Rookie striker Zach Schilawski scored three goals in an 11-minute span early in the second half and the New England Revolution won its home opener 4-1 over Toronto FC on Saturday night.
Schilawski, a draft selection out of Wake Forest University, tied the match at 1-1 in the 47th minute, scored the tiebreaker four minutes later and completed his hat trick in the 58th minute.
Sainey Nyassi closed the scoring for the Revolution (2-1-0) in the 66th minute.
Veteran midfielder Dwayne DeRosario put Toronto (0-2-0) in the lead in the 28th minute, heading in a cross from Nick Garcia and breaking a streak of 202 scoreless minutes by the New England defense.
Schilawski split the Toronto defense and finished off a pass out of the right wing by Sainey Nyassi with a one-touch shot past goalie Stefan Frei to knot the score. In the 51st minute, Schilawski stole the ball from Garcia, attempting to make a clear, and stuffed the ball into the lower right corner of the net.
The 22-year old Schilawski scored his third goal seven minutes later, finishing off a nice cross out of the right wing by Kheli Dube to create a two-goal lead and becoming only the third MLS rookie to score three goals in a match.
New England, which was limited to three shots and two corner kicks during a scoreless first half, got its fourth goal in the 66th minute, when Nyassi took advantage of another Toronto clearing miscue.
Schilawski was one of five new starters in the injury-ravaged New England lineup, one of three rookies. The Revolution are now 4-1-3 all-time against Toronto, including 4-0-1 at home.
