Chicago Fire advance to MLS East final
Last Updated: Sunday, November 8, 2009 | 12:33 AM ET
The Associated Press
Chicago's Logan Pause, left, hugs teammate John Thorrington after his goal against the New England Revolution on Saturday in Bridgeview, Ill. (Jim Prisching/Associated Press) John Thorrington and Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored as the Chicago Fire advanced to Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference final with a 2-0 win over the New England Revolution on Saturday night.
Chicago entered the match trailing in the two-game, total-goal semifinal series after a 2-1 defeat at New England on Sunday.
Thorrington scored in the 35th minute of Game 2 with Marco Pappa and Brandon Prideaux getting assists. Blanco sealed the win with six minutes remaining in regulation.
It's the second consecutive season that Chicago has eliminated New England from the playoffs.
Next Saturday, Chicago will host Real Salt Lake, which beat Columbus 4-2 on aggregate earlier in the week.
This will be the Fire's third consecutive appearance in the conference final. They lost each of the previous two.
Chicago outshot New England 17-12 but also had 10 shots on net compared to four for the Revolution.
