Losing coaches will always look for the reasons behind their team’s defeat, and often they sound like excuses. But it’s hard to argue with New England Revolution Coach Steve Nicol that the turning point in his team’s Eastern Conference semifinal second-leg game with the Chicago Fire Thursday came when the Fire’s John Thorrington took Jeff Larentowicz out of the game with a dirty tackle from behind.
“It was losing Jeff that was the killer,” Nicol said. “Up to then, it was hard to tell who was the home team and who was the away team.” Without players like Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston (both injured), and Khano Smith (suspended), losing Larentowicz proved too much, and eight minutes after he left the game with an injured ankle the Fire took the lead.
“They had some chances, but we had some chances too,” said Revs’ defender Jay Heaps. “We were putting pressure on them. Giving up that goal before the half was the turning point of the whole series. With the goal and Jeff going down, it was too much to handle.” Early in the second half the Fire’s Wilman Conde escaped the attentions of Larentowicz’s replacement, Pat Phelan, to head in from a free kick and make the score 2-0.
“The second one is the one that disappoints us more than anything,” Nicol said. “We feel like we’re in the game at one down, and then you lose that goal and it kills it.” Once the Revs were three goals behind, defender Chris Albright was red-carded for deliberately taking out Cuauhtemoc Blanco. “You can’t overcome everything,” Nicol said.