manchester, N.H.), Diego Fagundez (Leominster, Mass.), Devoy and Danny Apajee (Cranston, R.I.) … Fagundez also added a pair of assists in the win.
With the pair of draws, the Revolution Under-18 team – now 8-9-6 – slid to fourth place in the Northeast Division … the Under-16s now hold a 10-7-6 record after the weekend’s win and loss, and remain in second place in the division … both teams are home on Saturday, May 28, when they will play FC Greater Boston on the Gillette Stadium field ahead of the senior team’s game against the LA Galaxy.
