The Revs and Legacy had a great weekend amid struggles from Boston’s traditional sports powers

Just in time for the World Cup, Boston's local soccer teams are providing some much-needed good news.

Boston Legacy players celebrate after the first win in team history. Matthew J Lee/Globe staff

May 4, 2026 | 11:41 AM

4 minutes to read

While the traditional powers struggle, Boston’s soccer teams thrive: Boston sports fans (aside from Fleet supporters) could be forgiven for turning off the usual chime of notifications following the Bruins’ and Celtics’ playoff exits. But for those who were still listening, there were a few notes of relief amid the regional sports dirge.

One came on Saturday night, just as the Celtics’ once-promising title aspirations were crashing down, and the Red Sox yet again slumped to a loss. Thanks to a late penalty kick conversion from captain Carles Gil, the Revolution continued what has been a fantastic recent run with a 1-0 win over Charlotte FC.

The club frequently does not get the attention it deserves, but has now tied its best home start in club history (5-0-0, matching the pace set by the 2021 Supporters’ Shield-winning squad).

With the win, New England is now unbeaten in its last six league games, and — after spending most of the last two years languishing near the bottom of the standings — is second in the Eastern Conference.

Aside from the current on-field success, New England appears to have found a leader in first-year head coach Marko Mitrovic, who has fixed — for lack of a more specific term — the vibes:

Relentless fighting spirit pic.twitter.com/ui8yF1CtEr
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) May 3, 2026

But the Revolution are no longer the only top-level professional soccer club in the area, and less than 24 hours later another team found a winning formula at Gillette Stadium.

Legacy FC, the local NWSL expansion team that started its inaugural season with five straight defeats, staged an improbable comeback against the fellow expansion side Denver Summit on Sunday afternoon.

Trailing 2-1 in the 90th minute, the Legacy found a dramatic equalizer before Canadian defender Bianca St-Georges snuck in to score a stoppage-time winner. Fans that have been waiting since March to watch their team collect all three points were elated with the 3-2 win.

The timing is also a good reminder of what the summer of 2026 will likely be about. The 2026 World Cup is a little over a month away from kicking off, and (aside from its many well-documented issues) it will be a rare moment locally when soccer takes center stage.

But independent of the World Cup, it’s worth noting that New England now has an increasingly compelling and virrant soccer scene. All that local fans have to do to find it is look past the struggles of the traditional regional sports teams.

Trivia: The first player to score a World Cup hat-trick was a Massachusetts native named Bert Patenaude, though his feat in the 1930 debut tournament was not officially recognized by FIFA until 2006. Can you recall what city this player was born in (which also had a team he played a majority of his professional games for)?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: The city’s professional team was nicknamed “The Marksmen.”

Scores and schedules:

Boston Legacy FC, as noted above, won the club’s first official league game on Sunday, rallying to defeat the Denver Summit 3-2 at Gillette Stadium. The Legacy will be on the road this Saturday to face Gotham FC at 6:30 p.m.

The Red Sox lost to the Astros 3-1, dropping two of three in the series against Houston. Tonight, Boston begins a three-game series against the Tigers in Detroit at 6:40 p.m.

The Fleet face the Charge in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal playoff series on Friday in Ottawa at 7 p.m. The series is tied 1-1.

More from Boston.com:

Some Red Sox content that isn’t sad: It was recently the 20th anniversary of Doug Mirabelli’s famous race to Fenway Park. Boston Globe Red Sox reporter Tim Healey dug into the bizarre backstory, including the account of an air traffic controller played a role in helping the Boston catcher make it to the famous ballpark in time for first pitch.

Worst to first: Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo traveled from all the way back in the pack to win the 152nd Run For the Roses on Saturday.

FROM LAST PLACE TO KENTUCKY DERBY GLORY, WHAT A RACE FOR GOLDEN TEMPO! 🐎

📺 The 152nd Kentucky Derby on NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/yUIczKx4SX
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) May 2, 2026

On this day: In 1978, the Bruins stormed to a 5-1 lead in Game 2 of their semi-final series against the Flyers only to surrender four unanswered goals.

But with the game tied 5-5, Boston rose again. Rick Middleton and Gregg Sheppard scored third period goals as the Bruins emerged with a 7-5 win.

Elsewhere, longtime Boston Globe columnist Ray Fitzgerald wondered if there would be a long-shot worth betting on at that year’s Kentucky Derby (though the race would be won by Affirmed, the last horse to win the triple crown for 37 years before American Pharaoh in 2015).