Morning Box Score: Fire Burn Revolution to Advance

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Nov 7, 2008 3:00PM

Thanks to a 0-0 tie in the first game of their aggregate playoff series with the New England Revolution, all the Chicago Fire had to do was win to advance to round two. And win they did, topping the Rev 3-0 Thursday night at The Camry in front of a crowd of over 17,000. Chris Rolfe scored the first goal in stoppage time at the end of the first half, taking advantage of a loose rebound after Rev goalie Matt Reis had to stretch to stop a Blanco shot. At the beginning of the second half, in the 49th minute, defenseman Wilman Conde scored off a free kick by Justin Mapp. Rolfe also got an assist on a nice pass to Gonzalo Segares, whose goal in the 74th minute clinched the game for Chicago. It was an intense, physical game which saw 21 fouls and six misconducts, including a red card on New England's Chris Albright in the 83rd minute. The Fire managed six shots on goal and goalie Jon Busch stopped all four New England shots on goal in the win. Now the Fire await the winner of the Columbus-Kansas City series, which concludes Saturday, in the Eastern Conference Championship, which begin next Thursday.

Image of Fire goalie Jon Busch - AP Photo/David Banks