FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution's current stretch of five straight wins, and seven matches without a loss, makes them arguably the hottest team in MLS.
But the Revs believe their current success can be traced all the way back to the final throes of last season’s run to the MLS Cup playoffs.
The club’s 4-0-2 mark down the stretch of the 2013 regular season catapulted them into their first postseason in four years, and now stands as the impetus behind the streak has helped them take a five-point lead atop the Eastern Conference.
“It kind of stemmed from last year, particularly the finish to the season, which coming down the stretch with the games we had to win, we did win,” midfielder Andy Dorman told MLSsoccer.com on Wednesday. “As a team we took confidence from that. We knew we were close last year, but I think as group we knew we still had a lot more to offer.
“Luckily a lot of the boys ended up coming back this year.”
New England returned 20 players from last season's squad and despite a 1-3-1 start to 2014, that confidence never waned, thanks in large part to the level of leadership within those returnees.
“I feel that we have a great group of leaders in guys like Andy Dorman, Chris Tierney, A.J. Soares, Darius Barnes, Kevin Alston,” said coach Jay Heaps to MLSsoccer.com. “Our leadership, you don’t put it on one guy, you put it on a lot of guys and I think that was something that was really good.”
- Catch the latest Revs headlines at RevolutionSoccer.net
Now the club will look to settle in for the long campaign that still lies ahead, trying not to get ahead of themselves while maintaining a high level of play over the 22 league games still to come.
“[We have to] keep the mentality the same,” midfielder Lee Nguyen told MLSsoccer.com. “This lead or position we’re in right now could easily fall away.”
