May 15, 2004 – Columbus Crew 1:0 Revolution (Att.: 16,694)

Steve Nicol was a true believer in a 4-4-2 alignment, having experienced exceptional success with the formation while playing for Liverpool FC. Nicol was faithful to the setup into his third Revolution season, but this match convinced him to go to a 3-5-2. The switch did not pay off immediately, but proved to be crucial to the Revolution’s progress.

The Revolution (1W-3L-2D) rallied late in season to finish 8W-13L-9D (33 points), then advanced to the Eastern Conference final. Goal: Buddle 4^’.

May 15, 2010 – Revolution 0:0 San Jose (Att.: 13,611)

May 15, 1967 – Sean Thomas introduced as Boston Shamrock Rovers coach

Thomas was considered among the Republic of Ireland’s top managers, having guided Shamrock Rovers to the 1964 League of Ireland title. Thomas had a reputation for finding talent, once bringing Liam Neeson (yes, the actor) in for Bohemians to play in a match against Shamrock Rovers.

But when the United Soccer Association season started, the Rovers ended up with Liam Tuohy in a player-coach role as they finished in last place in their only year of existence.

Last year, I checked with Seamus Malin, who covered Rovers games for the Globe, but Seamus could not recall why Thomas did not end up coaching the team. Malin also worked as color commentator for Ch. 38-TV with Bruins announcer Fred Cusick on Rovers games.

NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY