The New England Revolution have won many playoff games over the past six years, but none in the acrobatic way in which Taylor Twellman gave the Revolution a 1-0 victory against the Chicago Fire and a berth in MLS Cup 2007.
Twellman scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick in between two Fire defenders to give New England the lead in the 38th minute and the Revs rearguard held firm to give the Revs a third consecutive victory in the Eastern Conference Championship.
The Revolution will play in the MLS Cup Final for the fourth time, all since 2002. They will be looking for their first league championship next Sunday, Nov. 18 at RFK Stadium, taking on the winner of this Saturday's Western Conference Championship between Houston Dynamo and the Kansas City Wizards.
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol named an unchanged 11 from the side that defeated the New York Red Bulls 1-0 at Gillette Stadium last Saturday night. Midfielder Andy Dorman remained on the bench, with Steve Ralston preferred in attacking midfield and Wells Thompson continuing on the right wing.
Juan Carlos Osorio sprung a surprise by naming Paulo Wanchope in his side. Wanchope replaced Calen Carr, with Chris Rolfe dropping into midfield. Wilman Conde lined up tucked in on the left wing in order to stifle the Revolution midfield.
From the start, the Fire looked to spring an early opener. Avery John nearly diverted a C.J. Brown header in from a short corner kick after six minutes, but the deflection skimmed the side of the post before deflecting off into safety.
New England had to venture into the wide areas as Chicago sought to pack the center of the field. Khano Smith had wriggled free from Logan Pause on the left a couple of times and nearly made Chicago pay on 17 minutes, as his cross found Taylor Twellman at the far post, yet the chance went wide.
But the Fire were getting their share of chances. Wanchope found space at the near post from a Cuauhtemoc Blanco free kick, but the Costa Rican nodded wide as he stumbled as he attempted to make contact.
An entertaining game found its first goal in spectacular fashion when Twellman bicycled home after a Wells Thompson cross deflected off Twellman and Dasan Robinson and up into the air. Twellman's attempt avoided Robinson and Gonzalo Segares and finished the effort past Pickens, inside the 'keeper's left-hand post.
Twellman and Thompson nearly connected again in first-half stoppage time, as Thompson wriggled free down the right and crossed into Twellman's path. Robinson tracked back and placed pressure on Twellman, who sent his effort wide.
Chicago mounted pressure and set up camp in the New England half to start the second stanza. Blanco attempted to draw his side back into the game after halftime, but two efforts were scarfed up by Reis. Conde skimmed a shot just wide of the post in the 63rd minute.
But New England looked dangerous on the counter and created chances down the other end of the park. Shalrie Joseph should have put his effort on frame with time and space after Thompson crossed back into his path. Instead, his wayward effort landed high into the stands. Twellman attempted to chip Pickens after breaking free on another counter, but Pickens climbed high to claim the effort.
As the minutes wore on, Chicago continued to mount relentless pressure on the Revolution but struggled to break down the staunch New England rearguard.
Noonan forced Pickens to save off another Revolution counter attack in the 83rd minute after Noonan's persistence created a half-chance the Revs striker almost buried.
Chris Rolfe, quiet for most of the night, sent a half-volley wide just before the match entered stoppage time and substitute Calen Carr headed at Reis. Segares also hammered a long-range chance that tested Reis, but the Fire could not push through and create the chance they needed to find the equalizer and continue their remarkable run from the end of the season for one more week.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
