The New England Revolution approached the MLS Cup Playoffs with the same mentality they approach most games: the name on the front of the shirt is more important than the one on the back.
After Saturday night's 1-0 win against the New York Red Bulls that booked the Revolution's ticket for Thursday's Eastern Conference Championship, striker Taylor Twellman spoke about how the Revs and the New England Patriots, Gillette Stadium's other tenant, shared the team-first mentality that provides the foundation for consistent playoff success.
"There are no egos in here," Twellman said. "It's very similar to across the hallway."
In some locker rooms, the team approach represents lip service. But the buy-in to head coach Steve Nicol's team-first mantra has fueled the Revs to six consecutive conference finals.
Take for instance the defensive struggles the team suffered through in the latter stages of the season. New England allowed seven goals in the last three regular-season contests (0-2-1). While those games were seemingly meaningless with New England tied into the second seed in the East, players around the locker room took it upon themselves to realize they couldn't just write off the struggles because they were entering the playoffs.
Recognize the problem and then rectify it together. That's how New England solves its problems.
Number of goals conceded in the first round against New York? Zero.
"It's been a team effort," Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis said. "We had been struggling giving away goals. We've really stopped that."
It's the team that recognizes that when Twellman trickled home the opener on Saturday night, the Revs had to "defend for [their] lives," according to midfielder Shalrie Joseph.
"It's the experience," Twellman said. "We knew what we had to do."
Knowing what to do means New England focused on sealing second place in the East when D.C. United hurtled out of sight. When United fell to Chicago in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, New England was perfectly placed to scoop up the home-field advantage.
"We've set ourselves up by finishing second in the East," Reis said. "If the No. 1 seed falls, we're right there and it worked out that way this year."
But even as things fall into place and the team-first mantra pays dividends once again, the Revs aren't looking ahead, as some teams might, or relying on the knowledge that they're perfect at home when it counts (8-0-4 in the playoffs all-time) and favored to advance to MLS Cup for the third consecutive year.
"We're taking it one game at a time," Revs midfielder Wells Thompson said. "We're playing at home. Who can complain about that?"
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
