Chowder and Champions
Fansided

Revolution advance past Crew, set up meeting with Red Bulls

By Ryan Hilsinger

facebooktwitterreddit

Too easy.

With a 3-1 win at Gillette last night, and an overall 7-3 aggregate score, the red-hot Revs steamrolled past the Columbus Crew to set up an Eastern Conference Championship matchup with the New York Red Bulls.

Things went well for the Revs from the get-go last night. The score remained knotted up at 0-0, which, after their 4-2 win in the first leg, was more than enough to ensure victory. But, not wanting to take any chances, the Revs still pushed hard to put the issue to bed. Just minutes before the halftime whistle, Teal Bunbury sent a cross into Lee Nguyen, who finished it off to give New England a 1-0 lead at the break. With that strike, the MVP candidate has now scored in each of his last six matches.

The second half featured more of the same. At the 55’ mark, captain Jose Concalves tallied his first career playoff goal, to push the aggregate score up to 6-2.

After a Columbus goal in the 69th minute, the Revs answered eight minutes later. With a near-perfect through ball from Daigo Kobayashi (who came in for Nguyen in the 75th minute), Teal Bunbury finished emphatically in the top left corner to extend the lead back to two, and set the final aggregate to 7-3.

The Revs’ seven goal outburst in the series is the most in a two-leg playoff sequence in MLS history. Furthermore, the four goal difference ties the record for largest margin of victory. This margin was due in large part to stellar play from keeper Bobby Shuttleworth, who finished the series with 10 saves.

More from New England Revolution

With the Revs’ impressive play as of late, it seems like they’ll will never stop. Back in August, when their playoff hopes were still in question, the Revs were looking for a key player to step up and change the fate of the team. And, lucky enough, there were two.

The Revolution resurgence began with the acquisition of USMNT midfielder Jermaine Jones. After winning the blind draw over the Chicago Fire, the Revs have been unstoppable. With a 10-1-1 record since the star’s arrival, the Revs have gone from a middle-of-the-pack team, to a serious MLS Cup contender.

But, Jones wasn’t the sole key to the teams’ success. In fact, most of that credibility lies in the hands of Lee Nguyen. Seen by some as the MVP favorite, Nguyen has tallied an even 20 goals this year to date. To put that in perspective, he is the first Revolution player to score 20+ goals in a single season since Taylor Twellman in 2007.

The first leg of the Conference Championship will be held in New York on Sunday, Nov. 23, with the second leg shifting to Foxborough the following weekend. This marks the first Conference Championship appearance since 2007, where the Revs went on to play for the MLS Cup.

Home/New England Revolution