With the playoffs now out of the picture, the New England Revolution have the freedom to experiment with matchday lineups, and against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night, head coach Jay Heaps took the opportunity to tinker with his defense. The Red Bulls, for their part, trotted out an expected full-strength lineup.
Matt Reis is on the bench for the first time in several months, giving backup goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth a chance to showcase his talents. Reis has played fairly well recently, but Shuttleworth put in several very good performances earlier in the season and looks to be the organization's choice of keeper for the future.
The defense in front of him also changed up a bit. Heaps is apparently a fan of Kevin Alston at left back, and elected to keep him out there with Florian Lechner on the right. A.J. Soares returned to the lineup for the first time since August 29th, with Stephen McCarthy making way as Darrius Barnes retains his spot in central defense.
Diego Fagundez earned another consecutive start alongside Jerry Bengtson at striker. Also notable, midfielder Blair Gavin will feature on the bench. Gavin was the player the Revolution received in the Shalrie Joseph trade, but hasn't made the matchday 18 yet due to injury.
Lineups
Revolution: Shuttleworth; Alston, Soares, Barnes, Lechner; Lee Nguyen, Clyde Simms, Ryan Guy, Kelyn Rowe; Fagundez, Bengtson
Bench: Reis, Gavin, Toja, Feilhaber, McCarthy, Cardenas, Imbongo
Red Bulls: Bill Gaudette; Wilman Conde, Heath Pearce, Markus Holgersson, Connor Lade; Jan Gunnar Solli, Rafa Marquez, Teemu Tainio, Dax McCarty; Tim Cahill, Sebastien Le Toux
Bench: Robles, Sam, Lindpere, Hertzog, Keel, Barklage, Cooper