Had the New England Revolution lost to the Richmond Kickers in this Third Round matchup in New Britain, Conn., they may have blamed their poor choice of a stadium, as a nearly two-hour lightning delay pushed the start of the game close to 9:00. Strangely, no rain fell at their other prospective US Open Cup homes: Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, and Lusitano Stadium in Ludlow, Mass., home of the Kickers’ USL-2 rival Western Mass but used often by New England for Open Cup home games. However, the performance of two players making their professional debut helped to kick-start the Revolution’s defense of their 2007 title by defeating Richmond 3-0.