FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (0-1-0, 0 pts.) travels to face Sporting Kansas City (1-0-0, 3 pts.) at 8:30 p.m. ET, on Saturday, March 17, at Livestrong Sporting Park. 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 will mark the first of three times that the clubs meet this season. Last season, New England won the regular-season series for the first time since 2007, with a 3-2 home win on April 23 and a 1-1 draw on July 30 at Kansas City.
SERIES INFORMATION VS. SPORTING KC
Team Notes vs. Kansas City
· Kansas City leads the all-time, regular-season series between the two teams, 20-13-9 … the teams also met once in SuperLiga (a 1-1 draw in 2009), as well as one U.S. Open Cup match (a 5-0 KC win on May 25, 2011)
· The Revs are 6-10-4 all-time on the road at Kansas City and are 0-0-1 at Livestrong Sporting Park, which opened in June 2011 … previously, the Revs posted marks of 5-7-2 at Arrowhead Stadium (1996-2007) and 1-3-0 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark (2008-2010)
· Saturday will be the first of three meetings between the teams this season, with matches following on July 21 in Kansas City and August 4 in Foxborough
· Saturday night’s match will be the 43nd regular-season meeting between the two teams, and the third since Kansas City was re-named Sporting Kansas City ahead of the 2011 season
· The Revs are 2-5-2 in their last nine regular-season meetings against Kansas City … prior to that stretch, New England had won three straight games against Kansas City from Aug. 2, 2007 to April 9, 2008
· New England won 2011 regular-season series with a 3-2 Revs win at home on April 23 and a 1-1 draw on July 30, in New England’s first trip to Livestrong Sporting Park … KC shut out the Revs, 5-0, in outside competition last season - a U.S. Open Cup Play-in match on May 25, 2011 in Kansas City
· The 2011 regular-season series win was New England’s first since 2007 … Kansas City won the three-game season series in 2008 (2-1-0) and 2009 (0-2-1) before the teams split the two-game season series in 2010
· 29 matches between the clubs have been determined by one goal or fewer … 12 games have been decided by a two-goal spread, while just one match – a 4-1 KC victory on Aug. 21, 2010 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark – has been decided by three or more goals
· New England has earned at least a point in each of the last three matches against Sporting … prior to the Revs’ 1-0 win on Oct. 16, 2010, New England went winless (0-5-1) in six matches dating back to Oct. 11, 2008
Player Notes vs. Kansas City
· Shalrie Joseph leads all current Revs players with five goals and three assists in 22 appearances against KC … his last goal came in the Revs’ 3-2 victory on April 23, 2011 at Gillette Stadium
· Kenny Mansally has two goals and two assists in eight career games against KC … he assisted Shalrie Joseph’s goal on April 23, 2011 at Gillette Stadium … his last goal came in the Revs’ 4-1 loss in Kansas City on Aug. 21, 2010
· Sainey Nyassi has also scored a goal against KC … Nyassi’s game-winning goal came on April 9, 2008 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark
· Chris Tierney has one assist against Kansas City, helping set up Shalrie Joseph’s game-winning strike on Oct. 16, 2010
· Benny Feilhaber has one career assist against Kansas City, which came in his MLS debut on April 23, 2011 at Gillette Stadium
· In 29 appearances (28 starts) against KC, Matt Reis is 11-9-8 with a 1.34 goals against average … as a member of the Revs, he is 6-8-7 with a 1.48 GAA and six shutouts.
· Reis set his single-game high of 11 saves against KC in a 0-0 draw on July 11, 2009 at Gillette Stadium
· Reis also recorded an assist – his first since 2007 – on the Revs’ only goal in a 1-1 draw on July 30, 2011, at Livestrong Sporting Park
· On Oct. 16, 2010 against KC, Bobby Shuttleworth posted his first-career shutout, a four-save effort at Gillette Stadium
TEAM NOTES
Looking to continue success against KC
After winning the regular-season series in 2011 against Kansas City – their first since 2007 – the Revs look to continue their recent success against KC on Saturday … the Revs have earned at least one point in each of their last three matches against Kansas City (2-0-1) since the Revs’ 1-0 win on Oct. 16, 2010 … previously, New England was winless (0-5-1) in six consecutive matches dating back to Oct. 11, 2008.
Revs ready to bounce back after San Jose
Saturday’s 1-0 loss in San Jose in the teams’ season opener was the third year in a row the team failed to win the first game of the season … however, recent history indicates they should be able to bounce back in match number two … after starting the season winless at LA in 2010 (1-0 loss) and 2011 (1-1 draw) the last two seasons, the Revs earned a win in the following match both years, defeating D.C. in game two both seasons: at home on April 3, 2010 (2-0) and last March 26 at RFK Stadium (2-1).
The suitcase will get plenty of use early in 2012
Beginning the 2012 season with four of its first five matches on the road, the Revolution continue its road stretch at Kansas City on Saturday … the team will play a single home game – the 2012 home opener against Portland (March 24) – in a five-week span (March 10-April 5) … after opening the season last weekend in San Jose, the Revs will visit LA and Dallas in upcoming weeks … after returning home from the LA-Dallas road trip, the team will have already traveled 13,290 air miles in the first four weeks of the season … including the team’s preseason trip to Tucson, Ariz., that immediately preceded the season opener at San Jose, the Revs will have traveled 18,030 air miles from the end of February through early April.
Shalrie Alone at the Top for Club Appearances
With the start last Saturday at San Jose, captain Shalrie Joseph became the Revs’ all-time career appearances leader with 244 in his 10-year MLS career … he entered Saturday’s game tied with current head coach and former teammate Jay Heaps with 243 appearances … Joseph became the club leader in starts in the final game of 2011, passing Heaps.
Matt is Still Mr. March
Despite picking up his first-ever loss in the month of March on Saturday night at San Jose, Matt Reis remains tough to score on in the season’s first month, posting an 0.66 goals against average and two shutouts in six contests ... with a 4-1-1 career record in March, Reis has played at least 20 games in every other month of the season, with April being his second-best statistical month with a 1.02 career goals against average, nine shutouts and a 14-6-7 record in 28 appearances.
Fresh Faces Take the Field
A total of seven Revs players made their Revolution and/or Major League Soccer debuts on Saturday night, including five of the team’s starting 11 … Blake Brettschneider (D.C. United), Fernando Cardenas (America de Cali/Colombia), John Lozano (America de Cali/Colombia), Kelyn Rowe (2012 draft pick) and Clyde Simms (D.C. United) all started, while Lee Nguyen (Becamex Bình Duong/Vietnam) and Tyler Polak (2012 draft pick) came on as second-half subs.
Whole New Look Defensively
Four of the five Revs players who played along the backline on Saturday night debuted in new roles in the game … A.J. Soares, usually a center back, started at left back with Chris Tierney’s suspension … Stephen McCarthy started at center back after playing exclusively as a central midfielder in 2010 as a rookie … John Lozano made his first-ever appearance in MLS with his start at center back, while 2012 draft pick Tyler Polak came on for Soares at left back in the second half … only Kevin Alston, who started and played the whole game at right back, was a familiar face in a familiar position on Saturday evening.
Revs sign midfielder Jeremiah White
Last Friday, the Revs signed midfielder Jeremiah White… White, 29, is expected to join the team for training this week, and signed following after an extended training spell with the Revolution during the team’s preseason … he most recently played with Poland’s GKS Belchatow, and previously played with current Revolution midfielder Benny Feilhaber at Denmark’s AGF Aarhus.
Nyassi Placed on Disabled List
The Revs placed midfielder Sainey Nyassi on the team’s disabled list last Wednesday because of a left hamstring injury that he suffered on Feb. 10 in a preseason match against Boston College … Nyassi, 23, will miss a minimum of five additional league matches … the first match in which he is able to return is the team’s April 28 road match against the New York Red Bulls in Harrison, N.J., although he is expected to miss at least 8-10 more weeks with the injury.
First Stop of 2012 Pub Tour Tonight
Revs players will stop by several of the region's top bars and pubs ahead of the first home game of the season as part of the official 2012 Pub Tour … there is no cover charge for the Revs' events and they are open to the general public, ages 21 and older:
Monday, March 12 – Phoenix Landing (Cambridge, Mass.) – Kevin Alston, Benny Feilhaber, Ryan Guy, Shalrie Joseph
Tuesday, March 20 – Banshee (Dorchester, Mass.) – Darrius Barnes, Saer Sène, A.J. Soares, Chris Tierney
Wednesday, March 21 – Ri Ra (Providence, R.I.) – Matt Reis, Kelyn Rowe, Clyde Simms, Jay Heaps
2012 Rev Girls Finals Tomorrow
The 2012 Rev Girls squad, the New England Revolution's promotional team, will be determined from 9-11 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13 at The Greatest Bar in Boston … 17 local women have made it to final round of auditions, and eight will be selected as Rev Girls for the 2012 season.
