Two things stood between the New England Revolution and a sixth consecutive berth in the Eastern Conference Championship: the New York Red Bulls and a hearty New England rainstorm.
"It was just a battle with the wind and the rain," Revolution striker Taylor Twellman said. "We just needed to fight through it."
Twellman provided the match's only goal in the 64th minute after Shalrie Joseph sprung Steve Ralston through the Red Bulls defense and the Revs captain dished to the team's leading scorer to send his side through to the Eastern Conference final against the Chicago Fire next Thursday night at Gillette Stadium.
"I just wanted to stay onside," Twellman said. "The wind took the ball a little bit and cut my angle. But it went in. I just had to hit it on frame there."
Much like the game, it wasn't a pretty effort as Jon Conway was able to get a hand to the shot but not keep it out before it trickled over the line. But New England, like the goal, had just enough to ensure safe passage into the next round.
"Between last week and this week, our experience showed," Revolution head coach Steve Nicol said. "We kept battling away and we knew that you just don't take chances."
Not taking chances meant mitigating the impact of Red Bulls striker Juan Pablo Angel. The dangerous Colombian conjured a couple of efforts and looked menacing before leaving the match with a concussion.
Angel had scored 19 goals during the regular season, and after he collided with Jay Heaps in the 56th minute, the Red Bulls played a man down while he tried to come back onto the field. As John Wolyniec stood ready to finally come on in his place, the Revolution struck.
Then with Angel out of the contest and a goal to the good, New England shut up shop and limited the Red Bulls to the occasional chance.
"We wanted to keep some numbers back as we knew they were kicking longballs," Joseph said.
New England looked like it could have made the defensive effort unnecessary in the first half as it piled up three chances inside the first 20 minutes, but the Revs could not convert and give themselves a cushion heading into the second half.
But those chances, aside from Twellman's goal, dried up in the second half as New England focused on the defensive side of the ball.
Twellman knows that his team is struggling offensively and needs to create more chances if they want to win on Thursday night, but indicated that his team accomplished exactly what it needed.
"On the other hand, I thought we played pretty well," Twellman said. "It's been a hard stretch. We're not getting the chances, but we're winning, so who cares?"
Nicol felt his side did well offensively in the opening stanza.
"Considering the wind and the conditions, I thought we played some good soccer in the first half," Nicol said.
But as Joseph said, the only goal that really mattered was Twellman's first strike, the one that gave New England the cushion it needed to return to Eastern Conference finals.
"That's what the playoffs are about," Joseph said. "You get one and you defend for your lives."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
