FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (2-3-2, 8 pts.) makes its second-ever trip to Jeld-Wen Field on Thursday, May 2, to take on the Portland Timbers (3-1-4, 13 pts.). Thursday night’s match will be the only time the two clubs play this season.

Kickoff for Thursday’s game in Portland is set for 10:30 p.m. ET. Comcast SportsNet will televise the game live, while 98.5 The Sports Hub will have the game on the radio.

THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

Boys headed back out West
Coming off a home win against Philadelphia on Saturday night, the Revs make a quick turn-around and travel cross-country for a Thursday night match in Portland … the Revs will depart on Tuesday afternoon for the mid-week match … this is the Revolution’s second of four West Coast trips this year … on April 13, the Revs played to a 0-0 draw in Seattle, and the team will return west on June 15 at Vancouver and June 29 at Chivas USA.

Back to Jeld-Wen
Thursday night’s match against the Timbers marks just the second time the Revs will play at Jeld-Wen Field … the Revs first played in Portland on Sept.16, 2011, playing to a 3-0 loss … The Revs are 1-1-1 all-time against Portland, including a 1-0-1 mark at Gillette Stadium … Matt Reis has played all three of the Revs’ previous against the Timbers … Stephen McCarthy and Saer Sene have the Revs’ two goals against the Timbers.

First home win of the season
Lee Nguyen factored in both goals with one goal and one assist, and Diego Fagundez notched his first goal of the year – while Bobby Shuttleworth recorded his second shutout of the season – on Saturday as the Revs earned its first home victory this year, a 2-0 win over Philly … with the win, the Revs improved to 1-1-1 (4 pts.) at home … the Revs’ last win at home came on October 20, 2012 – a 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire.

Turning tides?
Saturday’s win over Philadelphia – the team’s first victory since the season opener on March 9 – saw many season superlatives … the 2-0 victory marked the first time the Revs scored at least two goals since September 5, 2012 – a 2-0 win over Columbus … the Revs’ 19 shots was a season high … the team’s previous best was 11 at Philly on March 16 … the Revs also recorded the most shots on goal this season (seven) … the team’s previous high was five against Dallas on March 30 … goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth recorded his second shutout of the season – and the team’s fourth in seven games – making four saves one week after surrendering four goals at New York.

Rowe there when it counts
Second-year midfielder Kelyn Rowe has played an important part in the Revs’ two wins this season … in the Revs’ season-opening 1-0 win at Chicago, Rowe set up forward Jerry Bengtson for the game’s lone – and game-winning – goal … Saturday against Philadelphia, Rowe was also important, recording his team-leading second assist when he took a pass from Lee Nguyen and played a ball across the face of goal to Diego Fagundez, who slotted home the eventual game winner … Rowe was also the team’s co-leader – with Chris Tierney – in assists in 2012 with five.

Reis returns to the fold
After his father-in-law, John Odom, was seriously injured in the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, Matt Reis did not train with the team ahead of, nor travel to, its April 20 match at New York … however, Reis rejoined the club last Monday for training and was a member of the game day roster this past Saturday against Philadelphia … the veteran goalkeeper has made two starts in 2013, posting a 1-0-1 record and recording shutouts in both appearances.

Bobbleheads return to Gillette Stadium starting May 11
Revolution bobbleheads will return in 2013, with the first bobblehead promotional night scheduled for May 11 when the Red Bulls travel to Gillette Stadium … Lee Nguyen will be the first of three bobbleheads given away this year when a limited number will be distributed at the gates next Saturday.

Charity auctions launch tomorrow at BiddingForGood.com
On Tuesday, the Revolution will launch a week-long online auction of items from Saturday’s game against Philadelphia that included tributes to both Boston Marathon bombing victims and leukemia awareness … items up bid will include: Chris Tierney’s autographed yellow BAA jacket he led the team out in during the procession, Jay Heap’s autographed blue BAA jacket he wore on the sideline, head athletic trainer Evan Allen’s white BAA jacket signed by the entire team, and autographed jerseys with orange ribbons on the front (for leukemia awareness) from Darrius Barnes, Jerry Bengtson, Scott Caldwell, Kalifa Cisse, Andy Dorman, Diego Fagundez, Andrew Farrell, Jose Goncalves, Ryan Guy, Stephen McCarthy, Lee Nguyen, Sainey Nyassi, Matt Reis, Kelyn Rowe, Saer Sene, Bobby Shuttleworth and Chris Tierney … proceeds from the BAA jacket auctions will be donated to The One Fund – Boston, while proceeds from the jerseys will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  

THIS WEEK IN ROCHESTER

• The Revs currently have four players on loan to the Rochester Rhinos as part of the teams’ affiliation agreement: defender Bilal Duckett, midfielder Gabe Latigue, forward Matt Horth and defender Tyler Polak.
• The Rhinos dropped the fifth and final game of a five-match road trip to start the 2013 season, losing 5-1 to Harrisburg City Islanders in Harrisburg last Saturday
• The Rhinos are now 0-4-1 this season
• Duckett, Latigue and Polak have appeared in all five games, while Horth has made four appearances
• The Rhinos play their first home game of the season in Rochester on May 4 against Harrisburg

THURSDAY’S OPPONENT & SERIES INFORMATION
Revolution vs. Portland (regular season) 1-1-1
Home: 1-0-1
Away: 0-1-1
TEAM NOTES AGAINST PORTLAND

• The Revolution is 1-1-1 all-time against Portland after the two teams met for the first time during Portland’s expansion season in 2011
• The Revs are 0-1-0 at Jeld-Wen Field with their only match a 3-0 loss on Sept. 16, 2011
• The Revolution is 1-0-1 at home against the Timbers … the Revs earned a 1-0 victory when the two teams met at Gillette on March 24, 2012
• Thursday’s match is the first – and only – time the two teams will meet this year
• The Revs won the only matchup between the two clubs in 2012
• Portland won the regular-season series in 2011 with two teams playing to a 1-1 draw at Gillette Stadium on April 2, and the Timbers winning the second match, 3-0, on Sept. 16 at JELD-WEN Field
• All three games in the series have seen early scoring with five of the six total goals scored coming in the first half … Saer Sene scored the eighth-fastest goal in MLS history in the teams’ last meeting, scoring 28 seconds into the match on March 24, 2012 at Gillette Stadium

PLAYER NOTES AGAINST PORTLAND

• Stephen McCarthy, Saer Sene and Chad Barrett are the only Revolution players who have scored a goal against Portland … McCarthy tallied the Revs’ lone goal against the Timbers on April 2, 2011, at Gillette Stadium … Sene scored the lone goal in the team’s first win over the Timbers on March 24, 2012 while Barrett’s goal came as a member of the LA Galaxy in 2011
• A.J. Soares, Matt Reis and Kevin Alston are the only current members of the Revs who have started all three games against Portland
• Chad Barrett leads the team with five shots against Portland in three games played, but all of those came when he was a member of the LA Galaxy … Chris Tierney and Sainey Nyassi are tied for second with four shots apiece
• Saer Sene’s goal on March 24, 2012 – scored 28 seconds into the first half – was the eighth fastest goal in MLS history
• Matt Reis is 1-1-1 all-time against Portland with a 1.33 goals against average, 10 saves and one shutout … Reis recorded three saves in the last meeting between the two clubs in a 1-0 win on March 24, 2012, at Gillette Stadium
• Bobby Shuttleworth has not seen action against the Timbers in his career

REVOLUTION ACADEMY UPDATE

Youth teams go 0-1-2 against Albertson SC
All three of the Revolution Academy’s youth teams returned home last weekend, going 0-1-2 against Albertson SC at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, April 27 … the Under-14s came back from a two-goal deficit to earn a 2-2 draw against Albertson … the Under-18s then suffered a 2-1 loss, before the Under-16s battled to a 2-2 draw …

Season to-date records
Heading into this weekend’s games, the Under-18s are 11-4-2 (35 pts.) overall and rank second in the Northeast Division of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s East Conference based on points per game … the Under-16s hold a 9-3-5 record (32 pts.) and are currently in third place in the division … the Under-14s are now 9-3-1 (28 pts.), which is good for fifth in U.S. Club Soccer’s Northeast Pre-Academy League based on points per game.

Summer Player Development Programs enrolling
The Revolution Academy’s Player Development Programs are now enrolling for summer sessions, with locations all over New England … the Revolution Academy trains players of all abilities in all aspect of the game, including ball mastery, speed of play, coordination and balance and movement with and without the ball … the objective of all the training programs is to replicate the speed, tempo and environment of the Revolution Youth Teams’ training sessions … through the age-appropriate player development sessions, the Revolution Academy fosters an atmosphere that is competitive, challenging, demanding and fun … encouragement and support from the professional coaching staff allows every player to gain a better understanding of – and continued passion for – the game … more information, including the full spring and summer schedule, is available HERE.