FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (14-6-10; 52 pts. – 3rd in East) defeated Charlotte FC (7-11-12; 33 pts. – 13th in East), 2-1, on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.

Noel Buck and Dave Romney each scored for New England, with the latter heading home the game winner in the 85th minute for his first regular season goal as a member of the Revolution.

With Saturday’s result, New England rises to third in the Eastern Conference with four games to play. The victory extends New England’s home unbeaten run to 16 games (12-0-4) dating back to last October – one shy of the club record (17). New England is now the 10th team in MLS history to go unbeaten in its first 15 home games in a season. One more win over the final two games at Gillette Stadium would tie the team record of 12 home wins in a single campaign.

The two sides played a scoreless first half, which saw Charlotte come closest to breaking the deadlock with a strike off the crossbar in the 45th minute. New England striker Bobby Wood, making his first start since July 22, nearly connected on two headers. On the other side of intermission, New England opened the scoring in the 64th minute when Buck collected a through ball from Mark-Anthony Kaye, put himself in on goal with his first touch, and fired a low shot into the bottom-right corner. It marked the Homegrown Player’s third goal of the season in the 20th start of his MLS career.

Charlotte battled back, equalizing in the 84th minute through Karol Świderski as he pounced on a loose ball at the top of the box and slotted a low shot into the bottom-left corner. It took only 89 seconds for New England to restore its lead, as Dave Romney connected on a cross from DeJuan Jones at the back post for a simple headed finish. The goal was Romney’s first regular season tally for the club, his second goal of the season in all competitions, and the eighth goal of his MLS career.

Saturday’s match saw the return of Revolution forward Gustavo Bou, who had been out since early August with a right leg injury. Bou logged 18 minutes off the bench in his first MLS outing since July 15.

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