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The strangely ‘disappointing’ reality of the Revolution’s unbeaten run
New England hasn't lost an MLS game since early April, but hasn't won in almost a month amid a string of draws and "dropped points."
Since bottoming out in a 2-1 loss against New York City FC on March 15, the Revolution have gone 5-1-4 in a season-salvaging run. More specifically, New England is unbeaten in its last eight games.
It’s been arguably the best period of time under head coach Caleb Porter since he joined the club in 2024, and has resulted in a healthy move up the standings. But all is far from well with the Revolution.
True, the recent run was initially the byproduct of a solidified defense, thanks partly to a formation shift from 4-2-3-1 to 3-4-1-2. The Revolution maintained clean sheets for four consecutive games (all wins).
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Yet the back end of the unbeaten run has seen the defense become mortal once again, yielding three goals against both Orlando City and Sporting Kansas City, and also surrendering a late equalizer against D.C. United in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw (United’s first league goal since May 3).
Draws have become the standard result, with New England ending each of its last four MLS games in deadlock.
Even Porter, who has settled some of the speculation about his future in recent weeks after the rocky start (and poor run in 2024), had to acknowledge the reality of repeated ties.
“We’ve definitely felt like we’ve dropped some points over the last several games, but we’re not getting beat and we’re still picking up points,” he told reporters following the 1-1 draw on Wednesday.
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“I think it’s disappointing, but we have to move on from it quickly,” he added.
Porter, fully aware that his team is in the midst of one of its busiest parts of the schedule—a run that also includes a stacked number of road games—knows there is no time to dwell on missed opportunities.
And of opportunity, Saturday presents another golden chance to collect all three points on the road, with a trip to play CF Montreal (a club that has occupied the Eastern Conference basement since the opening weeks of the season).
Coincidentally, it will be a possible reunion for former striker Giacomo Vrioni, putting one of the team’s ongoing struggles into focus.
Vrioni, the 26-year-old former New England Designated Player who was traded to Montreal in the offseason, has actually managed to score as many goals in just six MLS appearances this year (three) as both of his Revolution replacements combined: Ignatius Ganago and Leo Campana.
Coming into the season, one of the major adjustments from 2024 was that the club revamped its selection of forwards in the hope of generating more offense, and taking at least some of the burden off of captain and playmaker-in-chief, Carles Gil.
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But due to injuries (Campana is now out for the second time in 2025 with a hamstring issue) and inconsistency (Ganago has just one goal in 14 starts), the attack has yet to hit its stride. Only Gil, with six goals, is firing on all cylinders.
As much as the defense has come under renewed scrutiny in recent games (particularly the blown 2-0 lead against struggling Kansas City on May 24), the lack of consistent goal-scoring has been of greater concern.
Scanning across the rest of the Eastern Conference, only Toronto (15.3) ranks below New England in total expected goals (17.2) according to FBref.com. Even Montreal, with only one league win so far in 2025, ranks higher (18.4). And while mention of xG perpetually requires the disclosure that “it’s an imperfect statistical measurement,” it nonetheless paints an accurate picture.
The fact remains that the Revolution need to create more goals. Exactly where that comes from remains to be seen, as Campana could still be out for a few more games as he recovers from injury. Ganago, along with fellow forwards Tomás Chancalay and Maxi Urruti, will need to up their tallies (each has one goal) if New England has any aspirations of actually returning to the postseason.
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