It's difficult to quantify experience. But by any measure you can construct, the New England Revolution have loads of it.
The objective measure of New England's experience renders an impressive testament to New England's continued playoff success.
The probable starting 11 slated to start Thursday night's Eastern Conference Championship against Chicago (7:30 p.m., ESPN2) boast 141 appearances in the second season. The starting group averages 13 playoff games per member. Only four members of the New England starting lineup possess less than 10 matches played in the posteason, and only one (Wells Thompson) played in his first playoff game this season.
The number of games played during the postseason provides the foundation for a steely confidence exuded by Steve Nicol's side. When conditions appear less than favorable, Revolution players expect the experience to help them through.
"We feel confident," Revs captain Steve Ralston said after a scoreless draw against New York in the first leg. "We have experience. We've been here before. There's no reason to believe we won't win that game."
New England won that game against New York in a typically tight playoff encounter with few chances. After the victory, Revolution striker Taylor Twellman credited his team's experience in making sure the Revs navigated the murky path to their sixth consecutive Eastern Conference title tilt.
"It's the experience," Twellman said after beating New York in the second leg. "We knew what we had to do."
But the numbers only tell a portion of the story. Teams can have extensive experience in losing in the playoffs or winning by large margins. New England's playoff experience runs the gamut from wins to losses, regulation victories to penalty kick shootout defeats.
Knowing what to expect can help a team approach the most important game of the season on an even keel, Revolution head coach Steve Nicol said on a Tuesday conference call.
"We've had a lot of different situations in those five conference finals," Nicol said. "We've won in regular time. We've lost in regular time. We've won when we were leading. We've lost games from ahead and behind. A lot of our players have been through it."
Suffering through the wars means adversity won't cause the heads to drop if New England gives up an early goal, as Chicago did to Clint Dempsey in the 2005 Eastern Conference Championship when the Revs defeated the Fire 1-0 at Gillette Stadium, or falls behind in the second half, as New England overcame a 59th-minute Youri Djorkaeff goal to defeat the Metrostars 3-1 in the second leg of the 2005 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
"The one thing we can guarantee is that not everything can go smoothly," Nicol said. "We've faced the problems, so it makes us experienced to handle it."
The experience will help as the game changes and New England seeks to return to MLS Cup for the fourth time in sixth years.
"It's a 90-minute game, hopefully," Nicol said. "A lot of things can change during the game. We've been there before. We've been in every situation. It makes us more than well equipped to face whatever comes along."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
