MONTREAL – Captain Jose Goncalves’ goal in the 31st minute lifted the New England Revolution to a 1-0 victory over the Montreal Impact on Saturday afternoon at Stade Saputo. The win propelled the Revs back into playoff positioning entering Saturday night’s MLS action, and also extended the team’s unbeaten streak to four games (2-0-2)

The win not only pushed New England (12-11-9, 45 pts.) into fifth place in the Eastern Conference, but also lifted the Revs to within one point of fourth place – currently occupied by Montreal (13-11-7, 46 pts.).

On the game-winning goal, Goncalves found himself all alone on the back post as Diego Fagundez whipped in a cross from the right wing that deflected off Juan Agudelo. Goncalves, running in on the back post, then blasted the loose ball with a left-footed shot to stake the Revs to a 1-0 lead.

The Revs’ defense took care of the rest as the team posted their league-high 13th team shutout and limited Montreal to just eight shots, including a lone shot on goal.

Despite the win on Saturday, there was a scary moment in the 18th minute as Revolution midfielder Saer Sene was taken down in the penalty area. He was forced to leave the game on a stretcher and into a waiting ambulance with a left ankle injury. Sene – who suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2012 – was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation, where he was diagnosed with a dislocated left ankle and a fractured left fibula.

Matt Reis was forced to make one key save in the 41st minute to keep his team in front. MLS’ leading goal-scorer, Marco Di Vaio, found himself just outside the six-yard box with the ball on his foot, but his right-footed shot was denied by Reis as the Revs took a 1-0 lead into the half.

The Revs continued to push in the second half in search of securing second goal but came up empty.

Goncalves tested Montreal Impact goalkeeper Troy Perkins with a left-footed shot from distance that Perkins was forced to parry over the bar in 49th minute.

Chris Tierney arguably had the Revs’ best chance in the second half in the 68th minute. Tierney hit a left-footed curling free kick up and over the wall from just outside the 18-yard-box, but his shot rang off the crossbar as Perkins could only watch.

The Revolution returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 19, when the team hosts the Columbus Crew at Gillette Stadium in the team’s 2013 regular-season home finale. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on TV by Comcast SportsNet and on the radio by 98.5 The Sports Hub HD2.

For up-to-the-minute information on the Revolution, visit the team’s official web site at revolutionsoccer.net, or join the conversation and interact with fans on any of the team’s social platforms: Twitter (@NERevolution, #NERevs), Facebook (NERevolution), Google+ (+NERevolution), Instagram (NERevolution), Pinterest (NERevolution), Vine (NERevolution), YouTube (NERevolutionSoccer) and Flickr (NERevolution).

For more information about 2014 ticketing options, including multi-game plans and individual game tickets, please visit revolutionsoccer.net/tickets.

New England Revolution at Montreal Impact
October 12, 2013 – Stade Saputo (Montreal, Canada)
]New England Revolution 1, Montreal Impact 0

Scoring Summary:

NE – Jose Goncalves (Juan Agudelo, Diego Fagundez) 31

New England Revolution: Matt Reis, Chris Tierney, Jose Goncalves ©, A.J. Soares, Andrew Farrell, Diego Fagundez (Clyde Simms 81), Lee Nguyen, Scott Caldwell, Kelyn Rowe, Saer Sene (Dimitry Imbongo 24, Kevin Alston 63), Juan Agudelo

Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Shuttleworth, Stephen McCarthy, Darrius Barnes, Charlie Davies

STATS: Shots 15, Shots on Target 3, Corner Kicks 8, Saves 1, Fouls 17, Offsides 1, Passes

303 (74.9%), Possession 43.2%

Montreal Impact: Troy Perkins, Maxim Tissot, Matteo Ferrari, Alessandro Nesta, Davy Arnaud ©, Patrice Bernier (Andrew Wenger 57), Andres Romero (Felipe Martins 57), Hernan Bernardello, Justin Mapp (Blake Smith 61), Sanna Nyassi, Marco Di Vaio

Substitutes Not Used: Evan Bush, Collen Warner, Karl Ouimette, Wandrille Lefevre

STATS: Shots 8, Shots on Target 1, Corner Kicks 5, Saves 2, Fouls 14, Offsides 1, Passes

392 (78.8%), Possession 56.8%

* Note that all statistics are unofficial as supplied by Opta
Misconduct Summary:

MTL – Sanna Nyassi (caution) 25

MTL – Matteo Ferrari (caution) 45

MTL – Andres Romero (caution) 45

NE – Lee Nguyen (caution) 49+

MTL – Andrew Wenger (caution) 70

MTL – Davy Arnaud (caution) 82

Referee: Chris Penso

Assistant Referees: Craig Lowry (AR1), Bill Ditmar (AR2)

Fourth Official: Silviu Petrescu
Weather: Sunny and 68 degrees

Attendance: 18,917

Team Records

New England Revolution – 12-11-9 (45 pts.)

Montreal Impact – 13-11-7 (46 pts.)

GAME NOTES

• With the win, the Revolution – at least pending the rest of the evening’s results – jumped into fifth in the Eastern Conference standings and into the final playoff spot … two other games this evening (Chicago at Dallas and Philadelphia at D.C.) could affect the standings
• The win moved the Revs to 12-11-9 on the season
• The Revs are now riding a four-game unbeaten streak (2-0-2) since Sept. 21
• The win was the Revolution’s second in three attempts at Montreal … the Revs are now 2-1-0 at Stade Saputo and 2-3-0 all-time against Montreal, including home matches
• This was the Revs’ second-ever win in Canada … both wins have come at Montreal
• The win gave the teams a split in the two-game season series … Montreal won the first meeting – 4-2 on Sept. 8 – at Gillette Stadium
• The victory was the team’s 12^th on the season, the team’s most wins since 2008 when the team also had 12 wins
• With 45 points, the team has posted its greatest point total since the 2007 season when the Revs accumulated 50 points
• The team posted its 13^th shutout of the season, and its first since Aug. 17, 2013 – a 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire at Gillette Stadium
• Matt Reis remained unbeaten on the season, moving to 5-0-4 in 10 appearances … he recorded his fourth shutout of the year with a one-save effort, the 74^th shutout of his career and his 65^th with New England
• Jose  Goncalves scored his second goal of the season with his 31^st minute strike … both of his goals have been game-winning goals this year … his other goal came in the 91^st minute at Columbus on July  20
• Juan Agudelo was credited with an assist on Jose Goncalves’ 31^st minute goal … it was his first assist as a member of the Revolution and his second assist of the season
• Diego Fagundez’s cross set up Jose Goncalves’ 31^st minute goal, and he was awarded a secondary assist for the pass … he now has seven assists on the season to move into a tie for the team lead with Kelyn Rowe … Fagundez now has 10 career assists
• Lee Nguyen will miss next Saturday’s regular-season home finale because of caution accumulation … he picked up his sixth caution in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, but because of MLS’  good behavior incentive, he entered today’s game with four cautions
• Saer Sene was stretched off the field by emergency medical personnel after suffering an 18^th-minute injury while breaking into the box … he was taken by ambulance to Montreal General Hospital for further evaluation of a left ankle injury 
• Dimitry Imbongo, who came on for Saer Sene in the 24^th minute, was forced to leave the game in the 63^rd minute with an apparent right hamstring injury
• Kevin Alston checked in for Dimitry Imbongo in the 63^rd minute and moved to left back, pushing Chris Tierney up to left midfield
• Andy Dorman was suspended for tonight’s match while serving a one-game red-card suspension stemming from an ejection last Saturday at New York