WHO:

New England Revolution

WHAT:

A 4th Round U.S. Open Cup match

WHEN:

Tuesday, June 5, 2018, 7:00 p.m.

WHERE:

Lynn Stadium, 339 Byrne Ave, Louisville, KY 40209

WATCH:

There are still tickets available, but not many. Folks are reportedly having some issues with SeatGeek (which has otherwise worked really well this season), so if you run across those, call the ticket office and they’ll help you out. If you can’t make it, you can watch the game on local digital station Bounce TV 3.2, stream it on WAVE3.com, or listen to the radio broadcast on 1080 WKJK.

MARCH:

The Coopers, and just about everyone else, will be tailgating in the Bronze Lot at Cardinal Stadium again. They’re getting another early start. Chances are, if it’s after 2:30 p.m. and you want to drink beer in a treeless parking lot, you’ve got a place to go. The actual march into the stadium will be around 6:30, so don’t be late!

WHO, AGAIN?

Oooooooh, a first-time opponent! We don’t get many of those anymore, except for when new teams show up in the USL every season. Forget I said that. The Revs are an original MLS franchise, so they’ve been playing in cavernous Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts for more than 20 years. Often a bridesmaid, but never a bride, the Revolution have made it to the MLS Cup finals five times, but never won it. They did win the Open Cup in 2007, so that’s one shiny piece of hardware in their otherwise very empty trophy case.

This season, the Revs are managed by long-time USMNT and Tottenham Hotspur keeper Brad Friedel and his very confusing accent. This is Friedel’s first season managing a professional side, but he’s got a list of coaching licenses longer than a Trump necktie and some experience in the US youth setup. All of that has led New England to a respectable fifth place slot in MLS’s eastern conference, with six wins in fourteen games so far and 22 points. Of note is their road record, 1-2-2.

The Revs have scored 24 goals on the season and surrendered 22. They’re more or less average or slightly above in MLS thus far, but one item of note is corner kicks. They have 89 on the season. Their starting keeper, Matt Turner, is top five in MLS in saves, which honestly is not a good statistic to rank high in. Teal Bunbury leads the team in goals with eight, Cristian Penilla leads in assists with five, and also leads the team in shots. Whether we’ll see any of the players I just named, along with Diego Fagundez, Juan Agudelo, or Andrew Farrell is up for debate. The Revs have seven reserve and supplemental players on their roster, and the senior squad just played two matches last week. What kind of lineup we see tonight will tell us how seriously or not seriously they’re taking this competition at this stage.

Regardless, it’s gonna be fun. We can pooh-pooh MLS all we want, but it’s disingenuous to pretend like playing, and perhaps beating, an MLS team here in Louisville is not a big deal. So let’s go do that.

VAMOS MORADOS, VAMOS A GANAR