December 30, 2009
THE YEAR’S TOP STORIES - NO. 2
Revs fall in first round

Making the playoffs is a habit for the New England Revolution. Making an early exit it not. That’s why the Revs first round loss to the Chicago Fire is the No.2 story on the New England Soccer News list of top stories for 2009.

The Revs began the decisive second game of the MLS Eastern Conference semifinals with a one-goal advantage over postseason nemesis the Chicago Fire. And it was all downhill from there. By the final whistle, the Revolution been shut out 2-0 in front of a Toyota Park sellout crowd of 21,528, and bounced out of the postseason by an aggregate score of 3-2.

The defeat left the Revs 0-7-0 in postseason play in the Windy City.

John Thorrington drew first blood for the Fire, scoring in the 35th minute to knot the aggregate score at 2-2. Cuauhtemoc Blanco delivered the final blow in the 83rd.

The Revs, who barely snuck into the playoffs, had defeated the Fire 2-1 min the opener at Gillette Stadium.

Chris Rolfe kicked off the scoring for Chicago with a 17th minute goal before Emmanuel Osei leveled it seconds before the first half concluded. Shalrie Joseph delivered the game to the Revolution in the 75th minute.

But, mistakes cost the Revolution.

“We were solid enough. We didn’t give them a whole lot,” said Revolution head coach Steve Nicol after his team was knocked out of the playoffs . “At the same time we didn’t create a whole lot for ourselves, either”

Blanco found Marco Pappa on the right side of the box. Pappa in turn threaded the ball through three defenders to Thorrington for a 12-yard shot that lodged just inside the left post to give Chicago the 1-0 lead.

Emmanuel Osei was left in the dust as Nyarko cut along the right endline and into the six-yard box, keeping on around goalkeeper Matt Reis before dishing off to Blanco, whose floater settled just under the bar.

“Osei made a mistake,” said Nicol. “It’s just unfortunate that we were just punished at the wrong time. “

Reis was left flat-footed on the second goal. “It’s hard in that situation. You can’t leave the goal,” said Reis. “You have to try to assess the different options that you have and it happened so quick and once it got to Blanco, he takes a good touch and he just roofs it. Obviously if we had cleared the danger there would be nothing there but, we didn’t.”

Reis said the goal was very much like the rest of the season for the Revolution. “It was a microcosm of our whole season, “said Reis. “More times than not if we look back on our losses, we’ve beaten ourselves more than the other team has beaten us. We made a mistake and it cost us. We fought, we fought hard but we didn’t have it. Once again it’s a mistake of our own doing.”

The two goals were costly for New England, but their lack of offensive firepower was just as costly. “We weren’t creating enough chances and the chances we had were half a chance,” said midfielder Shalrie Joseph. “Everybody tried their best but at the end of the day it’s another disappointing year for us.”