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FOXBORO - The mere presence of No. 20 on the pitch for the New England Revolution makes it a whole new match for the MLS franchise.

"He puts the ball in the net, for starters," said coach Steve Nicol.

"Having Taylor out there, you can see how the game changed," said midfielder Steve Ralston.

Even if Taylor Twellman is back in a reduced role for the Revolution, his presence in the attacking zone creates chances that were absent when New England went winless through six matches.

Twellman missed the first nine matches this season, the after-effects of a jammed neck suffered late last season. "I'm giving it my best, it's one day at a time," said Twellman coming off the practice pitch this week. Whether he is in the starting 11 or comes on as a reserve is ultimately determined by how he feels physically.

He came on in the 25th minute of New England's match against D.C. United two weeks ago, setting up the tying goal in the 55th minute and drew a penalty which resulted in the match-winning goal in stoppage time.

Twellman came on at the outset of the second half of Saturday's match for the Revolution against the New York Red Bulls and scored twice within a 12-minute span, becoming just the fifth player in MLS history to reach the 100-goal plateau.

"Having your main striker back just lifts everybody," added Nicol. "It lifts the crowd. And when you put Shalrie (Joseph) back in the midfield, that just helps as well. It just shows what we've been missing and what we've had to put up with."

Twellman, the Revolution's all-time leading scorer became the youngest player (29 years, 100 days) in MLS history to reach 100 goals and achieved the feat in the fewest matches (174).

With wins over two Eastern Conference rivals, D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls, the Revs have put together their first back-to-back wins of the season and now have 16 points out of 11 matches, tied for third place. Notably, New England has multiple matches in hand on every other Eastern Conference foe, other than Columbus.

After recording just one multiple-goal game in their first nine games of the season, the Revs have exploded for six goals in their last two matches, both wins.

"This is what we're all about, showing some heart and playing some good soccer," said Nicol.

With opposing defenses worried where Twellman is, that creates space for the Revolution to attack from almost anywhere.

"Obviously when Shalrie goes back to midfield, he changes the game a little bit for us there," added Ralston. "We just can't keep playing long balls. We're going to have to try and pass the ball a little more." Twellman has been battling medical issues, the result of a severe whiplash stemming from the blow to the head he received while scoring a goal against the LA Galaxy on Aug. 30, 2008.

He is four goals shy of Jeff Cunningham (105 goals, currently with FC Dallas) of the No. 4 spot on the all-time MLS goal-scoring list and 25 shy of the all-time MLS best goal-scorer Jaime Moreno (126).

"It's a combination of what my teammates have done all along, I've always said that," added Twellman of his goal-scoring exploits. "Everyone down the line, it means my teammates have been doing their jobs, doing the hard work. They make my job easier."

A healthy Twellman is a dangerous Twellman.

"He takes pressure off of other players," added Nicol. "If you're playing against Taylor, you have to make sure that you know where he is and you have to be concerned about it - which means you're taking your eye off something else.

"He's a goal-scorer, he's shown that - there's not too many guys in the world who can do that."

Corner Kicks

Defender Jay Heaps became just the ninth player in MLS history to make 300 appearances, 229 of which have come with the Revolution, in addition to having a goal and an assist. "That's something I'm proud of and for me, I want everyone to know that I want to play every game like it's my last" ... Goalie Matt Reis' 50th career shutout (41 with New England) placed him in the select company of six other MLS goalies to reach that milestone ... After Saturday's match in Kansas City, New England will host SuperLiga group matches against Mexican clubs Santos Laguna (June 21) and Atlas (June 28), while also meeting the Wizards (June 24) in the round-robin competition The Revolution will return to MLS action on July 4 at LA ... Coach Steve Nicol now has 91 career wins, third on the all-time MLS behind Bob Bradley (124) and Sigi Schmid (117). Nicol, in his eighth season with the Revolution, is the longest tenured coach in MLS ... The Revs have rallied five times in 11 matches to earn points, New England being 2-2-3 when conceding the first goal of a match this season - last season the club was 0-8-5 ... Ralston, who reached his 35th birthday Sunday, is tied for the No. 8 spot on MLS all-time game-winning goal (19) list and is No. 1 in match-winning assists (38) ... Former Rev Khano Smith has appeared in just five matches (taking 16 shots) for the Red Bulls ... Heaps, Joseph and rookie defender Darrius Barnes are the lone New England players to have started and played every minute of every match. "You always don't want to make a mistake," said Barnes of his role as a rookie. "You want to minimize your big mistakes. I had high expectations for myself and it's a big confidence boost that the coach has trust in me to be starting."