Aug. 8, 2001 – Revolution 1:5 San Jose (Att.: 11,822). Revolution’s highest-scoring home loss
Post by frankdellapa@gmail.com
The 2001 team was probably the Revolution’s most inconsistent. The ‘01 Revolution varied from capable to incompetent, sometimes in the space of 90 minutes. Ted Chronopoulos scored twice as the Revolution had taken a 5-1 victory over the Dallas Burn on Aug. 4, 2001. Then, the Revolution were routed by the San Jose Earthquakes (who would go on to win the 2001 MLS Cup), as Landon Donovan scored twice in the opening half and Mauricio Wright and Caté were red-carded. Without Caté and Wright, both suspended, the Revolution might have been at a disadvantage, but they got off to a strong start as Matthew Okoh’s sixth-minute goal opened the scoring in a 4-1 loss to the Miami Fusion Aug. 11, 2001. Alex Pineda Chacon, who would join the Revolution in 2002, converted a spectacular, close-range 16th-minute shot past Jeff Causey, and Preki broke the deadlock with a 27th-minute goal for the Fusion. So, in the space of a week, the Revolution had recorded a 5-1 victory and sustained losses by scores of 5-1 and 4-1, all three games at Foxboro Stadium.
Then, in a five-day span, the Revolution faced must-win contests against D.C. United – and a 2-1 victory (both goals by Chronopoulos) kept their MLS playoff hopes alive on Aug. 18, then a 2-0 win (both goals by Andy Williams) clinched a place in the U.S. Open Cup finals. The Revolution were eliminated from playoff contention with three games remaining in the regular season; the final regular-season match against the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, scheduled Sept. 15, 2001, was expected to draw a 30,000-plus crowd (based on advance sales), but was cancelled because of the Sept. 11 attacks.
That left one more soccer date at Foxboro Stadium before the venue would be replaced by CMGI Field, the U.S. taking a 2-1 win over Trinidad & Tobago in a World Cup qualifier Oct. 7, 2001. Revolution officials bid to host the U.S. Open Cup final, planning to honor tickets from the cancelled Sept. 15 match, guaranteeing a potential record crowd for the tournament. But the Los Angeles Galaxy was awarded hosting rights and took a 2-1 extra time victory over the Revolution in the U.S. Open Cup final before a 4,195 crowd at Titan Stadium in Fullerton, Calif., on Oct. 27, 2001.
TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY