Caleb Porter Sees "Marked Improvement" During Quarter Two

During quarter 1, the Revs went 1W-6L-1T with 5 goals scored and 14 conceded. In quarter 2, they went 4W-4L-0T with 10 goals scored and 15 conceded.

Photo Courtesy of the New England Revolution

Head coach Caleb Porter saw improvement from the New England Revolution during the second stanza of the 2024 season.

The Revs went 1W-6L-1T to start the year with 5 goals scored and 14 conceded. It’s a record that put them at the bottom of the league.

Porter noted on Apr. 27 that he wanted to see a “tick up” during the next eight games, which he labeled the second quarter.

That quarter ended on Saturday, with the Revs going 4W-4L-0T with 10 goals for and 15 against.

“We wanted to get 13 points minimum [in] quarter two,” Porter said. “We got 12, so we’re a point underneath that. We wanted to get at least four wins and a draw, and we got four wins.

“I would have loved five wins, but by and large, a marked improvement, because we got one win in the first quarter and we got four in the next. I still think we’re conceding a few too many goals, but we’ve scored more goals, so that’s great.

“I’d like to see our plus-minus on the goal differential still get whittled down a little bit. But unquestionable, much, much better this quarter than the first.”

The Revs had some of their best performances during this most recent stretch, which featured a 2-1 road win over Nashville SC, a 1-0 home win over the New York Red Bulls, and a 3-2 home win over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

It’s the first time the Revs have collected three consecutive wins since Jun. 2023. If you exclude 2021, the club has only had a 3+-game winning streak thrice since 2016 (Aug. 2016, Jul. 2019, Jun. 2023).

Porter spoke highly of the team’s performance against Vancouver, noting, “If we play like we did tonight, we can beat anybody. We can beat anybody in this league.”

That said, Porter understands there are areas where the team must improve.

The Revs remain at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, though they have at least one game in hand on everyone above them except the Columbus Crew.

“I’m going to keep being on [the players’] backs,” Porter said. “We’re nowhere near where we need to be. We’re still in a hole. We’ve got to keep fighting, and we’re just scratching the surface of the team that we want to be. But I love that we’re growing in confidence and that our execution is getting better and better, and I love that we scored three goals.”

The 2024 season hasn’t been easy for the Revolution, but Porter believes there are positives to facing adversity.

“That has made us stronger,” Porter said. “It’s brought us together. It’s a part of the process. We know there’s a start of the year, we know where we want to be at the end.

“Along the way, you don’t know how it’s going to go, but if you’ve been around the block, you know there’s going to be adversity. There’s been a lot more this year than I’ve ever seen, but it’s actually made us better.

“It’s made us tougher and now that we’ve come through it, we’re mentally and physically stronger.”

Quarter three starts next Saturday when the Revs travel to face FC Cincinnati. Porter has a goal in mind for the next nine games as they look to rise in the standings.

“We’d like to see at least five wins,” Porter said.