New England Soccer Today

NEST Notes: Revs Top Power Rankings

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

A day after claiming an emphatic 5-0 win over the top of the table Seattle Sounders, the New England Revolution are the polesitters on this week’s ESPN MLS Power Rankings.

The Revolution have taken wins from defending champion Sporting Kansas City (2-0), uber-talented Toronto FC (2-1) and the Sounders (5-0) in consecutive weeks, and have gone unbeaten in their last five (4-0-1).

Per ESPN soccer writer Jeff Carlisle:

“The 5-0 score line against Seattle may have been surprising, but the Revs have been in the ascendency in recent weeks, and they worked their counterattacking game to perfection on Sunday. Getting Diego Fagundez on the score sheet counts as a bonus.”

Prior to Monday’s power rankings, the Revolution were proprietors of the fifth spot.

Bilello champions new TV deals

On Monday, MLS and U.S. Soccer inked a trio of new TV and media deals that’ll call for ESPN, FOX  and Univision to carry regular season and post-season matches starting in 2015. The deals will run through the 2022 season.

Highlights of the deals call for Univision to televise a weekly Friday night match, while ESPN and FOX will broadcast weekly Sunday evening games at 5pm ET  and 7pm ET, respectively.

Shortly after the announcement was made, Revolution President Brian Bilello spoke about the importance of the deals, which will serve to strengthen the league even further.

“Our league has made tremendous strides, particularly in the last decade,” Bilello said in a team release on Monday, “and this agreement further extends those gains. Having partners like ESPN, Fox and Univision all committed to growing our league, creating appointment viewing and showcasing our talent and skill will do a lot to further entrench Major League Soccer in the North American sporting landscape.

“Between the regular television broadcasts and the expanded digital coverage, this agreement will help enlarge MLS’ footprint in American homes and grow our fan base. This is a landmark agreement for our league under which we’ll move into the next decade and continue our league’s growth.”

Pioneers Prepare for Second Round Open Cup action

After grabbing a 4-1 win over GPS Massachusetts in last Wednesday’s First Round Open Cup clash, the Western Mass Pioneers are preparing for a Second Round showdown with the Rochester Rhinos on Wednesday.

The match will take place at Sahlen’s Stadium in Rochester, and kick off at 7:35pm. The Rhinos are the last non-MLS side to win the tournament (1999).

Alencar Junior, who scored two second half goals for the Pioneers in last week’s win, said that he hopes to make the trip to western New York for the clash.

Leave a Reply