FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – For the third straight year the New England Revolution will close out their league schedule against the Montreal Impact, and for the third straight year that’s where the Revolution’s season will end as they’ll once again miss out on the MLS Cup Playoffs.
It’s not how Brad Friedel’s first year in charge of the Revs was supposed to play out. Perched comfortably above the playoff line in early July following the club’s best first-half of a season in 10 years, the Revs were poised to make a serious push up the Eastern Conference table.
But a devastating late collapse against the LA Galaxy on July 14 served as a harbinger of things to come as the Revs won just twice in a 16-game stretch leading into Sunday’s finale against Montreal at Gillette Stadium, sliding all the way to eighth in the East, where they’ll finish the campaign.
That leaves the Revs with just 90 minutes to give their loyal supporters something positive to cling to heading into another long – and pivotal – offseason, and that’s exactly what Friedel will be looking for from his group on Sunday evening.
“The players really need to put on a show for the fans,” Friedel said. “We were in a great position and came unstuck right after the LA Galaxy game. That’s not something the fans deserve.
“They spend a lot of time and a lot of money coming out to watch us play, so I think it’s only fitting that the players put in maximum effort and try to get three points.”
New England do have an opportunity to play spoiler on Sunday as the Impact require three points – and some help from Minnesota United FC against Columbus Crew SC – to reach the playoffs, but that’s a secondary objective for the Revolution.
Front of mind for the Revs will be the fans who’ve come out to Foxborough all season, and who’ll once again brave the elements on Sunday for Fan Appreciation Night and the final game of the year.
“The fan support for us has been tremendous this year,” said goalkeeper Brad Knighton. “We’re looking to build off of that going into the weekend, and hopefully we can give the fans something to see, and something to end on a high note looking forward to 2019.”
