New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner will be playing in his first-ever MLS Playoff game on Saturday, and he's pretty excited about it.
Turner was signed by New England as an undrafted college player out of Fairfield University in 2016 and has been with the Revs since. His first playoff game will be an experience he says he'll never forget.
"I'm really excited. As I've alluded to a few times, this will be my first time on a team that's made it to the playoffs," Turner said Tuesday, according to revolutionsoccer.net. "So, obviously I'm really excited to be taking part in a really meaningful game and I'm excited to represent New England and hopefully make the fans proud."
With excitement also comes the desire to win, and New England is hungry for a deep playoff run after a long hiatus from the postseason.
"Yeah, we're hungry. We've believed in ourselves all year," Turner said. "We're here now and we want to succeed. We want to do more than just be taking part in it. We want to try to win."
Although they're hungry, the Revs are pegged as underdogs, but they're confident in themselves entering the franchise's first playoff game since 2015.
"We know what we have in the locker room," Turner said. "We know the quality that we have in the locker room. So we're confident in ourselves, and whatever the people want to portray this game as an underdog story, if they want to that's fine. We see ourselves, we expect a lot out of ourselves and we expect to win this game."
Confidence can only go so far, especially when Julian Gressel is on the opposite side of the ball. Gressel punished New England with a goal and two assists in Atlanta United's 3-1 victory in early October to close out the regular season. Turner noted that it's extremely important everyone on the field knows where the midfielder is on Saturday.
"We just got to do a better job," Turner said. "We knew going into that game that he provides really good service into the box and he punishes for it and also he scored a really nice goal. So, we just need to be aware of where he is on the field and when he's on the ball. We know what we have to do to keep the ball in front of us and not allow those dangerous chances in behind."
Will New England pull off a shocker and take down the defending MLS Cup Champions? Turner had a strong opinion on the matter.
"I think it's likely, you know. I think people want to write us off, but I think we have a better chance than they realize," Turner said. "It's nice having had that dress rehearsal [in the regular-season finale] and we're really excited. I think this team is built to make a little run in the playoffs."
A New England victory in the Saturday 1 p.m. matchup could be hard to come by if history is any indicator. The Revs are 0-4-2 all-time against Atlanta and 0-3-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.