BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- If only the New England Revolution could have held on for another minute for that halftime whistle.
The odds weren't in New England's favor heading into Thursday's 3-0 loss to the Chicago Fire. Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston weren't there. Shalrie Joseph was playing on one leg after spraining his right knee. The loss eliminated the Revs from the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Jeff Larentowicz even went off 10 minutes before the break with an ankle injury after John Thorrington caught him with a late tackle.
But despite those problems, New England looked like they would round off a solid first-half performance against the Chicago Fire in the second leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series by heading into the locker room on even terms.
"We played great up until that point," defender Jay Heaps said. "They had some chances but we had some chances too. We were putting pressure on them."
Then disaster struck moments before the halftime whistle.
Matt Reis could only palm away Cuauhtemoc Blanco's far-post shot and Chris Rolfe finished the scraps. What would have been a moral victory turned into a practical nightmare, and ended up a 3-0 loss.
"Giving up that goal before the half was the turning point of the whole series," Heaps said. "With the goal and Jeff going down, it was too much to handle."
Despite the late heartache, there was something to play for heading into the second half. Four minutes into that second stanza, Wilman Conde wriggled free from Larentowicz's replacement, Pat Phelan, and headed home a Justin Mapp free kick.
"The second one is the one that disappoints us more than anything," Nicol said. "We feel like we're in the game at one down and then you lose that goal and it kills it."
All of those playoff dreams faded away over the next 41 minutes. Kenny Mansally nearly threw the Revs an unexpected lifeline, but Jon Busch pushed his effort around the post.
When Rolfe created the third goal after turning the corner and finding an unmarked Gonzalo Segares streaming through the middle, the match was well and truly gone.
"All three of their goals were great," Heaps said. "You can't take it away. They're great goals."
The final whistle ended the Revs' season and left Nicol to point to the moment when Larentowicz went off as the turning point in the series.
"It was losing Jeff that was the killer," Nicol said. "It was certainly a terrible time to lose the goal, but losing Jeff was the biggest problem. Up to then, it was hard to tell who was the home team and who was the away team."
Larentowicz's injury was the final straw for a team that tried to overcome injury after injury and just reached a point where they couldn't do it anymore.
"You can't overcome everything," Nicol said. "We've got a great mentality. The attitude of the players is great. We'll always fight, no matter the circumstances. Sometimes, you can't overcome what's in front of you, no matter what you do."
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