No Rest for the Weary

On the tail end of their busiest stretch of the season, the New England Revolution will need to find the energy to do something they haven’t done in over nine years if they are to build on Wednesday’s win over D.C. United, their first victory since mid-May.

A.J. Soares and the Revolution defense will have a tough task Saturday against Colorado's speedy offensive line. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

Wednesday’s 1-0 win marked the end to the Revs (4-9-7, 19 points) nine game winless stretch as well as their first road victory since October 10th of last year, a stretch of ten games. Now the Revs will look to end another negative streak, nine years and nine games, dating back to June 15th of 2002, without a win in Colorado.

Of course the Revs haven’t fared much better at home against the Colorado Rapids (7-6-9, 30 points) either. New England’s last home win over the Rapids came back in 2007 and the defending MLS Cup Champions hold a seven game unbeaten streak against the Revs since.

Fortunately for the Revs, Colorado hasn’t used the high elevation of their stadium to make their home ground a fortress like they have in past years. The Rapids are just 4-2-5 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City in what has been a very inconsistent season for the club.

You wouldn’t have known that on Wednesday, however, as the Rapids steam-rolled their way past the Eastern Conference’s second place team, the New York Red Bulls, in what had to be a confidence building score line of 4-1. The catalyst? Sanna Nyassi, twin brother of Revolution midfielder Sainey Nyassi. Sanna recorded his first career hattrick Wednesday night.

That same night Sainey and the Revs were finally putting to bed numerous undesirable streaks, while gaining three points to push the team out of last place in the Eastern Conference and save some hope of making the playoffs. But now the Rapids stand in the way as the Revs hope to win two games in a row for the first time all season and claw their way back into playoff contention.

Both teams will feel the effects of a busy schedule with a midweek game, but the Rapids have the benefit of having both matches at home, while the Revs are in the midst of a three game home stretch. Wednesday’s match in D.C. was played in searing heat with temperatures well into the 90s and Saturday’s match in Colorado could approach similarly oppressive conditions.

But the Revs should have nearly a full squad to select from with only Ryan Cochrane and Kheli Dube unavailable due to injuries. A near fully rested Benny Feilhaber will return from suspension and could bolster the Revs attack.

Feilhaber was active on the offensive end in the two team’s first meeting, being denied by the crossbar in what would end as a scoreless draw on May 7th at Gillette Stadium. In that match the Revs had the better chances, but the Rapids were without both of their current speedy strike pairing of Nyassi and Omar Cummings.

New England won’t be so lucky this time and their defense is likely to be stretched to the limit against what might well be the paciest attacking line in all of MLS. Containing that attack will be the key as the Revs will look to strike on the counter attack to earn a rare win in Colorado.

The match kicks off at 9 P.M. ET and can be seen live on Comcast Sports New England.