New England Revolution Want to Win Trophies, But U.S. Open Cup Unlikely To Be One Of Them According to Reports

"We trust the decision makers in our league."

Photo By ©J. Alexander Dolan

The New England Revolution and head coach Caleb Porter want to add to the club’s trophy cabinet but adding a U.S. Open Cup trophy appears to be out of the cards.

After being reported by The Blazing Musket that it is “unlikely” that New England would participate in the historic tournament. ESPN’s Jeff Carlise reported that only eight teams from MLS would participate in the tournament.

The eight teams would be comprised of defending U.S. Open Cup champions — the Houston Dynamo — along with the top seven supporters’ shield finishers not in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

New England won the tournament back in 2007 in what was its first major trophy win. The Revs were upset by the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the Round of 32 of last year’s tournament.

“To be honest, the first I’ve heard of it was just you now telling me it,” Porter said when asked about the ESPN report. “So, I think for me it’s very simple: we trust the decision makers in our league. It’s not my decision at the end of the day and so ultimately, whatever decision they come up with, it’s my job to now prepare my team in whatever competition I’m in to win. We’re going to attack any competition we’re in and try to win trophies. So, if we’re not in the Open Cup, obviously there’s no opportunity there. But we support the decisions of the MLS if they made that decision.”

Matt Polster had similar thoughts when asked about potentially not playing in the tournament.

“Yeah, it's not up to me as a player,” Polster said. “That's something that's dealt with through MLS and U.S. Open Cup officials. Obviously, like I said, if we're in a tournament, I want to win it. At the moment, we're not in that tournament, so we're just going to focus on Champions Cup, Leagues Cup, and MLS.”

Fans in New England will have to look to lower leagues to support the tournament as it continues to look unlikely that the Revs will be participating in the tournament. Vermont Green FC enters the tournament in the first round along with fellow USL League Two side Western Mass Pioneers with Hartford Athletic and USL Championship neighbor Rhode Island FC entering in later rounds.

The Green and the Pioneers are currently scheduled to play their first-round matches in mid-March.