New England Soccer Today

Recharging Batteries on Tap for Weekend Break

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

There’s no place like home, especially right after playing a pair of road games within a five-day span.

Following Thursday’s win in Houston, the Revolution not only savored the fact that they clinched a top-3 seed – which will allow them to avoid a mid-week wildcard game – they also embraced the accompanying break from league action this weekend.

“It’ll be nice to recharge,” Revolution defender Darrius Barnes told the media after the match. “It’s somewhat of a break at the right time. We’ll take the weekend off the recharge our batteries a little bit.”

Thursday’s match marked the fourth road game in the last five for the Revolution, and all against conference foes. The Revolution’s last respite came in early-August, at which point the team was coming off a lengthy stretch in which they’d lost 9 of their last 10 going into the latest bye week in the league this year.

This time around, players and coaches alike have the luxury of getting away with success fresh in their minds, which should lend itself to a more relaxing respite.

One player who’ll be taking full advantage of the break is none other than the well-traveled Jermaine Jones, who’s played a combined 207 minutes  over a five-day span in three different cities.

After going the full 90 against Montreal last Saturday, another 90 against Honduras with the U.S. Men’s National Team on Tuesday in Boca Raton, Fla., and 27 minutes off the bench against Houston on Thursday, no one could blame Jones for jumping on a flight to see his family in Los Angeles on Friday.

“I (will) fly back home to LA to see my family,” Jones told the media after the match, “and try to chill, hang around with my kids, have a good time, and come back and be focused for Toronto.”

It didn’t take Jones long to settle back into family life. On Friday, he posted a pair of photos on his Instagram account in which it’s apparent that he’s more than happy just to be “Dad” for the weekend.

Jones isn’t the only one who booked a ticket for the West Coast this weekend. Fellow midfielder Kelyn Rowe tweeted on Friday that he’s in Seattle this weekend for his sister’s wedding.

Oh it's raining in Seattle, who would have thought that? #Home

— KelynRowe(@Krowe210) October 17, 2014

Meanwhile, the likes Chris Tierney, Charlie Davies, Scott Caldwell and Diego Fagundez – all of whom reside in Massachusetts – won’t have to go far to enjoy the creature comforts of home.

But don’t expect the Revolution to get too comfortable. Barnes noted that once the weekend’s over, the focus will quickly shift back to the tasks at hand: finish strong, improve their form, and charge into the postseason.

“Next week is back to business,” Barnes said. “We like to think we’re in playoff mode right now, and we want to continue to get better.”

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