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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION v CHICAGO FIRE
Sun., Nov. 6, Gillette Stadium (3 p.m. ET; ESPN2)
LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD: NE 11 wins, 38 goals; CHI 8 wins, 30 goals; 5 ties
2005 HEAD-TO-HEAD: NE 3 wins, 6 goals; CHI 1 wins, 1 goals; 0 ties
AT GILLETTE STADIUM:
5/7: NE 2 - CHI 0 (Noonan 34, Dempsey 58)
10/15: NE 1 - CHI 0 (Twellman 35)
MLS CUP PLAYOFFS: NE 3 wins, 8 goals; CHI 4 wins, 12 goals; 0 tie
REFEREE: Terry Vaughn.
SAR (bench): George Gansler; JAR (opposite): Craig Lowry; 4th: Alex Prus
MLS Career: 60 games; FC/gm: 31.0; Y/gm: 3.9; R: 19; pens: 18
2005: 14 games; FC/gm: 29.3; Y/gm: 4.4; R: 6; pens: 6
INJURY REPORT: NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION - OUT: DF Marshall Leonard (L hamstring strain); FW Khano Smith (L knee contusion); QUESTIONABLE: MF Andy Dorman (L hamstring strain); PROBABLE: MF Shalrie Joseph (R foot bone bruise); DF Joe Franchino (costochondritis); MF Daniel Hernandez (R plantar fascitis) ... CHICAGO FIRE - OUT: MF Chris Armas (L knee torn ACL); MF Scott Buete (R 5th metatarsal fracture); MF Craig Capano (L torn ACL surgery); DF Leonard Griffin (R knee surgery); QUESTIONABLE: MF Justin Mapp (L hamstring strain); MF John Thorrington (L groin strain): PROBABLE: GK Matt Pickens (L ankle sprain)
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS: none
REVOLUTION TEAM NEWS
Revolution boss Steve Nicol faces some real selection issues for the Eastern Conference Championship, as both of his first-choice left-sided midfielders will be unavailable. Marshall Leonard, who started and suffered a strain to his left hamstring in the 20th minute of the second leg win against the MetroStars, and Khano Smith, who came on in his place and scored the series-winning goal before going down with a strain to the posterior collateral ligament in his left knee late in the match, are both out for the conference final.
"We have options, there are a ton of things we can do," Nicol said to The Boston Globe. "Obviously, we are thinking about it, but so much can happen between now and Sunday and we don't want to rush into anything. We will take everything into consideration and what we do will depend on players' fitness, who is sharp, who is having a bad time or doing well in training."
Nicol could move Joe Franchino to the left side, which could open a place for Avery John or Tony Lochhead in the back three, or James Riley could get a starting role on either side, with Steve Ralston filling the other. Pat Noonan could also move to the wide midfield role, meaning there could be a place in attack for Connally Edozien.
There was welcome news on the injury as midfielder Andy Dorman returned to light training during the week and is listed as questionable for the weekend. Dorman missed just two matches during the league campaign, starting 19 in the center of the park, before a left hamstring strain ruled him out of the two semifinal series matches.
For the Revolution, playing host to the Eastern Conference Championship is what the regular season performance is all about. "This is why we put in all the work during the regular season," Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph said, "to get the conference championship game at home. When the game is at home, you don't worry about a lot of things ... it's just good to be home." Said Nicol: "The last two seasons we have played away in that game. And it definitely puts you on the back foot. We are absolutely delighted to be playing here but we have to take advantage of it. You don't just turn up and get the win, you have to put the work in."FIRE TEAM NEWS
Chicago Fire coach Dave Sarachan remains confident about the striking power of his team despite no Fire forwards having hit the net since Chris Rolfe's double against the Columbus Crew on Sept. 17. "We can get goals from a variety of ways, whether it's wide play, from deep or on set pieces," said Sarachan, whose team's last eight goals have come from Ivan Guerrero (2 goals), Jack Stewart (2), Jesse Marsch (2), Chris Armas (1) and Thiago (1).
While Rolfe led the team with eight goals this season, four of them came before July 1. Nate Jaqua was the Fire's second-highest goal scorer and all seven of his goals were scored in the first three months of the season. Same for Andy Herron, whose two goals both came before July. "Forwards get paid to score goals, and we think ours are creating chances and are going to score sooner or later," said Sarachan. "But in the end we don't care where they come from, as long as we get them."
In addition to being scoreless in two matches at Gillette Stadium this season, the Fire has dropped its last eight matches at the venue dating back to 2002 for a 3-11-1 overall mark. "We don't put a lot of emphasis in statistics, but our success rate in Gillette is not good," said Sarachan. "I would say that RFK Stadium in D.C. is arguably the toughest venue to play in and we succeeded there Sunday."
Team captain and midfield anchor Chris Armas has been ruled out for the season due to an ACL tear after the first leg and Logan Pause, who had figured more at right back over the course of the season, came into a central midfield role and shut down United's Christian Gomez. "Armas told me to go out there and do my job. He told me to concentrate and stay tuned in for 90 minutes and do all of the little soccer details correctly," said Pause. ...
Sarachan took a second significant injury blow in stride by inserting Stewart for creative Mapp. Mapp was ruled out midweek with a hamstring strain. Despite starting only three games all season, Stewart opened the scoring with the eventual game winner Sunday.
"We played for the 2003 Cup but lost to San Jose," Sarachan said. "We don't have big-name players like we had then in guys like Carlos Bocanegra and DaMarcus Beasley. But we have more youth, good speed and better balance. We set a league record this year with 17 different individuals scoring goals. Plus, we're playing with a lot of confidence, and we're relatively healthy except for Armas and Mapp."
