The New England Revolution will play in the final of the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, Oct. 3, against FC Dallas, before returning to MLS league action on Saturday, Oct. 6, with a match at Chicago.
On Wednesday, the Revs will take on an FC Dallas squad that it has already faced twice this year in MLS competition, winning 1-0 in Frisco, Texas, on April 29, and 4-2 at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 15. The Revs will be looking to claim the team's first-ever cup championship in its second-ever trip to the Open Cup final.
On Sunday, New England travels to face rival Chicago in a 8:30 p.m. ET match at Toyota Park. This is the final of three regular-season meeting between the two teams. The Fire took a 1-0 victory in the teams' season opener on April 7 in Bridgeview, Ill., and the Revs claimed a 3-1 win at Gillette Stadium on May 6.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION SCHEDULE: OCTOBER 1-8
Monday, Oct. 1 - Training at Upper Practice Field (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.) - 10 a.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 2 - Travel to Dallas
Wednesday, Oct. 3 - U.S. Open Cup Final: at FC Dallas, 8 p.m. ET (TV: Fox Soccer Channel)
Thursday, Oct. 4 - Travel to Chicago
Friday, Oct. 5 - Training at Toyota Park practice field, 2 p.m. CT
Saturday, Oct. 6 - at Chicago Fire (Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill.), 8:30 p.m. ET; TV: TV38/Radio: WEEI Radio Network
Sunday, Oct. 7 - Travel to Boston
Monday, Oct. 8 - OFF
NEW ENGLAND VS. DALLAS SERIES INFORMATION
• This is the first-ever meeting between the two teams in non-MLS regular-season action ... New England and Dallas have never met in either the MLS Cup Playoffs or in the U.S. Open Cup
• The Revolution leads overall series between the two teams, 19-9-1, and is 7-2-0 against the Hoops since the 2004 season
• New England's 19 victories against Dallas is tied for the club's second-highest win total against MLS teams, one more than its 17 against D.C. United ... the Revs have won 23 games against New York
• Since 2002 under head coach Steve Nicol, the Revs are 11-3-0 against Dallas
• In the last 16 meetings against Dallas, the Revolution is 13-3-0
• The Revolution is 10-4-1 in games played in Dallas and 2-1-0 in games against Dallas at Pizza Hut Park ... New England owns an 9-5-0 record at home against Dallas and is 5-1-0 at Gillette Stadium
• New England has not lost at home against Dallas since 2003
• The Revolution was the first visiting team to earn a victory at Pizza Hut Park, taking a 2-1 win on Aug. 13, 2005
• The Revs have played two previous cup finals at Pizza Hut park, losing both MLS Cup 2005 and MLS Cup 2006 at the new soccer stadium ... in 2005, the Revs lost to Los Angeles, 1-0, in overtime, while the Houston Dynamo topped New England, 4-3 in penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in MLS Cup 2006
• New England won six of the team's first seven meetings (1996-97), before Dallas went 5-1-1 in the next three-and-a-half seasons (1998-2001)
PLAYER NOTES VS. DALLAS
• Taylor Twellman leads the Revs with career goals (14) against FC Dallas, a figure that marks his highest total against any MLS team ... seven of his goals have been game-winners ... he scored the game's only goal in the teams' first meeting of the season, April 29 at Pizza Hut Park
• Pat Noonan had a pair of goals in the teams' last meeting on Sept. 15, bringing his career totals against Dallas to four goals and four assists in eight games
• Steve Ralston leads New England in career assists (7) against Dallas, including the game-winning assist on Twellman's goal on April 29 this season in Frisco
• Taylor Twellman scored a hat trick against FCD on July 16, 2005 at Gillette Stadium, scoring all three goals in the 3-2 victory ... his second goal - and game-tying strike - came in the 90th minute, while his game-winning third goal came in the 92nd minute.
• Matt Reis has registered a 1.33 goals against average against Dallas and a career 7-3-3 record, which includes five shutouts.
NEW ENGLAND VS. CHICAGO SERIES INFORMATION
• New England holds a slight edge in the all-time, regular-season series between the two teams, 13-11-6
• The teams have split the two previous meetings this season ... Chicago won the teams' first meeting, on April 7, a 1-0 victory behind Logan Pause's fourth-minute goal in the season opener at Toyota Park ... Steve Ralston had one goal and two assists as New England claimed a 3-1 victory at Gillette Stadium on May 6
• Chicago won the 2006 four-game, regular-season series, 2-1-1 ... the Revs went 1-0-1 at Toyota Park last year
• The Revs are 4-6-5 all time in regular-season games played at Chicago ... New England owns a 9-5-1 regular-season record against the Fire at home (7-4-0 at Gillette Stadium)
• The teams are tied in all competitions - 18-18-6 - including both playoff and U.S. Open Cup matches ... the teams are knotted at 5-5-0 in MLS Cup Playoffs meetings
• New England has ended Chicago's season in the playoffs three of the last five seasons (2002 Eastern Conference Semifinals, 2005 Eastern Conference Final and 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinals), while Chicago stopped the Revs' 2003 postseason campaign (Eastern Conference Final).
• New England leads the all-time playoff series, 3-2 ... in the last meeting, the Revs came from a two-goal aggregate-goal deficit on Oct. 28, 2006, in game two of the Eastern Conference Semifinal at Gillette Stadium, and won in penalty kicks (4-2).
PLAYER NOTES VS. CHICAGO
• Taylor Twellman leads all Revs players in both goals (11) and assists (5) in games played against Chicago ... his 11 goals mark his fourth-highest total against any MLS team
• Steve Ralston had added six goals and five assists in his 18-game Revs career against the Fire
• Andy Dorman has two goals and two assists against Chicago in his career, and they all came last season in 2006 ... he had a career-high seven shots against Chicago in the 2007 season opener
• In his career, Matt Reis has 1.20 goals against average against the Fire with a 10-7-2 record, including four shutouts
NEWS & NOTES
OPEN CUP FINALISTS
The Revolution are competing in just their second-ever U.S. Open Cup final ... in 2001, the Revs advanced to the championship game, but fell to the Los Angeles Galaxy, 2-1 in overtime, in Fullerton, Calif. ... that season, New England played its first four matches of the Open Cup at the old Foxboro Stadium, defeating the Mid-Michigan Bucks (PDL), 7-1; the Charleston Battery (A-League), 2-1; Columbus Crew (MLS), 2-1; and D.C. United (MLS), 2-0, on the way to the final.
FAMILIAR FINALS
The Revolution are playing in its fifth final in club history ... the Revs enter the match still searching for their first piece of tournament hardware:
Year |
Competition |
Result |
Score |
Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 |
U.S. Open Cup |
L |
2-1, OT |
Fullerton, Calif. |
2002 |
MLS Cup |
L |
1-0, OT |
Foxborough, Mass. |
2005 |
MLS Cup |
L |
1-0, OT |
Frisco, Texas |
2006 |
MLS Cup |
T (L in PK, 4-3) |
0-0, OT |
Frisco, Texas |
HEAPS AND FRANCHINO BEEN PART OF THEM ALL
Jay Heaps and Joe Franchino are the only members of the Revolution who have played in all four of the team's championship matches ... Heaps is expected to start on Wednesday night against Dallas, but Franchino is out for the rest of the season while rehabilitating from July surgery on his peroneal tendon in his right ankle.
PIZZA HUT PARK PRIME CHAMPIONSHIP TERRAIN
The Revs will be playing their third championship final at Pizza Hut Park in the last three years ... New England is currently 0-2 in finals at the stadium, and is 2-3-0 overall there with victories over FC Dallas there in 2005 and 2007.
JOSEPH SEEING RED AND STAYING HOME
The Revs will be without midfielder Shalrie Joseph for the Open Cup final as he was ejected from New England's semifinal match against Carolina on Sept. 4 ... he was ejected with a straight red card in the 42nd minute - along with former Revs teammate Connally Edozien - after tempers flared between the two teams following a hard Avery John tackle on Johnny Steele.
BOSTON'S BEST IN POSTSEASON PERPETUITY
Boston is known as a sports-mad city with a rich history of championship success ... however, of Boston's five major professional sports teams - Revolution, Patriots, Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox - the Revs hold the city's longest current streak of playoff appearances ... having already qualified for their sixth-straight postseason, the Revs have topped the city's other pro outfits for recent postseason success ... the Revs have been in the playoffs since 2002, while the Patriots have advanced to the postseason every year since 2003 (four years straight and counting) ... the Sox did not make the playoffs last year and both the Bruins (participated last in 2004) and Celtics (participated last in 2005) also have missed the playoffs in recent years.
LUXURIES OF THE ROAD
New England has laid claim to MLS' top road record this season, posting a .577 winning percentage - 6-4-3 (21 pts.) - away from home ... the Revs are 3-2-1 in their last six road games after opening the season with six of their first eight games overall away from home.
NICOL'S WINNING WAYS
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol is ranked ninth in MLS career wins with 75... he also has the fourth-highest winning percentage (.563) among coaches with 100 or more games coached ... Nicol has led the Revs to 269 points over his six-year coaching career, which is 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.
SHALRIE'S HELPERS HELPING TEAM WIN
All four of Shalrie Joseph's assists this season have come on game-winning goals, tying him for second in the league in the category ... Joseph's most recent helper came on Khano Smith's 88th minute goal on Sept. 29 in the 1-0 victory over Colorado ... he has also assisted on two Taylor Twellman game-winners (May 12 at Los Angeles, 85th minute; Aug. 19 at Kansas City, 72nd minute) and one Andy Dorman goal (July 14 at New York, 38th minute).
SMITH HAS HOT SEPTEMBER
Khano Smith had a memorable September, scoring two goals and adding two assists ... he had one of his best games as a member of the Revs on Sept. 15 against Dallas, scoring one goal - his first of 2007 - and adding an assist for his first-career multiple-point game ... on a day when he ran nearly unimpeded up and down the left wing, Smith was active with several dangerous crosses, including the one that connected with Pat Noonan for the team's first goal ... Smith also assisted on Taylor Twellman's goal at D.C. on Sept 9, and then scored the game-winning goal against Columbus on Sept. 29 in the 88th minute ... in September, Smith was active in the goal-scoring in three of the team's four league contests ... Smith now has two goals and a career-high six assists this season, his third with the Revs.
