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New York attempts to reverse New England curse

Jul 6, 2012 - 8:57 PM Foxborough, MA (Sports Network) - Red Bull New York has not fared well when visiting Foxborough, Massachusetts in recent years, but it will look to reverse its fortunes Sunday when it faces the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium.

The Red Bulls have not claimed a win at New England since the 2002 season when they were known as the MetroStars.

That's not to say that New York hasn't experienced some success against its I-95 rival. In fact, Ryan Meara has some fond memories of playing against New England as the rookie goalkeeper notched his first career MLS shutout with a 1-0 win over the Revs on April 28.

Meara is certainly wary of the threat the Revs pose to the Red Bulls, especially on the offensive end.

"We know they're dangerous going forward," Meara told the club's website. "They got that guy [Saer] Sene, I think he has eight or nine goals, and a couple of other guys. [Benny] Feilhaber and a couple of guys on the wings that can get up and down and can cause us some headaches, but if we're solid defensively and stay tight - I think we did a good job in Toronto, besides giving up that goal, we were tight as a unit together in the back - I think if we do all the right things we can be successful up there."

New England has even added more firepower up front, completing the signing of Honduran international and La Liga Nacional's three-time leading Jerry Bengston.

The Revs have been after Bengston's signature for some time, but they will have to do without him for a bit longer as the club has granted him permission to compete in the Olympics later this summer.

Even without Bengston, the Revolution are fully capable of taking maximum points against the Red Bulls on Sunday as they have lost just once at home all season, posting a 4-1-3 record at Gillette Stadium this term.

Last time out, New England showed tremendous resolve to earn a point in a 2-2 draw with Seattle Sounders FC thanks to a last-gasp strike from Diego Fagundez.

"He's great at [finding those spaces]," Feilhaber said of Fagundez. "I remember last year, he scored a goal like that off of a corner kick as well. You don't see him. You don't see him in the box and, all of a sudden, he's scoring a goal. It's like those running backs, nobody sees them between the big guys and nobody marks them."

The result handed the Revolution their third successive draw, helping extend their unbeaten streak to four games and lift the club to 19 points on the season.