New England Revolution 2002

The Tampa Bay Mutiny and the Miami Fusion ceased operations during the off-season, and the Revs acquired Steve Ralston in the resulting Allocation Draft. New England also took Taylor Twellman with the second pick in the MLS SuperDraft and acquired goalkeeper Adin Brown. The Revs went 1-2-1 on their season-opening road trip, before defeating the Dallas Burn 2-0 on May 11 in the first event held at the newly-constructed, $325 million Gillette Stadium. Twellman tallied twice in the win - two of his club single-season record 23 goals that season. Clavijo was fired on May 23, replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Steve Nicol. The Revs went 5-0-1 down the stretch, clinching a playoff berth on the final day of the season. New England then defeated the Chicago Fire in the MLS Cup Quarterfinals, the club’s first playoff series victory, before earning a series victory over the Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference Championship to advance to MLS Cup 2002 at Gillette Stadium. An MLS Cup Playoffs record crowd of 61,316 saw the Revs lose to the Los Angeles Galaxy on a golden goal in the 113th minute. After earning MLS Coach of the Year honors, the Revs named Nicol head coach of the team on Nov. 6.