FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – After a bye weekend last week, the New England Revolution (5-7-1, 16 pts.) returns to action this Saturday, June 16, when the team hosts the Columbus Crew (5-4-3, 18 pts.) at 7:30 p.m., at Gillette Stadium.

Comcast SportsNet will televise the game while 98.5 The Sports Hub will carry the game on the radio.

Saturday is the first of three meetings this season as the two teams will meet on Aug. 25 in Columbus before returning to Gillette Stadium on Sept. 5. Columbus swept the regular-season series between the two teams in 2011, defeating the Revs, 3-1, on Aug. 13 before recording the shutout in a 3-0 win on Oct. 15, at Gillette Stadium.

SERIES INFORMATION VS COLUMBUS CREW
Team information vs. Columbus

• Saturday’s match is the 55th all-time regular season meeting, and the 61st  overall meeting, including five MLS Cup Playoffs meetings and one U.S. Open Cup  contest
• Columbus leads the all-time regular-season series between the two teams, 28-16-10 … the Revs are 10-13-4 at home against Columbus, including a 6-7-3 mark at Gillette Stadium since its opening in 2002
• Columbus captured the 2011 regular-season series with a 3-1 win on Aug. 13 in Columbus, and a 3-0 win on Oct. 15 at Gillette Stadium
• The Revs and Crew will meet two additional times this season, marking the first season since 2008 that the clubs will meet more than twice… the Revs will travel to Columbus on Aug. 25 before hosting the Crew at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 5
• Since 2007, New England has won just twice in its last 12 meetings with Columbus … the Revs are 2-7-3 in that stretch
• The Revs’ last season-series victory over the Crew came in 2006, when the Revolution went 2-1-1 against Columbus
• The teams have combined for four or more goals in seven of their last 12 meetings, including a 3-1 Columbus win last Aug. 13
• Outside of MLS competition, the Revs are 3-0-3 against the Crew, including MLS Cup Playoff (2-0-3) and U.S. Open Cup (1-0-0) matches

Player Notes vs. Columbus

• Shalrie Joseph is the club’s active leading scorer against Columbus, with two goals and one assist
• Benny Feilhaber has one goal in two appearances, recording the goal on Aug. 13, 2011
• Zak Boggs has scored two goals against the Crew, both coming in the 3-2 loss at Columbus on May 8, 2010 … it was his first – and only to date – multiple-goal game of his career
• Matt Reis has started in all but one of his 27 appearances against the Crew, going 7-9-9 with five shutouts and a 1.47 goals against average
• Bobby Shuttleworth has made one appearance against Columbus, starting in the last meeting between the two teams on Oct. 15, 2011
• After Matt Reis (27 appearances) and Shalrie Joseph (24), no other current Revolution player has appeared in more than eight games for the club against Columbus

TEAM NOTES
Revs Not Crews-ing Against Columbus

Saturday’s match will be the first of three games this year against Columbus, a team whom the Revs have struggled against in recent seasons … following a 2-1-1 record against the Crew in 2006, the Revs have gone 2-7-3 in the last 12 meetings with the two wins coming in 2008 (1-0 at Columbus on May 24, 2008) and 2009 (1-0 at Columbus on Oct. 25, 2009).

High-Scoring, Yet Close, Contests

In the last 12 meetings between the Revs and Crew, seven games have seen four or more combined goals scored between the teams … however, despite the goal totals, the games have been extremely close with nine of the 12 meetings ending in a draw or a one-goal outcome … Columbus’ two-goal victory on Aug. 13, 2011 marked the first time since Sept. 6, 2008 – a 4-0 Crew win – that a team won a match by more than two goals.

Repeat Offenders?

The win over Chicago in the Revs’ last match on June 2 marked the team’s first win against an Eastern Conference opponent this season as the team has a 1-4-1 record against Eastern teams this year … 11 of the club’s next 12 matches are against Eastern Conference foes … the Revs posted 4-3-0 marks against the West to open the season.

Goalkeeper Save-Off Saturday?

Saturday’s match features two of MLS’ top save men … Revs keeper Matt Reis enters the game ranked fifth with 42 saves in 13 matches … Columbus’ projected starter, Andy Gruenebaum, leads the league with 51 saves in 12 matches this season.

Tierney Moves Up CK Ladder

With four corner kicks against Chicago on June 2, Chris Tierney moved into fifth place on the club’s all-time corner kicks list with 121 in his career, passing Andy Dorman (2004-07), who had 119 in 112 games … Tierney’s 20 corners currently leads the Revs this year and trails fourth-place Imad Baba (158) by 37 on the club’s career CK list.

Rowe Nose for Goal

In 10 appearances, Kelyn Rowe has put 13 of his 18 shots – a league-leading 72.2 percent –on goal … the rookie midfielder leads second-place Danny Koevermans (66.7 percent) by more than five percentage points … Rowe scored his second goal of the season against Chicago on June 2 in a substitute appearance and put both of his shots on frame in that game.

Reis Racking Up Games Played

Matt Reis has started all 13 games for the Revs this season and is just one game shy of the league lead for games played in goal, behind San Jose’s Jon Busch (14), who has also played in every game this year … Reis started 27 games last season but missed the final three games of the campaign with an injury before returning to the starting lineup in the season opener March 10 this year.

Team Shots on Goal Adding Up

After eight shots were on target in their last match against Chicago, the Revs now have an MLS-leading 78 shots on goal, three more than San Jose (75), who has played 14 matches … the Revs took only one shot on goal in the season-opener on March 10, but have recorded at least five shots on goal in each of the last 12 matches – including a season-high nine shots on goal at LA on March 31.

Scoring Success Continues

The Revs’ two-goal victory Chicago on June 2 brought the Revs goal-scoring total to 18 goals in 13 games … the team’s 18 goals rank sixth in MLS behind league-leader D.C. (28 goals, 15 games) … after being shut out in four of their first seven games, the Revs have scored in six straight games dating back to May 2 against Colorado, with five of those six games resulting in multiple-goal efforts.

Reserves Get Double Dose of Crew

The Revolution reserves (1-2-1, 4 pts.) will have a similar opponent on Sunday morning as they take on the Crew reserves (4-1-0, 12 pts.) for the second time in a week – this time in Foxborough … the Crew reserves earned a 1-0 win against the Revs reserves on Sunday morning in Columbus after Bernardo Anor’s 81st-minute goal ... the Revs reserves have six games remaining with five of the six at home … the team’s lone road match comes on June 23 at Toronto, immediately following the first teams’ game at BMO Field. 

YOUTH UPDATE
Under-18s

The Under-18s went 2-0-0 during the weekend, picking up two shutouts and six points in their final home games of the season … the U18s earned a 1-0 win against Oakwood SC on Saturday, June 9, before topping South Central Premier, 6-0, on Sunday, June 10 … the U18s are now 11-9-4 (37 pts.) overall … with their 5-2-1 (16 pts.) division record, the U18s sit in second place in the Northeast Division of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s East Conference.

Under-16s

The Under-16s went 1-0-1 during the weekend, picking up one shutout and four points in their final two home matches … the U16s played Oakwood SC to a 2-2 draw on Saturday, before earning a 4-0 victory over South Central Premier on Sunday … the U16s are now 15-6-3 (48 pts.) overall … with their 5-1-2 (17 pts.) division record, the U16s sit in third place in the Northeast Division of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s East Conference.

The youth teams are on the road this weekend, playing their final regular season matches in the last push for the playoffs … the Revs will travel to Epping, N.H., to take on Seacoast United on Saturday, June 16, before meeting Empire United in Syracuse, N.Y., on Sunday, June 17.

2012-13 Tryouts Announced

The Revolution will hold tryouts for its newly-created Revolution Academy Under-14 team, as well as its existing Under-16 and Under-18 teams, at Gillette Stadium on Monday, July 2 … players born in the following years are eligible to try out: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 … there is no fee to try out, but all prospective players must register for the tryout no later than Sunday, July 1 … players who have not already registered will not be allowed to tryout on July 2 … registration forms and information, as well as the July 2 tryout schedule, can be found online at revolutionsoccer.net/academy/2012-open-tryouts