Reserve the dates

After a two-year hiatus, the MLS Reserve League will return to action this weekend with a regular slate of matches that will extend through October 20th. The Revolution open their reserve schedule on March 26th against DC United’s reserve squad at Gillette Stadium immediately following the Revolution-DC United first team match at 4:30pm.

Perhaps the most notable difference between the construction of the current reserve league in comparison to its predecessor is that the clubs will not adhere to the current two conference format in MLS. Instead, the Reserve League will feature three divisions – East, Central, and West – with each club facing its division opponents twice in a home-away format.

Additionally, the liberal use of “guest” players (many of whom were either local collegians or club employees) seen during the league’s first run will no longer be the norm. With the expansion of MLS first team rosters from 24 to 30 players this season, not to mention the advent of youth academies, the current reserve league will emphasize its original goal: player development in a professional environment.

Some notable alumni of the first Reserve League, which ran from 2005-2008, include former Revolution midfielder Jeff Larentowicz, who skippered the Revs reserves in 2006, as well as 2010 Golden Boot winner Chris Wondolowski, who saw action with the San Jose and Houston reserves during the mid-2000s.

The 2011 Revolution Reserve League schedule is as follows:

March 26	NE Revolution	D.C. United	7:30 PM	Gillette Stadium/TBD
May 9	Columbus Crew	NE Revolution	10:00 AM	Columbus Crew Stadium
June 7	D.C. United	NE Revolution	10:30 AM	D.C. United Training Field
June 11	NY Red Bulls	NE Revolution	10:00 AM	TBD
June 21	Toronto FC	NE Revolution	10:00 AM	TBD
July 18	NE Revolution	Philadelphia Union	10:00 AM	Gillette Stadium/TBD
August 21	NE Revolution	NY Red Bulls	10:00 AM	Columbus Crew Stadium
August 29	Philadelphia Union	NE Revolution	10:00 AM	Nether Soccer Club
September 2	NE Revolution	Toronto FC	10:00 AM	Gillette Stadium/TBD
October 16	NE Revolution	Columbus Crew	10:00 AM	Gillette Stadium/TBD

 

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