Update: October 17, 2011

Bobby Shuttleworth vs. Columbus Crew

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (5-16-12, 27 pts.) concludes the 2011 regular season at Toronto FC (6-13-14, 32 pts.) at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22, at BMO Field. The match will be televised regionally on Comcast SportsNet and will also be carried locally on the radio by 98.5 The Sports Hub.


Saturday’s match concludes the season series between the two teams. Toronto and New England finished 0-0 on June 15 at Gillette Stadium. Saturday afternoon, the Revs will look for their first win at Toronto and first season-series win since 2008.


SERIES INFORMATION VS. TORONTO FC
Team Notes vs. Toronto FC

  • New England leads the all-time, regular-season series between the two clubs, 4-2-4 ... the Revs have never beaten Toronto FC on the road, going 0-2-2 when playing at BMO Field
  • Saturday afternoon’s match will be the final meeting of the 2011 regular-season series between New England and Toronto ... the teams played to a scoreless draw on June 15, at Gillette Stadium
  • New England and Toronto have met just 10 times in the overall MLS regular-season series since TFC entered the league as an expansion team in 2007
  • The Revs have out-scored TFC, 18-10, in their 10 previous meetings ... the Revs have shut out Toronto three times, while TFC held New England scoreless in each of their last two meetings.
  • The Revolution has had trouble closing out its matches at BMO Field ... in their first two visits to BMO Field in 2008 and 2009, the Revs conceded second-half goals to finish with come away with draws … in 2009 and 2010, the Revs surrendered second-half goals to finish with losses
  • The second half of NE-TFC games have been especially high scoring … the Revs have tallied 10 of their 18 goals against Toronto in the second half, while Toronto has scored seven of its 10 goals against New England in the second stanza
  • The Revolution and TFC have never met outside the MLS regular season


Player Notes vs. Toronto FC

  • With three goals – coming from a hat trick on April 10, 2010, Zack Schilawski is the Revs’ active leading scorer against Toronto ... Schilawski only needs one more goal to pull even Taylor Twellman, whose four goals lead all Revs players against Toronto
  • Shalrie Joseph has scored two goals and added two assists in a team-high 10 games against Toronto … he is the only Revs player to appear in all 10 previous meetings, starting nine of those games
  • Sainey Nyassi has also scored one goal and added one assist in six appearances against the Reds
  • Ryan Cochrane notched one of his five career goals against Toronto FC: a game-winning header in 2008 while playing for San Jose
  • Pat Phelan was originally drafted by Toronto in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft (10th overall), but was traded to New England on June 4, 2008, before making a first-team appearance for the Reds
  • The first two assists of Chris Tierney’s career were recorded against Toronto FC at BMO Field (Aug. 23, 2008 and May 23, 2009)
  • Matt Reis is 3-1-3 with 1.00 goals against average and three shutouts in seven career appearances against Toronto FC
  • Bobby Shuttleworth has not made any appearances against Toronto


TEAM NOTES

Home Goal Scoring Sets New Low
While the Revs scored 36 goals in 33 games overall this season, they had even less success scoring at home, setting a new club-record low for goals at home (17) … the previous record-low for goals at home was set in 1999 when the Revs scored 20 goals at Foxboro Stadium … Saturday’s attacking shutout against Columbus was the team’s sixth this season at home, the most at home in any season in club history … the previous high was five in 1999 … since 2000, the Revs had averaged just two attacking shutouts at home per season.


Better Goal Focus On the Road …
While the Revs had scoring woes at home, the Revs have had a greater scoring advantage on their opponent’s home field with 19 goals in 16 road games … in the last eight matches dating back to the 3-3 draw at Real Salt Lake on July 4, the Revs have scored 14 goals for a 1.75 goals per game average, and have been shutout only once … in contrast, the Revs scored five goals in their first seven road games.


Difficult to Find Success Across the Border
The Revs head north to Toronto for the club’s fifth-ever trip to Canada this Saturday, still looking to bring their first win back through customs … since 2007, the Revs have scored five goals on Canadian soil and are winless (0-2-3) in four trips to Toronto and one visit to Vancouver … despite its impressive home record against the Reds (4-0-2), New England is 0-2-2 at BMO Field.


On the Road Again: Goals are Nice, Wins are Better
The team’s 1-9-6 road record in 2011 may stand as the second worst in MLS this season - ahead of Vancouver at 0-12-5) - but the Revs are tied for ninth in the league for away goals, trailing league leader Chivas USA (22 goals, 17 road games) by three goals.


A Chance to Win Season Series
After their last five losses have handed the teams’ season series to the opponent, the Revs have a chance this weekend to win their fourth season series of the year, and their first season series against Toronto since 2008 … the Revs and Reds played to a scoreless draw on June 15, at Gillette Stadium … a win would add Toronto to the teams against whom the Revs have captured the season series this year: D.C. United (2-0-0), Kansas City (1-0-1) and Vancouver (1-0-1).


Losing Streak Longest Since 2001
Since their 2-0 win against FC Dallas on Sept. 10, the Revs have lost five straight games, their longest losing streak of the season … in the five game span – beginning with a 3-0 loss at Portland on September 16 – the Revs have been outscored, 13-4 … the club has not lost five straight MLS regular-season games in a row since 2001, when the Revs opened the season with an 0-6-0 record from April 7 to May 9 … the club record for consecutive losses is nine games, which was set in 1997 and matched in 1998.


Tough Losing Streaks This Season
The Revs’ five-game losing streak – since a 3-0 loss at Portland on September 16 – is tied with Kansas City for the most consecutive losses in MLS this season … further, the Revs are the only team in the league that has strung together two streaks of four or more consecutive losses … from May 21 through June 10, the Revs also dropped four league games against San Jose (May 21), LA Galaxy (May 28), FC Dallas (June 4) and New York (June 10).


At Least the League Record is Safe
With only five wins headed into the final weekend of play, the Revs have already set a new club low for wins in a season as the old record was seven in 2001 … however, one record the Revs will not match this year is the league’s record for fewest wins in a season … the 2001 Tampa Bay Mutiny (4-21-2) and the 2005 Chivas USA (4-22-6) squads remain in sole possession of that record … three teams have recorded only five wins in a season: 2005 Real Salt Lake, 2009 New York Red Bulls, 2003 Dallas Burn.


Shalrie To Make Revs History This Week
After recording his 238th career start on Saturday, Shalrie Joseph is now tied with Jay Heaps for the club’s starts record and could take sole possession of that record on Saturday at Toronto … while he is in Toronto, Joseph, the nine-year veteran – all with New England – could also tie Heaps for appearances as Joseph enters this week one behind Heaps’ record of 243 games with the Revs.


Rajko Returns
Rajko Lekic returned to the field on Saturday against Columbus for the first time since going down with an ankle injury at Portland on September 16 … Lekic, who made his 22nd appearance of the season Saturday as a 68th minute substitute, is second on the club in goals (6) and trails club leader Shalrie Joseph (8) by just two strikes.


Backline Boot Scootin’ Boogie
During this five-game losing streak, the Revs’ four-man backline has been doing a bit of a line-dance of its own: Steve Nicol has started a different four-man back line combination in each of the last five games … Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes, Ryan Cochrane, Franco Coria and Chris Tierney have all filled defensive spots the last five games, with the only constant being Alston at right back … the Revs sit in 17th place in MLS for goals allowed with 56 through 33 games, and last posted a defensive shutout on September 10 in a 2-0 win against FC Dallas at Gillette Stadium.


Looking for Last-Game Luster
For just the sixth time in club history, the Revs’ regular-season finale on Saturday will be the final match of the season as there is no prospect for continuing the season into the MLS Cup Playoffs … in the five previous season-finales (1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2010) that ended the team’s season, the Revs have gone 1-4-0, winning only in 1999 at D.C. United (2-1).