FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution, MLS' top overall team in the standings, returns home this weekend to host its Eastern Conference rival New York Red Bulls on Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on TV38. WRKO 680 AM will air the game live on the radio.
The Revs will train three days this week in preparation for Saturday's game. The full schedule, including training locations, is available below.
All media who are interested in attending Saturday's game must RSVP to the Revs Communications office by the close of business on Thursday. Any media who plans to attend a Revs training session must also RSVP to the Revs Communications staff by the close of business the day prior to which they plan to come.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION SCHEDULE: AUGUST 21-26
Tuesday, Aug. 21 - OFF
Wednesday, Aug. 22 - Training at Payson Park Field (Foxborough, Mass.) - 10 a.m.
Thursday, Aug. 23 - Training at Gillette Stadium - stadium field (Foxborough, Mass.) - 10 a.m.
Friday, Aug. 24 - Training at Gillette Stadium - stadium field (Foxborough, Mass.) - 10 a.m.
Saturday, Aug. 25 - vs. New York Red Bulls (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.) - 7:30 p.m. ... TV: TV38/Radio: WRKO 680 AM
Sunday, Aug. 26 - OFF * - subject to change
NOTE FOR PLANNING PURPOSES: The Revolution will be off Sunday, Aug. 26 through Wednesday, Aug. 29, and will resume training on Thursday, Aug. 30.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (11-5-6, 39 pts.) vs. NEW YORK RED BULLS (10-7-3, 33 pts. - play on Wednesday against D.C.) Saturday, August 25, 2007 - 7:30 p.m. Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.) TV: TV38; Radio: WRKO 680 AM
NEW ENGLAND VS. NEW YORK SERIES INFORMATION
The Revs lead the all-time series against the New York Red Bulls (formerly New York/New Jersey MetroStars and MetroStars), 22-16-6 ... since the start of the 2005 season, the Revs are 6-1-2 against the New York area club, and are undefeated in the last six meetings (5-0-1) ... the Revs have posted defensive shutouts in each of their last three meetings with New York, and five of the last six matches
The Revs won the first of the teams' three meetings this season, a 1-0 victory at Giants Stadium on July 14 ... Andy Dorman scored the lone goal in that game to give the Revs the win ... Steve Ralston registered his 315th career assist in that game to assume the MLS career lead in the category. Saturday's game is the second meeting between the clubs this year, and the only one at Gillette Stadium ... the teams wrap up the three-game series at Giants Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 22
The Revs hold a 14-4-3 advantage in home matches, and are 8-12-3 against the Red Bulls on the road The Revs won the four-game season series in 2006, going 3-0-1 against the Red Bulls ... in Foxborough, the Revs were 2-0-0 and in East Rutherford, 1-0-1
The Revs have played New York more than any other MLS team - except one - in regular-season and postseason action combined, facing the Red Bulls 48 times ... the only other team New England has played more is D.C., which they've face 49 times between the regular season and the playoffs Revs claimed a victory in the last playoff meeting between the clubs - on Oct. 29, 2005, at Gillette Stadium - when New England earned a 3-1 win and clinched the semifinal series
REVS PLAYER NOTES VS. NEW YORK
Pat Noonan is the Revs' all-time leading scorer against the New York area club, scoring 11 goals against the Red Bulls while also chipping in six assists ... four of Noonan's goals have been game-winners, including the game-winning goal in the 1-0 victory at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 9 last season ... Noonan also posted his first career hat trick against New York on Oct. 25, 2003, in his rookie season Taylor Twellman has scored nine career goals against New York, and has added five assists Steve Ralston is also New England's career leader in assists against New York, recording 11 as a member of the Revs, a majority of his 19 career assists against the Red Bulls Joe Franchino (24) and Jay Heaps (21) are the Revs' career leaders in games played and games started against New York Matt Reis is 8-2-3 in his New England career against the Red Bulls, posting a 1.36 goals against average with five shutouts
LAST MEETING
New England 1, New York 0
July 14, 2007 - East Rutherford, N.J. (Giants Stadium)
Andy Dorman scored the game's only goal in the 38th minute - a long range blast from Shalrie Joseph and Steve Ralston - to give the Revs a 1-0 victory at Giants Stadium on Saturday, July 14 ... Matt Reis recorded five saves in the victory to post his sixth shutout of the year ... in a physical battle between the two teams, New York's Juan Pablo Angel was ejected in second-half stoppage time for an apparent elbow to Shalrie Joseph's head ... the victory sent the Revs to the top of the Eastern Conference standings where they have been ever since.
NEWS & NOTES
LEAGUE LEADERS
The Revs have 39 points on the season, and in addition to leading the Eastern Conference by six points, New England now holds MLS' overall points lead over Houston by two points... in the East, the Revs are six points clear of second-place D.C. and New York in the Eastern Conference, which each have 33 points ... while the Revs are six points ahead of second place, the rest of the East is still jammed up, with four points separating second and fourth places.
11 STRONG
The Revolution became the first Eastern Conference team to reach the 11-win plateau this season ... the Revs now have 11 wins, while D.C. and New York each have 10 ... the Revs are the third overall team in the league to have collected their 11th win of the season, joining Western Conference leaders FC Dallas (11-7-3) and Houston (11-7-4) ... this marks the third-straight season the Revs have recorded 11 wins, and the 10th season overall.
ONWARD TO THE OPEN CUP SEMIFINALS
The Revolution advanced to the semifinals of the 2007 U.S. Open Cup behind a 2-1 victory over the Harrisburg City Islanders at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday, Aug. 8... Andy Dorman and Taylor Twellman each scored to give the Revs' a 2-0 halftime lead, but the City Islanders struck on Matt Tanzini's 34-yard free kick, pulling within one goal ... with the goal, the Revs have advanced to the semifinals for just the second time in team history - they also made it to the finals in 2001 - where they will face USL-1 side Carolina RailHawks at Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Ct., on Tuesday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m.
TWELLMAN'S TOUCH
Taylor Twellman scored another goal on Sunday, Aug. 19, against Kansas City, pushing his team-leading total to 10 ... he is currently fourth in MLS this season in scoring, even though he missed three games while away on U.S. National Team duty ... Twellman is now ranked sixth on the MLS career scoring chart (85 goals), and is now just three goals back of fifth place (Roy Lassiter, 88 goals).
TWELLMAN APPROACHING MILESTONE
Taylor Twellman is set to play in his 150th career game on Saturday, becoming just the fourth player to play that many games as a member of the Revolution ... he currently has played in 149 games - starting 144 of them - in his six-year MLS career, all with the Revolution.
NICOL'S WINNING WAYS
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol is ranked ninth in MLS career wins with 72... he also has the third-highest winning percentage (.559) among coaches with 100 or more games coached ... Nicol has led the Revs to 259 points over his six-year coaching career, which is tied for fourth in MLS history ... during his tenure in Foxborough - which began full-time in 2002 - Nicol has led the Revs to each of the last five Eastern Conference Championships and three of the last five MLS Cups ... the Revolution is just one of two teams (Los Angeles, 1998-2002) to reach five successive conference championship games.
EXPERIENCE BY THE BUCKETLOAD
Eight of the current players on the Revs roster are ranked within the top 10 of the club's appearances record, displaying the team's continuity, experience and comfort playing together ... Jay Heaps (182), Joe Franchino (161), Steve Ralston (152), Taylor Twellman (149), Shalrie Joseph (127), Matt Reis (114), Pat Noonan (112) and Andy Dorman (104) have all appeared in more than 100 games as members of the Revolution, with a majority of those games coming since the 2002 season when Steve Nicol was hired as head coach.
CRISTMAN TOPS '07 ROOKIE POOL
With outstanding play in the first half of the season, forward Adam Cristman solidified his position as the league's top rookie so far in 2007 ... 22 games into the season, Cristman leads all MLS rookies in goals (4) and assists (4) ... he has started 12 games and has appeared in 20 contests ... Cristman was a fourth-round draft pick - 48th overall - in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft ... he leads other top rookie scorers Maurice Edu (top overall selection by Toronto FC; three goals, one assist), Michael Harrington (picked third overall by Kansas City; three goals, three assists) and Dane Richards (19th overall by New York; one goal, three assists) ... all statistics as of Monday, Aug. 20.
DIRECTIONS TO PAYSON PARK FIELD
From the North: Route 1 South to North St. (intersection before Gillette Stadium) ... take a left on North St. ... follow North Street for 1.4 miles until fork in the road ... go left at the fork ... the entrance to the field is 0.2 miles down on the left, after the football field.
From the South: Route 1 North to North St. (intersection after Gillette Stadium) ... take a right on North St. ... follow North Street for 1.4 miles until fork in the road ... go left at the fork ... the entrance to the field is 0.2 miles down on the left, after the football field.
