Revolution fans chanted "Who are you?" at the visiting City Islanders as Harrisburg was introduced prior to the kickoff of the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal at Gillette Stadium.
Just in case the City Islanders didn't know Andy Dorman, he introduced himself with his fourth-minute volley past City Islanders 'keeper Matt Nelson.
Taylor Twellman had the courtesy to do so as well as he tapped in his 17th-minute finish to give the Revolution a two-goal cushion.
Two goals were all New England would need to seal its passage through to the Open Cup semifinals with a 2-1 victory over Harrisburg (USL 2) on Wednesday night.
"We wanted to get out there and play better and advance in the tournament," Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis said. "We took care of business."
After a dismal showing in Sunday's 3-0 home loss to D.C. United, New England had a point to prove and showed improvement in a professional performance.
"The object was to win the game," Revolution head coach Steve Nicol said. "We were comfortable for 77 minutes and then they scored and the final 13 minutes were a wee bit uncomfortable."
The discomfort was caused by a world-class free kick from substitute Matt Tanzini. From all of 30 yards, Tanzini lashed his effort into the upper right corner with pure power to beat Reis.
"He did hit the snot out of it," Reis said.
It was one of the few offensive forays for Harrisburg on the night as New England was dominant for most of the contest, if not able to land the knock out blow to the City Islanders.
"It was kind of a tough game," Twellman said. "We had chances in the first half that we didn't finish, but we were professional."
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol praised the visitors for their work ethic and their ability to continue to keep themselves in the game.
"They did everything we expected them to do," Nicol said. "Most of them will never play in a play in a stadium like this again."
Dorman said that his team needed to take the chance to advance to the next round because of the way the draw had been set up. The victory gives New England a golden chance to advance to the finals with USL 1 side Carolina Railhawks providing the opposition at the semifinal stage.
"We have the chance to get some silverware," Dorman said. "It's a competition we have a chance of winning."
Because the semifinal is scheduled for Sept. 4 at Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Conn., New England has a chance to atone for Sunday's heavy league defeat this weekend against Los Angeles (and three other league matches) before the semifinal tilt.
Twellman said that his team is looking forward to Sunday's contest against the Galaxy to continue its march towards the Eastern Conference title.
"We wanted to come out and have a good game," Twellman said. "We'll try to make up for last Sunday on Sunday."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
