FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution looks to move back into a playoff position this weekend when the team hits the road for the first time in four weeks to take on Eastern Conference rival Toronto FC on Saturday, August 30 at BMO Field in Toronto. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m., with Comcast SportsNet televising the game and 98.5 The Sports Hub carrying the game on the radio.
The Revolution (9-12-3, 30 pts.) have taken four points from their last two games, including a 1-0 win over Chivas USA last weekend. Lee Nguyen scored the only goal of that game while Bobby Shuttleworth made four saves to post his sixth shutout of the season. New England enters the weekend one point behind the New York Red Bulls for the fifth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference and three points behind Saturday’s opponent, Toronto FC.
Toronto (9-8-6, 33 pts.) drew 2-2 with Chicago at BMO Field last weekend, conceding a 90th-minute equalizer to the Fire’s Quincy Amarikwa to extend their winless streak to two games. That game was TFC’s first at home since July 26 and they have now gone three straight games at BMO Field, where they are 5-4-2 on the season, without a win. Toronto FC are currently tied with Columbus for third place in the East.
Saturday’s match is the second of three meetings this season between the two sides with the Revs having claimed a 2-1 win in Toronto on May 3. TFC will visit Gillette Stadium, for the only time this year in the regular season finale on Saturday, October 25.
TEAM NOTES
Against Toronto FC
Saturday’s game at BMO Field will be the 18th all-time regular season meeting between the Revolution and Toronto FC and the second of three this season ... New England is 6-4-7 all-time against TFC, though they are just 1-2-5 on the road at BMO Field with the lone win coming earlier this season on May 3.
No current Revolution players have ever played for Toronto FC and no Toronto players have ever played for New England ... however, the two clubs’ head coaches have faced one another on the field on nine occasions with TFC head coach Ryan Nelsen going 5-4-0 as a player with D.C. United when facing Jay Heaps, who played for the Miami Fusion before joining the Revolution in 2001.
Jones and Castillion Sign
The Revolution completed a pair signings this week with Jermaine Jones and Geoffrey Castillion joining the club ... Jones was officially acquired by the Revs on Sunday when he was awarded to the club via a blind draw, while Castillion joined the following day after spending the second half of the 2013-14 season on loan with Dutch Eredivisie side NEC ... Jones joined his new Revolution teammates in training for the first time on Tuesday, while Castillion will begin training with the club upon receiving his P1 Visa.
Roster is full at 30
The Revolution now have 30 players on the club’s roster, including four players who are away on loan and unavailable ... Honduran international forward Jerry Bengston joined Belgrano of the Argentine First Division late last month, while Jossimar Sanchez, Luis Soffner and Alec Sundly are currently on loan to the Rochester Rhinos, who are the Revolution’s official USL PRO affiliate.
Looking For Two Straight in Toronto
The New England Revolution will return to Toronto for the second and final time during the 2014 regular season this weekend to take on Ryan Nelsen’s Toronto FC side ... on May 3, in the first meeting of the year, Patrick Mullins and Lee Nguyen scored to erase an early 1-0 deficit and claim a 2-1 victory ... that win was New England’s first-ever win at BMO Field after going 0-2-5 away to Toronto since the start of the 2007 season.
Saturday’s game is the second of four that the club has scheduled in Canada this season with an October 11 trip to Montreal remaining on the calendar ... all-time, the Revolution are 10-9-9 against the three Canadian clubs in MLS, though they are only 3-5-6 when playing in Canada.
Ten Games Left
The Revolution enters the final week of August with 10 games remaining in the 2014 MLS regular season ... Currently sitting one point behind New York for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, New England is 9-12-3 on the season for 30 points ... each of the club’s final 10 regular season games are against Eastern Conference foes, including a pair of games against Columbus, Montreal, Sporting Kansas City and Toronto FC, as well as single matches against Chicago and Houston ... the Revs are 2-4-1 against the six teams remaining on their schedule, having beaten Sporting Kansas City and Toronto FC earlier this season, playing to a 1-1 draw with Chicago on April 19 and dropping games to Chicago, Columbus, Houston and Montreal.
Back on the Road
Saturday’s game against Toronto FC will be the Revolution’s first game away from Gillette Stadium since August 2 when they travelled to Red Bull Arena to face New York ... since that game, the Revs have played a pair of home games: a 1-1 draw with Portland on August 16 and a 1-0 win over Chivas USA last weekend.
After returning from Toronto, New England will play its next three games at home – facing Sporting Kansas City, Chicago and Montreal – before returning to the road on September 20 to face the Crew in Columbus … between August 16 and September 13, the Revs will play six regular-season games, including five home games ... however, the road trip to Columbus will begin a run of four games in five that the Revs will play away from home … during that stretch, they’ll visit Kansas City, Montreal and Houston – in addition to Columbus – before closing out the regular season at home against Toronto FC on October 25.
Done Against the West
Last weekend’s 1-0 win over Chivas USA was New England’s ninth and final game of the regular season against the Western Conference ... the Revs finished the season with a 4-3-2 record against the nine Western Conference clubs, including a 3-0-2 record at Gillette Stadium ... this is the second time in three seasons under head coach Jay Heaps that the Revolution have finished the year undefeated at home against the West ... Heaps is 10-10-8 all-time against Western Conference opposition, including an 8-2-4 record at Gillette Stadium.
This season, the Revolution is 5-9-1 against the Eastern Conference, which includes a road victory over this weekend’s opponent, Toronto FC.
Nguyen Up For Goal of the Week
Lee Nguyen’s second half, game-winning goal against Chivas USA has been nominated for the MLS Goal of the Week ... this is the first of Nguyen’s team-best nine goals this season that have been nominated for the Goal of the Week award ... voting is open now and runs through Thursday.
Nguyen earned the nomination for his 56th minute, game-winning goal against Chivas USA on Saturday night ... with the game scoreless early in the second half, Nguyen finished an attacking series that saw seven of the 11 players on the field for New England touch the ball ... a cross-field pass from Diego Fagundez found Kelyn Rowe on the right flank and the third-year midfielder played a one-touch pass into the feet of Daigo Kobayashi ... Kobayashi quickly rolled a pass with his heel back into the path of Rowe, who prodded the ball to Nguyen ... Nguyen took two touches before firing a right-footed shot past Chivas USA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy from the edge of the box to give New England the lead and an eventual 1-0 victory.
A Clean Sweep for Shuttleworth
Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth made four saves last weekend to earn his sixth shutout of the season and help the Revs claim a 1-0 win over Chivas USA … as a result of his performance, the New England goalkeeper was named to the MLS team of the week by all three major online outlets that present the honor each week of the MLS season … MLSSoccer.com, SI.com Planet Futbol and Soccer by Ives all selected Shuttleworth as the top goalkeeper in Week 24 as he made four saves - one in the first half and three in the second half - to claim the win and extend Chivas USA's goalless streak to 456 minutes.
Attendance Rising Ahead of League Pace
So far this season, the Revolution’s attendance is pacing far ahead of 2013’s attendance through 12 games with the club raising its attendance by 12.5 percent … the Revs average 15,342 fans at Gillette Stadium this year – ahead of the club’s average of 13,635 through 12 games in 2013 … this season, the Revs can claim MLS’ fourth-highest attendance growth rate so far this season, behind San Jose (20.9%, which includes a match at Levi’s Stadium), D.C ... United (19.4%) and Toronto FC (16.2%) through the same number of home games a year ago.
2015 Season Tickets Now on Sale
New England Revolution season tickets for the 2015 season are on sale now .. ... all 2015 packages, which start at $315 for lower bowl seating, allow extraordinary access to the Revolution at Gillette Stadium .. ... the 18-game season ticket package includes a host of amenities and special access events with the team .. ... also available will be the recently-announced 2015 Fort Season Ticket Package, which includes a ticket to the Revs’ match against the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena and round-trip bus transportation to the event, as well as all the other regular season-ticket amenities for just $243 .. ... for more information about – or pricing for – Putnam Club season tickets, President’s Club memberships, The Fort season ticket package, supporters season tickets or college season tickets – call 1-877-GET-REVS ... Season tickets can be ordered the Revolution website.
