FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – 2021 is a year that will live long in the heart of every New England Revolution fan. Led by league MVP Carles Gil, the Revs not only lifted the first Supporters’ Shield in club history that year, but did so in historic fashion, clocking 73 points by the end of the regular season to break the all-time MLS record – a mark that still stands three years on.
But that record is now under threat from Inter Miami CF, who sit on 71 points with only Decision Day left to go. And as fate would have it, that final game comes against the Revolution, this Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale, meaning that New England will get one final chance of their own to stop the Herons from making – and taking – history.
The task is set to be a tall one: from Lionel Messi to Benja Cremaschi, not to mention Tata Martino on the sideline, this generational Miami side hardly needs any introduction. And with Gil still recovering from a hamstring injury, the Revs will need to take the field without the captain that led them through that 2021 season and the years since.
But as two of the last remaining members of that historic roster still plying their trade in Foxborough, defender Brandon Bye and winger Ema Boateng told revolutionsoccer.net this week that the whole squad was motivated to make sure New England kept that record, with first-year head coach Caleb Porter adding that it was the least they could do to honor the club’s history.
“We are going to be a part of history one way or another,” Porter said of the faceoff with Miami this weekend. “We are going to be a part of their history winning the highest point total in a season, or we are going to stop that from happening, which is what our goal is. Obviously, it won't be easy, but we owe it to the 2021 team that set that record to do everything we can to not let that record be taken.”
As someone who played an important role on that team, Bye remembered 2021 fondly, saying that the squad was one that deserved their place in history, and that the whole team now was driven to make sure they kept that place.
“It was a special record, special group, and we proved it throughout the whole season that we were a top team,” the defender said. “We definitely want to keep that record intact – that gives us a little extra motivation going into this Miami game.”
And Boateng agreed that the group that secured the points record was indeed a special one.
“It was great,” he said. “It was a great season, you know, everybody enjoyed it – we worked really hard to get that. It’s one of the things that everybody that was part of the group was really proud of, and the fans appreciated that. It was a great time, so very good memories of that.”
Of course, like Porter, the players recognized the challenge of going down to Miami and coming away without a loss. Both 2021 alumni said that the key to getting a result on Saturday would be seeing every player on the field in red, white and blue working together as a cohesive team.
“We’ve just got to work hard together and execute the gameplan,” Boateng said. “The coaches have put in a good gameplan for us to go in there and get a result; every game that we’ve gone in, the goal is to get a win. So that doesn’t change here – we have to work hard, they’re a very good team and we have to work hard as a unit together and execute.”
Bye put it even more simply than that: “It’s 11 guys together, playing our style of soccer, understanding the scenario we’re in, the situation we’re in, and trying to, at the end of the day, win the game. That’s all we can do.”
Porter has emphasized over these final few weeks that, despite being eliminated from playoff contention, the Revolution’s tough fixtures to end the season would serve as important tests of their own level. Boateng shared that the test was one that he and his teammates were excited to tackle, especially when it would mean ending their year on a high note.
“Going against a team like that, you want to bring out your best and test yourself,” the Ghanaian said. “You know, we are not happy with how the season has turned out, missing out on the playoffs. But it’s the last game until maybe February, so put your best foot forward and have one last good game to rely on going into the offseason and try to think of how to come back next year and have a better season … That’s a part of the challenge that we’re embracing, as well.”
And Bye felt that, as stiff as the competition might be, it was a challenge that this Revs side was more than capable of handling.
“It’ll be a good test,” he said, “but at the end of the day we know we’re capable of going down there and getting a result, and that’s what we’ll try and do.”
