Revolution can make history against the Fire in Chicago

The New England Revolution have historic opportunities in Wednesday night’s 8 p.m. match at the Chicago Fire.

The Revolution (17-4-4) can set a club record for wins in a season and, with 56 points in the bank, can equal the high-water mark of 59 set in 2005. They can also clinch a spot in the MLS playoffs with a record seventh road win.

The Revolution own the best record in MLS with eight games remaining and are on course to claim the first Supporters Shield in team history. The Revolution faced the Fire in the season opener and played to a 2-2 draw.

“We know what there is to play for,” said dynamic midfielder Tajon Buchanan, a member of the Canadian National Team who will compete for Club Brugge in Belgium in 2022.

“We are trying to win everything but yeah, we’ve just got to keep getting results that we should be getting. We are taking it game by game and keep putting in good performances.

“We are leading the league right now so everything is in our hands. We’ve just got to stay focused, take it game by game and hopefully keep performing.”

The Revolution are coming off an unsatisfactory 1-1 draw against the reigning MLS champion Columbus Crew on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.

The match was the first of a grueling four games in 11 days. Following the match in Chicago, the Revolution host Orlando City FC on Saturday (7) and visit CF Montreal on the Sept. 29.

Revolution coach Bruce Arena mixed and matched his starting 11 even when they were playing one game a week. Arena will expand that strategy during this busy stretch and he has the depth to liberally substitute in the second half of each game.

“We see how players come out of games and then make decisions for the next game,” said Arena. “The priority is to try and put a team on the field that can win a game.

“Each and every game we’ve rotated in and that won’t change. Obviously, the travel makes it a little bit more difficult. We try to put a team on the field that’s as fresh as they can be and obviously, try to get them in position to try and get three points.”

A tie is preferable to a loss, but the Revolution were irate with themselves for not getting three points against the Crew especially at home, where they are 10-1-2 and unbeaten (6-0-1) in the last seven games.

The Revolution set a new club single-game record with 11 shots on goal and matched the old standard with 33 total shots. The Revolution battered Crew keeper Eloy Room, who played the second half with an injured left leg. Adam Buksa’s career high 11th goal of the season was the bright spot.

“Every game we go in we want to get three points and put in a good performance but sometimes those things don’t happen,” said Buchanan. “In the last game I thought we played good, I thought we controlled the game but the end product just wasn’t there on the the night.”