On the Road Again…

The Revolution won’t have to wait long to start collecting frequent-flier miles thanks to a travel-heavy start to the 2012 regular season that will put them on the road for five of their first seven games.

For First Kick 2012, New England will pack its bags for – where else – California, where they’re scheduled to start the season on Mar. 10 at San Jose before boarding a flight for Missouri, where a game against Sporting Kansas City on Mar. 17 awaits.

From there, team will make a brief return to gentle confines of Gillette Stadium on Mar. 24 for its home opener against Portland before it’s back to the Golden State for a Mar. 31 match at Los Angeles which will be followed by an Apr. 5 game at Dallas.

Although the Revs may have to get acclimated to the road early, they can be thankful for MLS’s new regionally-focused, unbalanced schedule, which is intended to cut down on the amount of travel a team has to undertake during the course of a 34-game schedule. In fact, the aforementioned matches at San Jose and Los Angeles mark the only two occasions in which the club will visit the West Coast in 2012.

Aside from travel concerns, some notable games on the Revolution schedule include an Apr. 14 match vs. D.C., a side that the Revolution beat twice in 2011, as well as an Apr. 28 showdown against longtime rival New York at Red Bull Arena. Another interesting fixture is the Revolution’s first trip to Montreal on Jul. 18th to face the expansion Impact.

For the second-straight year, the Revolution will close out their regular season schedule north of the border when they face the Impact for their Oct. 27 season finale. Last year, the Revs finished out their season in Toronto, where they claimed a 2-2 draw in Steve Nicol’s final game as manager.

The team’s preseason preparations begin on Jan. 16 and will include two separate trips to Arizona on Jan. 21 and Feb. 20 for warm-up matches against Los Angeles, Real Salt Lake and New York, with more opponents to be scheduled at a later date.

Here’s the full Revolution 2012 schedule, which is subject to change. All times are listed as Eastern. Updates will be listed on the team’s official website (www.revolutionsoccer.net).

Day Date Opponent (Location) Time (ET) Television

MARCH

Saturday 10 at San Jose Earthquakes (Santa Clara, Calif.) 10:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 17 at Sporting Kansas City (Kansas City, Kan.) 8:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 24 vs. Portland Timbers (Foxborough, Mass.) 4 p.m. CSN

Saturday 31 at LA Galaxy (Carson, Calif.) 11 p.m. NBC Sports

APRIL

Thursday 5 at FC Dallas (Frisco, Texas) 8:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 14 vs. D.C. United (Foxborough, Mass.) 4 p.m. CSN

Saturday 28 at New York Red Bulls (Harrison, N.J.) 3:30 p.m. NBC Sports

MAY

Wednesday 2 vs. Colorado Rapids (Foxborough, Mass.) 8 p.m. CSN

Saturday 5 at Real Salt Lake (Sandy, Utah) 9 p.m. CSN

Saturday 12 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (Foxborough, Mass.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 19 vs. Houston Dynamo (Foxborough, Mass.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 26 at D.C. United (Washington, D.C.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

JUNE

Saturday 2 vs. Chicago Fire (Foxborough, Mass.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 16 vs. Columbus Crew (Foxborough, Mass.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 23 at Toronto FC (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) 4:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 30 vs. Seattle Sounders FC (Foxborough, Mass.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

JULY

Sunday 8 vs. New York Red Bulls (Foxborough, Mass.) 7 p.m. CSN/Galavision

Saturday 14 vs. Toronto FC (Foxborough, Mass.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Wednesday 18 at Montreal Impact (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) 8 p.m. CSN

Saturday 21 at Sporting Kansas City (Kansas City, Kan.) 8:30 p.m. CSN

Sunday 29 at Philadelphia Union (Chester, Pa.) 7 p.m. NBC Sports

AUGUST

Saturday 4 vs. Sporting Kansas City (Foxborough, Mass.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 11 vs. Montreal Impact (Foxborough, Mass.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 18 at Chicago Fire (Bridgeview, Ill.) 8:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 25 at Columbus Crew (Columbus, Ohio) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Wednesday 29 vs. Chivas USA (Foxborough, Mass.) 8 p.m. CSN

SEPTEMBER

Saturday 1 vs. Philadelphia Union (Foxborough, Mass.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 15 at D.C. United (Washington, D.C.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 22 vs. New York Red Bulls (Foxborough, Mass.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 29 at Houston Dynamo (Houston, Texas) 8:30 p.m. CSN

OCTOBER

Wednesday 3 vs. Columbus Crew (Foxborough, Mass.) 8 p.m. CSN

Saturday 6 at Philadelphia Union (Chester, Pa.) 7 p.m. CSN

Saturday 20 vs. Chicago Fire (Foxborough, Mass.) 7:30 p.m. CSN

Saturday 27 at Montreal Impact (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) 2 p.m. CSN

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