BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- It took nearly three complete halves of soccer to get a goal in the Chicago Fire-New England Revolution Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.
When Chris Rolfe tapped in a rebound of a save by Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis in stoppage time of the first half Thursday, it not only opened the scoring for the series, it changed the entire atmosphere of the deciding game.
Rolfe later added an assist on a goal by Gonzalo Segares and defender Wilman Conde added a header off a free kick by Justin Mapp to create the final 3-0 difference that sends the Fire into the Eastern Conference Championship against either Columbus or Kansas City. The two teams played to a 0-0 tie in the first leg of the two-game series at Gillette Stadium last Thursday.
The victory extended the Fire's domination of New England this season, following three regular season wins by an aggregate score of 9-1. The Revolution had eliminated the Fire from the MLS Cup Playoffs the last four times the Fire qualified -- in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
The first goal came in the two minutes of stoppage time in the first half, and was a result of a key non-call by referee Jair Marrufo. Contact along the left sideline could have resulted in a foul against New England, but Marrufo let the play continue and the ball came out to Segares, who passed to Cuauhtemoc Blanco, on an angle out from the left side of the goal.
Blanco dribbled between two defenders and fired to the far post, forcing Reis to extend himself to push the ball away. Rolfe touched the ball at the right corner of the 6-yard box and had an easy tap-in into the right corner while Reis was still on the ground.
"I saw Temo sizing up the shot," Rolfe said. "He usually likes to curl it to the front post, but it being wet, I thought it might be deflected and sure enough it came right to me."
"I think that goal was the most important play of the night," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "It rewarded our guys for the way they played in the first half."
Timing is everything, they say, and that was certainly the case with the first Fire goal. It changed the game at a very significant time.
"That was huge," Rolfe said. "I can't tell you how much that meant to us, and they had to come out to push the game. If it had been 0-0, they would have been somewhat content keeping it like that and have the game go to penalty kicks."
"It is always great to score right before the end of the half, and vice versa, it is no good to give up a goal and go in the locker room," Fire forward Brian McBride said. "That played a big part, but the most important thing was the first 15 minutes of the second half."
The Fire and Revolution have developed a healthy rivalry over the past years anyway, and when Blanco thrust his fists in the air several times, directing them at the Revolution defense, immediately after Rolfe's score, the rancor turned up a couple of notches. In the first two minutes of the second half, the Revolution were called for a pair of hard fouls, an indication they were not going to go quietly into the wet Chicago night.
"We knew they would do that, trying to set the tone for the second half and get back into the game," midfielder Justin Mapp said. "We knew the first few minutes of the second half were crucial. We had to withstand any push they made."
The second foul of the second half, two minutes in, gave the Fire a free kick 23 yards out to the left of the box. Mapp sent his service into the 6-yard box where Conde took advantage of his height to get a head on the ball and send it into the left corner for a 2-0 Fire lead.
"We went up 2-0, and we kept our heads," McBride said. "They tried to push people forward and we had to make sure we kept playing poised rather than falling into a defensive shell and taking wave after wave."
"That kind of broke their spirit a little bit," goalkeeper Jon Busch said. "It was great timing for us and bad timing for them."
The Fire got their third goal in the 74th minute on Rolfe's assist. With New England defender Jay Heaps in front of him, Rolfe danced on the ball on the right edge of the area, then dribbled to the end line, sending a sliding cross past Heaps to Segares charging into the middle.
"I was waiting to see what was going on in the box, and I was moving to keep Heaps from tackling me," Rolfe said. "I saw Gonzalo making his run and that is when I made my move."
"I was waiting and waiting for him to beat the guy to the line," Segares said. "I knew he was going to take it to the line and cross it, so I waited for that moment."
The Fire have scored 13 goals in their last four home games. They have recorded 11 shutouts, six at home.
"It's a big relief to win this series because [the Revolution] have knocked us out of the playoffs so often. New England has shown a consistency of being a good team. But tonight our guys showed the will to move on," Hamlett said.
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