After aggressively challenging New England keeper Matt Reis for a ball in the 52nd minute of Saturday night's decisive Game 2 victory over the Revolution, Fire forward Brian McBride had to be taken off of the field due to injury.

McBride, who missed 8 weeks earlier this year with a torn right labrum, picked up a knock on his IT band in the collision, stiffening his leg to the point that he wasn't able to effectively run.

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When their season on the line, the Fire needed a big-time performance from the back line in Saturday night's second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New England Revolution. And did the defense ever deliver, putting together a comprehensive performance to shut down (and shutout) the Revolution and pave the way for the Fire to get into the Eastern Conference Final.

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What a night at Toyota Park.

After losing the first leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with New England 2-1, the Fire stormed back in dramatic fashion tonight, getting a 2-0 victory to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals on a 3-2 aggregate score.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco and John Thorrington scored the goals for the Fire, who will take on fourth seeded Real Salt Lake in the Conference Final next Saturday at Toyota Park.

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It all comes down to this for the Fire. They need to defeat the Revs tonight at Toyota Park to have any hope of advancing to the Eastern Conference Final against Real Salt Lake. Will they do it? We'll find that out later, but I'll be here to walk you through the whole process with Fire Confidential's first all-day blog.

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The Fire came into last Sunday's Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the New England Revolution with high hopes that they could leave Boston with a result.

And though the Fire got off to the right start in the series opener - scoring an early goal to put the pressure on New England - the team was undone by a pair of defensive lapses and ultimately fell to the Revolution 2-1.

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Back in late July and early August - when several Fire players began falling victim to injury - it was assumed that most would be able to return in time for the start of the playoffs.

Now, with the Fire only a couple of days away from the decisive Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against New England, a few of those players have yet to return or make a significant impact while on the field.

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Hey everyone, I just got off the phone with Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett and I got quite a bit of reaction to the 2-1 Game 1 loss to the New England Revolution.

A lot of the quotes are same old, same old from Denis (funny how that happens when the team struggles with the same problems over and over again.

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Last week I took a look at five key questions that would play a role in determining the winner of Game 1 of the Fire-Revolution Eastern Conference Semifinal Series. Now, with the 2-1 Revolution win in the books, it's time to take a second look at those five questions and see how they played out.

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The Fire headed into Sunday's Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at the New England Revolution knowing that they couldn't afford to give the Revs many set piece opportunities.

"We have to limit their set pieces," Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett said earlier this week. "[We have to be careful on] throw-ins and corner kicks because they do well with those.

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We're finally here.
After 7 months of grueling regular season action, the Fire is just two hours away from kicking off Game 1 of their two game Eastern Conference Semifinal against New England. Today's game should be a hard-fought, physical battle (as it always is between the two long time rivals. Click to continue reading...

After three consecutive years suffering playoff heartbreak against the Revolution, the Fire will try to extend their playoff winning streak against the Revs to two series this Sunday, when the two sides meet at Gillette Stadium for Game 1 (1 p.m. on FSC) of their two game Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup.

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Hey everybody, I just got off the phone with Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett so it's time for the Mid-Week Update. Here we go...

Injury Updates --

Gonzalo Segares --

Segares, who has been out with a left MCL sprain since August 9th, is getting closer and closer to making his long-awaited return to the lineup.

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MLS just announced that Game 1 of the Fire-Revolution Eastern Conference Semifinal series has been moved from Saturday, October 31st at 3 p.m. to Sunday, November 1st at 1 p.m.
As of now, the league hasn't announced the reasoning behind the change (I'll try and get that for you guys later on. Click to continue reading...

We should have known all along that it would come down to this. The Fire and the Revolution, facing off in the playoff's for the eighth team in the Fire's 12 year history. It's one of the biggest rivalries in the league, sure to be full of nastiness and with no room spared for niceties.

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When the Fire played the New England Revolution on Oct. 17, many saw the match as a possible playoff preview.

Now that the MLS regular season has come to a close those predictions of a Fire-Revolution postseason battle have come true. The sides will begin their two-leg Eastern Conference semifinal series at 3 p.

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Now that I've finally spoken to Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett, I can provide you guys with a couple of updates regarding the Fire's injury situation and give some reaction to the 0-0 draw with New England this past Saturday. Here we go... Injury Updates: Wilman Conde - Game day decision Conde, who missed last Saturday's game at the New England Revolution with a hamstring injury, has yet to train this week.

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If someone would have told me midway through the season that the Fire's playoff fate would be in the balance heading into their final match, I would've have called them crazy. But here we are. After tonight's 0-0 draw at the Revolution, the Fire find themselves with one game left to play and their future still uncertain.

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Hey everyone, we're 20 minutes from game time and it should be a good one at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough Mass. I'll be sharing all of my thoughts/observations in the comments section of this post -- and I encourage you to do the same. Also, if you're interested in meeting a Fire player/getting a look at FIFA 10 (which comes out on Tuesday) the Fire is hosting a FIFA 10 tournament at the Best Buy Hancock center in downtown Chicago on Monday.

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The Fire may have two regular season games remaining, but they want to clinch their spot in the postseason this weekend when they take on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. The Fire, who will be able to clinch a berth in the playoffs with a win this Saturday, have played the Revolution twice in 2009 - drawing 1-1 at Toyota Park way back on May 9th and winning 2-1 in Foxboro in the SuperLiga semifinals on July 15th.

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With only two games remaining in the 2009 regular season, the second-place Chicago Fire is heading into this Saturday's match at the New England Revolution with one goal in mind: win, and clinch a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs. "The important thing is if we can get that little asterisk next to our name that means we've qualified for the playoffs," said Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett.

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With the Fire getting ready to take on the New England Revolution this Saturday, the time is ripe for an injury update. Here we go... John Thorrington - Out The central midfielder, who hasn't played since August 29th, will miss this weekend's match with a case of athletic pubaglia (English translation: groin pain/sports hernia).

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I'll be interviewing Denis Hamlett tomorrow and thought I'd open up the floor for you guys to pose some questions. Just so you know, I'll be asking Denis about all the standard stuff (i.e. Galaxy preview questions, injury updates etc.) so feel free to throw out any off-the-wall questions you may have.

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The first ticket to the MLS conference finals will be issued on Thursday night, with the Chicago Fire and New England Revolution facing off in a winner-take-all playoff series game two. Their first-leg match ended scoreless, leaving the Revs to have to travel to Toyota Park to beat a Chicago team they failed to defeat in four attempts.

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