Metro at New England, 2000

Four days ago, on June 29, Metro passed a miraculous milestone. The date marked ten years from the team's last win in New England. Since that afternoon in 2002, Metro has failed to beat the Revs on the road in 17 straight matches.

Not that they haven't been close. The three-goal comeback in 2003 that marked Tim Howard's last Metro game. The playoff game in 2005... you know, let's not talk about that one. The horrible own goal that slipped by Conway in 2007. The late lead given up for a tie in 2008. There are others, with all common ground: Metro failed to win.

But Metro had won at New England before, four times in fact. Two of those wins came by the shootout in 1998, one came in 2000, and the final one in 2002. The first three came at the old Foxboro Stadium, the last one at the new Gillette Stadium, which was then known as CMGI Field.

Metro failed to win at New England during their first two seasons in the league, but somehow triumphed in both 1998 matchups. Perhaps we should say "triumphed", for the victories came in the shootout. The first match, in May, saw the Revs' hack Ivan McKinley ejected for a handball in the box right before the half. Metro legend Giovanni Savarese missed the ensuing penalty kick, but Brian Kelly broke through in the second half. Raul Diaz Arce evened it for the Revs late, so it went into the shootout. There, Mike Petke scored the decider in the ninth stanza and Metro "triumphed" for a single point.

The second win came in the last game of the regular season, days after Metro sacked coach Alfonso Mondelo. Newly-minted head man Bora Milutinovic got his first taste of MLS action, as the two teams played to a drab 0:0 draw. Metro once again won the shootout, scoring on all four of their attempts.

The 2000 victory came in July and was a tad more decisive. Metro, riding a four-game road winning streak, shutout the Revs 2:0 to push it to five. Alex Comas and Petter Villegas scored for Metro, with Mike Ammann getting his fourth shutout in five games. Comas' goal was a chip over Rev keeper Juergen Sommer.

And then we have the win in 2002, coming a month after the massive six-player trade that sent Mamadou Diallo, Andy Williams, and Ted Chronopoulos to Metro, with Diego Serna, Daniel Hernandez, and Brian Kamler going to the Revs. Diallo scored one early on a pass from Clint Mathis, and then got ejected for an idiotic collision with Adin "Cult! Cult! Cult!" Brown. But ten-man Metro prevailed, with Mathis feeding Mark Lisi for a late goal that made it 2:0.

And since then... nothing. Well, there are two chances this year to win at New England. Who knows, maybe the terrible streak will finally end? How long can we be stuck on these four wins...