The 2012

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

season was the team's seventeenth year of existence, all in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. The team opened its season on March 10 at the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

and concluded on October 27 at Montreal Impact. New England's first home league game was March 24 against the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

Overview

Offseason

The

had plenty of turnover during the offseason after finishing in last place in the Eastern Conference the prior year. The Revolution fired longtime coach

Steve Nicol ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

after 10 seasons with the club, and hired former long-time New England Revolution defender

Jay Heaps John Franklin "Jay" Heaps (born August 2, 1976) is an American former soccer player who currently serves as president and general manager of Birmingham Legion FC. He is a former head coach for the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer. ...

to replace Nicol. Heaps had most recently worked as the color commentator for Revolution broadcasts on

Comcast SportsNet New England NBC Sports Boston is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports events thro ...

and 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Preseason

The

started training camp in Arizona culminating with a scrimmage against the PDL club FC Tucson which the Revolution won 2-1. New England then returned home for a few more weeks of training along with two scrimmages against the

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisio ...

of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, both of which ended in Revolution victories. The Revolution then returned to Arizona in order to participate in the 2012 Desert Diamond Cup. Their successful preseason continued with 3 consecutive victories over the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

and

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

in order to advance to the Desert Diamond Cup championship game. The Revolution lost the final to the Galaxy, 4 - 2 in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

March

The Revolution opened the regular season on March 10, 2012 all the way across the country to

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

to face the

. A first half mistake by Revolution captain

Shalrie Joseph Shalrie Jamal Joseph (born May 24, 1978) is a Grenadian former professional footballer who is currently a coach with the New England Revolution organization. Youth and College Joseph moved to Brooklyn, New York with his family as a teenager. He ...

was converted into a goal by

Chris Wondolowski Christopher Elliott "Chris" Wondolowski (born January 28, 1983) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. Nicknamed Wondo, he scored 171 career goals, the most in Major League Soccer history, and he was MLS's t ...

. New England was never able to recover from that mistake and ended up losing their season opener 0-1 to San Jose. One week later, the Revolution traveled to

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

in order to take on Eastern Conference favorites

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

. Revolution defender Stephen McCarthy was sent off on a controversial tackle in the 14th minute. The Revolution, who were suffering from numerous injuries to their defense corp was unable to survive 76 minutes with only 10 men and ended up losing 0-3 to Sporting Kansas City. New England had their home opener on Saturday March 24, 2012 against the

Gillette Stadium Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is southwest of downtown Boston. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for both the New England Patriots of the National Footb ...

. The Revolution came out of the gates fast with a score by new striker

Saër Sène Saër Sène (born 4 November 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Born in Paris, Sène began his career in the youth system of Paris Saint-Germain, before being released in 2005. He dropped into lower ...

in the 1st minute. They were able to shut down the Timbers for the rest of the game and get new head coach

his first

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

victory with a 1-0 result. Once again, the Revolution traveled cross country to

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

to face the

on March 31, 2012. Once again the Revolution scored early off a cross from Shalrie Joseph to rookie Kelyn Rowe for the first goal of his MLS career in the 10th minute. The Revolution attack continued and lead to another goal by Chris Tierney in the 13th minute and added one more to their tally off a Saër Sène goal in the 65th minute. The Galaxy were able to break through and finally score one off the foot of

Robbie Keane Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Keane served as Captain (association football ...

in the 78th minute, but the Revolution held on to record their 2nd victory of the year, 3-1 over Los Angeles.

Squad

Current roster

Squad information

Player movement

Transfers

In

Out

Squad statistics

Competitions

Preseason

Desert Diamond Cup

Standings

Matches

Major League Soccer

Kickoff times are in EDT.

Standings

= Eastern Conference

= Overall table

= Note: the table below has no impact on playoff qualification and is used solely for determining host of the MLS Cup, certain CCL spots, and 2013 MLS draft. The conference tables are the sole determinant for teams qualifying to the playoffs

= Results summary

= Results by round

U.S. Open Cup

Miscellany

Allocation ranking

New England is in the #19 position in the MLS Allocation Ranking. The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking. New England held the #1 position until they selected Juan Toja, which dropped them to the bottom of the order.

International roster spots

New England has 8

MLS International Roster Slots MLS International Roster Slots are an important piece of roster composition in Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport ...

for use in the 2012 season. Each club in Major League Soccer is allocated 8 international roster spots and no New England trades have been reported.

Future draft pick trades

Future picks acquired: *

2013 MLS SuperDraft The 2013 MLS SuperDraft was the fourteenth SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. The draft took place on January 17, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Indiana Convention Center. The Colorado Rapids enjoyed returns from the 2013 draft, ...

Round 2 pick from

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

; *

Round 2 pick from

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

.
Future picks traded: None.

Notes

External links

2012 Fixtures and Results
{{2012 in American soccer New England Revolution seasons

21st century in Foxborough, Massachusetts