Revs-Sounders preview

By Danny Picard
CSNNE.com

FOXBORO – The New England Revolution get back to league play on Saturday night, as they host the Western Conference’s Seattle Sounders FC. It comes just three nights after the Revolution lost to Monarcas Morelia in the SuperLiga Finals at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday night.

It marked the fourth straight loss for the Revs, and the fourth straight game they scored only one goal.

Wednesday night’s game against Monarcas Morelia had meaning, sure. But the MLS season isn’t played with the ultimate goal being a SuperLiga championship. It’s played to win an MLS championship.

So while losing in the SuperLiga Finals may have been painful, missing out on the MLS playoffs would result in a whole lot more sorrow. And entering Saturday night’s match with Seattle at Gillette Stadium, that’s exactly where the Revolution stand: on the outside looking in at the MLS playoff picture.

The Revs (6-12-3) are in sixth place (out of eight) in the Eastern Conference standings with 21 points. The Sounders (9-8-5) are in fourth place in the West with 32 points. Clearly, the Revolution have more of an uphill climb to the postseason.

“It’s something that, we have a handful of games left, and we’re pretty far out of the playoff picture, but we’ve really got to hunker down and get some results,” said Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis after Wednesday night’s loss. “We’re probably going to have to win 90 percent of the games left.”

After Saturday’s match with Seattle, New England has just eight regular-season games left on the schedule, with only three of those at home.

Still, Revolution coach Steve Nicol believes the mentality of his club will stay the same.

“Same as it always is,” said Nicol. “We’re playing to win. That doesn’t change.”

As the Revs have found out this season, that’s easier said than done.

Danny Picard is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DannyPicard