After losing the first-leg 2-1, the Chicago Fire will be playing for the Eastern Conference title.
Chicago beat New England 2-0 at Toyota Park on Saturday night, taking the series 3-2 on total
goals. The Fire will now face Real Salt Lake for a spot in the 2009 MLS Cup. Chicago got a
35th-minute goal from John Thorrington to even the series.
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The second participant in the MLS Eastern Conference Final will be determined tonight when the
New England Revolution faces the Chicago Fire in Game Two of their First Round playoff series.
New England will try to join Real Salt Lake in the East Final by building on its 2-1 victory in
Game One.
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Soccerblog 07 November @ 06:54 PM EST
The Fire meet the Revs today at Toyota Park, 8:30 PM
New England are up 2-1 in the first leg and are in great position to cause the second upset of
the playoffs. This match is of great interest for Fire fans because it could also be Blanco's last
MLS game as he is out of contract and is returning to second division Mexican club Veracruz.
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MLS on Fox Soccer Channel: New England - Chicago at 8pm. EPL on ESPN2: Spurs - Sunderland at 10am.
Setanta has Manchester City - Burnley at 10am and Blackburn - Portsmouth at 6:45pm. On Fox Soccer:
Aston Villa - Bolton at 10am and Wolves - Arsenal at 12:30pm. Championship on Setanta: Swansea -
Cardiff at 7:45am.
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Friday is here and we are faced with the somewhat surprising reality that the first team
eliminated from this year's MLS playoffs is the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew. You can
complain all you want about the playoff format, and the fact that Real Salt Lake barely edged its
way into the playoffs, but RSL played great soccer when it mattered most, while the Crew bumbled
and stumbled to the finish line and ultimately paid for its inconsistency.
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Real Salt Lake finished off a huge first round upset tonight, defeating the Columbus Crew 3-2 at
Crew Stadium to win their Eastern Conference Semifinal series 4-2 on aggregate.
Real Salt Lake got behind the 8-ball early in the game, surrendering two first half goals to
fall behind the Crew 3-2 on aggregate.
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Nutmegged 05 November @ 11:28 PM EST
I was kind of hoping for a Dynamo/Columbus final to have the last three champs facing off But
wouldn't you know it, the Crew pulled an epic fail, losing a one goal advantage.
At home.
To the worst road team in the league.
Worse than NYRB.
Let THAT sink in.
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The Chicago Fire routed the New England Revolution 3-0 in the return leg of the Eastern
Conference semifinals to advance 3-0 on aggregate (ASN, Nov. 7, 2008).
The 3-0 score was one goal higher than ASN's chief Fire pundit had predicted on the eve of the
match. With the victory, Chicago finally reversed a multi-year streak of exiting the playoffs at
the hands of the Revs.
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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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If the Chicago Fire were hoping for reinforcements to bolster their chances against New England
in Saturday's second leg playoff match, they'll have to look beyond Gonzalo Segares. The defender
is currently listed as out for the upcoming do-or-die encounter set for Saturday at Toyota
Park.
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If the Chicago Fire were hoping for reinforcements to bolster their chances against New England
in Saturday's second leg playoff match, they'll have to look beyond Gonzalo Segares. The defender
is currently listed as out for the upcoming do-or-die encounter set for Saturday at Toyota
Park.
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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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Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton was named 2009 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year on Wednesday,
marking the second time he's won the award.
Thornton enjoyed a career renaissance with Chivas USA this season, posting career highs in
shutouts and goals against average while helping guide Chivas USA to the playoffs.
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Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton was named 2009 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year on Wednesday,
marking the second time he's won the award.
Thornton enjoyed a career renaissance with Chivas USA this season, posting career highs in
shutouts and goals against average while helping guide Chivas USA to the playoffs.
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Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton won the 2009 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award, Major League
Soccer announced on Wednesday. Thornton won the award in 1998, becoming the third MLS keeper to be
honored twice. New England midfielder Steve Ralston won the Fair Play award, with the Chicago Fire
winning the team Fair Play award.
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The Back Post 04 November @ 11:03 AM EST
Vote for Claudio or Davy. They both are nominated twice. Claudio's goals include his beautiful free
kick in week 10 against Chivas and week 19's shot from the middle of the field against LA. Davy's
goals include the week 1 blast against Toronto and the week 13 goal against New England. I have
hard time deciding my favorite.
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NE Revs, Taylor Twellman vs Chicago Fire
On Thursday, MLS Playoffs continue with defending champs, Columbus Crew, looking to rebound from a
1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake. The second legs of the other three conference semifinals are on
Saturday (Chicago-New England) and Sunday (Los Angeles-Chivas USA, Houston-Seattle).
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NE Revs, Taylor Twellman vs Chicago Fire
On Thursday, MLS Playoffs continue with defending champs, Columbus Crew, looking to rebound from a
1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake. The second legs of the other three conference semifinals are on
Saturday (Chicago-New England) and Sunday (Los Angeles-Chivas USA, Houston-Seattle).
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Year end award nominees are coming out, and while no Wizards players are up the big awards, 3
Wizards are nominated for 2 awards.
Davy Arnaud and Claudio Lopez are both up twice for goal of the year. Arnaud's first blast against
Toronto on the opening week of the season is one of his two nominated goals.
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WVHooligan 03 November @ 05:52 PM EST
As mentioned earlier on my Twitter feed today has been a slow day due to some bad headaches on
my end. I won't go into it much but I am feeling a little better after some medicine kicked in here
(thanks to the few who asked). I didn't have much planned for tonight but I did want to get into
the coaching carousel that is going on in Major League Soccer.
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3rd Degree 02 November @ 10:54 PM EST
FCD striker on the heals of his remarkable second half of 2099 that landed him the MLS Golden Boot
has been named a finalist for MLS MVP. Landon Donovan of LA Galaxy and Shalrie Joseph of the New
England Revolution are the other two finalists. Cunningham scored 13 goals in his final 12 games of
2009 and led MLS with 17 goals.
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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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WVHooligan 02 November @ 10:13 AM EST
The playoff version of the SuperClasico got off to a bang with a 2-2 draw. (Getty Images)
Some could say the results we saw in the first week of the playoffs were fairly expected. The
SuperClasico ended in a draw that I think most folks expected to get; Real Salt Lake found a way to
get a win over the Crew at home; Seattle and Houston battled it out to a scoreless draw; and maybe
the only real shocker of the weekend was the Revs beating Chicago 2-1.
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Â
Photo by ISIphotos.com
Home teams went unbeaten on the first weekend of the MLS Playoffs, setting up a quartet of
nail-biters for the second legs of all four series.
The New England Revolution and Real Salt Lake held serve at home, posting key victories, while
the Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy were able to take draws in their visits to Seattle and,
well, Los Angeles.
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More than a week has passed since the end of the Toronto FC season and it honestly still hurts. It
is heart wrenching to have hope and faith in your team so deeply shaken. To go into a game hoping
for the best and to have the all time worst handed to them, I am still recovering from the shock.
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L.A. and Chivas brought us some major drama in the MLS Playoffs first ever SuperClasico in a
battle for Los Angeles bragging rights and some sorely needed points in the Conference Semifinals.Â
Chivas has to struggle to pull together a draw on the Galaxy, but the fireworks have only just
begun.
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Here are some more stats for you as the Wizards season is now over. Unfortunately most of them are
depressing. You'll be seeing more stats this week as I get the information finalized.
KC scored 33 goals this season, tying the 99 and the 01 Wizards for the lowest scoring team in
Wizards history.
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CLICK HERE to read my ESPNChicago.com post from the Chicago Fire's 2-1 loss to the New England
Revolution in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. It features a recap, analysis
and commentary from Fire midfielder Chris Rolfe, who scored Chicago's lone goal.
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Welcome back to the playoffs!
It has been three long and, to be blunt, disastrous years since the last time the Galaxy played
post-season futbol. That year they peaked at the right time after basically backing in to the
playoffs and ended up taking the MLS Cup from New England on Pando Ramirez's only
goal of the season.
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The Chicago Fire take on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium today in Game One of
their Eastern Conference Playoff series (2pm, FSC).
This is their fifth straight playoff encounter and there's no love lost here as the sides are a
safe bet to play a physical and uncompromising series.
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The Chicago Fire take on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium today in Game One of
their Eastern Conference Playoff series (2pm, FSC).
This is their fifth straight playoff encounter and there's no love lost here as the sides are a
safe bet to play a physical and uncompromising series.
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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.
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Real Salt Lake got a late goal from striker Robbie Findley to defeat Columbus 1-0 in the opening
game of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series Saturday night.
The match looked to be headed to a scoreless draw, but that all changed in the 88th minute when
Findley slotted home a Yura Movsisyan cross to give RSL the win.
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My recent posts on ESPNChicago.com:
• Oct. 31: Game 1 preview - Chicago Fire at New England Revolution
• Oct. 30: Time is now for Fire - Chicago has dealt with distractions all season
• Oct. 30: This date in Fire history: Oct. 30, 1998 - Fire complete 'double' with U.S. Open Cup
victory
Also noteworthy:
• Chicago Tribune: What Chicago Fire need to do in playoffs
• Pitch Invasion's The Sweeper: Beckham and Blanco move on -- can MLS?
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