The New England Revolution advanced to the SuperLiga final with a 1-0 victory Wednesday against Mexico's Atlante FC.
But that victory, one hard-fought and well-earned considering the numerous chances the Revs created and the relative few Atlante could muster, was marred by a post-game melee to cap a contentious second half.
Revs defender Jay Heaps and Atlante goalkeeper Federico Vilar were sent off as tempers flared and punches were thrown as both teams attempted to get off the field.
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol said while he hoped the teams would separate, he knew that once the fists started flying, the confrontation would continue.
"You're just hoping that there enough calm heads there that are an influence in getting people away," Nicol said. "It is very difficult when somebody is attacking you, shall we say, to just turn around and let it happen. I certainly don't condone any of that behavior from their team or our team. When somebody is throwing fists at you it is easier for me to say just get away from them, but it is very difficult when there are so many of them at the same time. I don't condone it but some of it is kind of understandable."
With the Revs down to two healthy players who can play central defense, Heaps' loss will tax New England as it seeks to vanquish Houston at home and seal the club's second major title.
"Jay Heaps getting sent off is a real blow," Nicol said. "I'm hoping the referee will look at it and see whether he made the right decision. Jay said the guy punched him and he got sent off so hopefully we can look at that and the referee can look at it and hopefully he has made an error in judgment and speak up for it. But if he doesn't, we have to figure a way of getting ready for next week."
Next week will happen because Shalrie Joseph headed home a Steve Ralston free kick in the 30th minute. Atlante couldn't breach a Revolution rearguard missing Michael Parkhurst, one that didn't really seem like it missed a beat.
"I thought we were solid," Nicol said. "I don't remember them having a chance where they should have scored and we made two or three chances where we could have scored -- [Kheli] Dube hit the crossbar but it was on target. Defensively we were sound, Jeff [Larentowicz] did well moving to back and Jay [Heaps] did a great job. We're happy with the performance."
Larentowicz and Heaps combined well in the middle, with Larentowicz showing some of the anticipation that makes Parkhurst such an asset at center back. The combination limited the dangerous Atlante strikers to half chances.
"We did what we had to do," goalkeeper Matt Reis said. "I don't think they had too many chances on goal but we played really well defensively, even though we lost one of our key components in Michael Parkhurst. It gets marred by everything that happened [at the end]."
The 2007 Apertura champions weren't too keen to discuss how the match unfolded. Atlante striker Luis Gabriel Rey, who was sent off for striking Shalrie Joseph, thought his team tried to play the right way before the match descended into chaos.
"We tried to play a good game," Rey said. "We gave up the goal on a dead ball, which we didn't defend well. I think the referee let us play, but I think there were also times when he made mistakes. It's a good team and they handle the ball well and in the end it was the dead ball that made the difference."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
