FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It may seem incongruous to call Kelyn Rowe’s 2016 campaign the most consistent of his young career considering he played seven different positions, but that’s precisely how both Rowe and New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps classified this past year.
“Overall, I thought he had a really good year,” Heaps said of Rowe, his first-ever draft pick (3rd overall) back in 2012. “He played a lot of different roles, but his performances were consistent, and that’s the most important thing.”
“I don’t think it was my best (season) in terms of numbers. I don’t think it was my best in one position because I played a couple of them. But for consistency, yeah, I believe it is (my best season),” Rowe said after capturing the Revolution’s fan-voted Santander Team MVP award. “My goal every year is to get better than the season beforehand, and I think I’ve completed that in some part of my game.”
In his fifth professional season, Rowe set new career highs in both starts (32) and minutes played (2,787), racking up five goals and seven assists in the process. He was particularly strong during the Revs’ three-game winning streak in September, notching two goals and three assists.
But 2016 was less about Rowe’s statistical output, and more about his reliability. He featured at forward, central attacking midfield, holding midfield, both wings and both outside back positions – and his level rarely dropped despite being deployed in different spots on a week-to-week basis.
Those types of performances earned the soon-to-be-25-year-old a new deal with the Revolution as he put pen to paper on an extension in late September, but Rowe is anything but complacent after the Revs missed out on the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since his rookie season in 2012.
“I’ve pushed myself to be more consistent and I think this year was my best year in doing so, but there’s always room for improvement,” Rowe said. “There’s always room to finish off a ball, to play a better pass, to get harder into a tackle and to make the smart decision. That’s my goal in the offseason is to just keep improving and again, be consistent.”
At times a super-sub in 2015, Rowe established himself as one of the pillars of New England’s starting lineup this past season – essentially an automatic starter when healthy. With his future pledged to the Revolution, he’ll likely continue to be a player Heaps builds around moving forward.
In return, Rowe hopes to bring championships to New England.
“I want to win a trophy, whether it be the Open Cup, the MLS Cup final, or both,” Rowe said. “I want to win a trophy and it starts this offseason, and it starts when January hits and we get back together.”
