FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- With a playoff berth sealed, the Columbus Crew have their eyes on a couple shiny pieces of hardware.
The path to the Supporters' Shield just got a little easier after the Crew defeated the second-place New England Revolution 1-0, to extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to eight points.
"It's super," Crew head coach Sigi Schmid said. "We're focused on the rest of the season. The way we look at it now, we have eight more games. We want to make use of all of them. We want to continue to play well."
The team extended its unbeaten streak to seven games -- 6-0-1 -- with the victory and maintained its supremacy for the league's top overall spot.
"It's huge for us," Crew defender Chad Marshall said. "We've clinched the playoffs and we want to win that Supporters' Shield. We want the best for the club. Wins on the road are a great thing."
It didn't come easily for the Crew as the visitors had to battle a Revolution team that wanted revenge for a 4-0 drubbing in Columbus three weeks ago and had to battle Tropical Storm Kyle and the rain it dumped on New England.
"We knew it was going to be a battle," Marshall said. "The last time we played them, we got a favorable result at home. We knew they'd want this one at home. We just came out and did what we had to do. We got out of here with three points."
Marshall had much to do with the Crew's success. A resolute defensive display kept the Revs at bay and his 35th-minute header -- set up by a corner kick from the vibrant Robbie Rogers -- gave the Crew all they would need for victory.
"Their defenders seemed to be waiting in there for us to make the run into the box," Marshall said. "I just went far post and Robbie hit a great ball. I got lucky with a couple of picks or screens and I was there to knock it in."
After a first half where the Crew created chances through Rogers, the play shifted in the second after Frankie Hejduk picked up his second yellow card for interfering with Matt Reis as he tried to punt the ball.
Hejduk's dismissal invited the Revs to push further forward as the home side went in search of the three points it desperately needed.
"It was unfortunate to go down a man for the last 25 minutes, but we did what we had to do," Marshall said. "We kept numbers behind the ball. We didn't really give them anything. It was important for our team defense."
That defense yielded few chances in the 25 minutes after Hejduk picked up his second yellow. William Hesmer came out to thwart Sainey Nyassi once, but the Revs generally struggled to get in behind the Crew backline.
"We work a lot on keeping it in front of us," Schmid said. "One of our strengths all season long was that our guys cover for each other. As long as guys play unselfishly like that, it makes it easier to defend."
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