FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (2-4-1, 7 pts.) defeated Charlotte FC (3-5-0; 9 pts.), 2-1, on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium. Forward Adam Buksa opened the scoring with a header just eight minutes into the match. Midfielder Matt Polster added to New England’s lead with a right-footed deflection into the net in the 72nd minute. Midfielder Christian Ortiz scored for the visitors in the 85th minute.

Tonight’s win marked New England’s first victory in league play since the home opener on March 5 against FC Dallas, ending a four-game losing streak in MLS play. New England raced out to a swift 1-0 lead when Buksa, who returned to the starting lineup following a one-game red card suspension, converted on a cross from defender Brandon Bye. Buksa’s tally was his 25th goal from open play in the MLS regular season or playoffs, tied for second most in the league since he arrived in 2020.

Polster, who surpassed 10,000 career minutes played in tonight’s match, also registered an assist on Buksa’s goal and later doubled New England’s lead on an unassisted tally in the 72nd minute when he blocked a Charlotte clearance near the goal line. This marks the 28-year-old’s first goal-and-assist performance in MLS.

Goalkeeper Brad Knighton, who collected his first win of his club-record 12th season with New England, logged a season-high five saves in his third consecutive start. Defender Andrew Farrell made his 275th MLS start, guiding New England’s backline with a team-high six clearances. Sporting Director and Head Coach Bruce Arena collected his 40th league victory with New England tonight, improving his record with the Revolution to 40-19-24 and his MLS-record wins total to 242.

The Revolution are back on the road next weekend with a visit to D.C. United at Audi Field on Saturday, April 23. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET and airs on WSBK-TV38, myRITV, Cozi TV, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and 1260 AM Nossa Radio in Portuguese.

POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution 2, Charlotte FC 1
April 16, 2022 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

• Today’s Starting XI featured four changes from last Saturday’s match at Inter Miami CF with Omar Gonzalez, Brandon Bye, Emmanuel Boateng, and Adam Buksa starting in place of Henry Kessler, Ryan Spaulding, Tommy McNamara, and Arnór Traustason.
• The Revolution snapped a four-game losing streak with tonight’s win, dating back to a 3-2 loss to Real Salt Lake on March 12. New England improved its home record to 2-2-0 this season. 
• Sporting Director and Head Coach Bruce Arena logged his 40th win with New England as his record with the Revs moves to 40-19-24. 
• Adam Buksa netted his first goal of the 2022 MLS season, and his third of the year across all competitions, with a header in the eighth minute, assisted by Brandon Bye and Matt Polster. The goal was Buksa’s 10th MLS tally at Gillette Stadium. 
• Buksa has scored 25 career goals in the MLS regular season or playoffs, tied for second most in MLS since 2020. He now has eight headed goals in MLS regular season action, tied for second most in MLS since 2020. 
• Polster, who led New England with two shots on goal, opened his 2022 account in the 72nd minute on a right-footed deflection inside the box. The midfielder’s goal-and-assist performance in tonight’s victory marked his first in MLS. 
• Polster eclipsed 10,000 career minutes played in the MLS regular season with his 90-minute performance. 
• Andrew Farrell collected his 275th start in MLS tonight, a club record. The veteran center back logged a team-best six clearances in addition to six possessions gained and one interception. 
• Goalkeeper Brad Knighton, a native of Hickory, N.C., tallied a season-high five saves en route to his first win of the season. Knighton has started the last three consecutive games in net for the Revs. 
• Carles Gil paced New England’s attack with game highs in chances created (5) and successful crosses (7) in his 75th career MLS appearance. Gil also led the Revs with 84 touches. 
• Homegrown Player Justin Rennicks featured in the Starting XI for the third consecutive match, while registering his fourth appearance in a row. 
• In addition to his assist on Buksa’s opening goal, Brandon Bye, who returned to the Starting XI after missing last weekend’s match at Inter Miami CF due to a minor leg injury, led New England with 11 possessions gained.

GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauziere 
Assistant Referees: Kyle Atkins (AR1), Walt Heatherly (AR2)
Fourth Official: Sergii Demianchuk
Video Assistant Referee: Younes Marrakchi 
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Tom Supple 
Weather: 60 degrees and raining  
Attendance: 15,344

Scoring Summary:
NE- Adam Buksa 1 (Brandon Bye 1, Matt Polster 1) 8’
NE- Matt Polster 1 (unassisted) 71’
CHA- Christian Ortiz 1 (Sergio Ruiz 1) 85’

Misconduct Summary:
NE- Matt Polster (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 29’
CHA- Christian Makoun (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 57’ 
NE- Brandon Bye (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 87’

New England Revolution: Brad Knighton; DeJuan Jones, Andrew Farrell, Omar Gonzalez, Brandon Bye; Matt Polster, Sebastian Lletget (Arnór Traustason 88’), Carles Gil ©, Emmanuel Boateng (Tommy McNamara 74’); Adam Buksa, Justin Rennicks (Wilfrid Kaptoum 89’)   

Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Jacob Johnson, Jozy Altidore, Noel Buck, A.J. DeLaGarza, Damian Rivera

Charlotte FC: Kristijan Kahlina; Guzman Corujo, Christian Makoun, Christian Fuchs ©, Jaylin Lindsey; Jordy Alcivar (Christian Ortiz 73’), Brandt Bronico, Ben Bender, Alan Franco; Karol Swiderski, Daniel Rios (Yordy Reyna 73’)

Substitutes Not Used: George Marks, Harrison Afful, Adam Armour, McKinze Gaines, Joseph Mora, Sergio Ruiz, Anton Walkes

Full statistics available HERE.