FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - During the weekend, the New England Revolution became the third team to clinch a berth in the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs. This is the sixth straight season - and eighth overall - that the Revolution has qualified for the playoffs.
The Revs join D.C. United and Houston Dynamo as the only teams to qualify for the eight-team playoffs so far this year. Coupled with the Revs' 4-2 victory over FC Dallas on Saturday evening, Chivas USA's draw with Colorado on Sunday helped secure New England another postseason berth.
New England has advanced to the last five Eastern Conference Championships - an MLS record - and has also played in three of the last five MLS Cups.
The 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs begin the final weekend of October. The top two teams in both the Eastern and Western Conference automatically gain playoff spots, as well as the four teams with the next best records overall, regardless of conference affiliation.
The Conference Semifinals are two-game, aggregate goals series and will be played the last weekend of October and first weekend in November. The first game is played on the home field of the lower seed, moving to the higher seed's field for the second game. Should the teams' goal totals be tied at the conclusion of game two, the teams would play a 30-minute mini-game to determine a winner. Should the teams still remain tied after that, penalty kicks will be used to determine the winner.
The Conference Championship matches are scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 8-11, and MLS Cup 2007 will be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18, at D.C. United's RFK Stadium and televised by ABC.
ESPN2 will televise the first game of the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs on Thursday, Oct. 25. Teams will be announced at a later date.
The Revolution (13-6-6, 45 pts.) are currently second in the Eastern Conference and travel to the rival New York Red Bulls (11-10-4, 37 pts.) on Saturday, Sept. 22. The teams will meet at 7:30 p.m. at Giants Stadium in a match that will be televised by TV38 and HDNet (nationally in high definition), and broadcast by the WEEI Radio Network.
