FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship for the first time since 2007, beating the Columbus Crew 3-1 at Gillette Stadium. With the win, the Revolution claim a 7-3 series win on aggregate and will face the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference Championship.

Lee Nguyen gave the Revs a 1-0 lead going into halftime while Jose Goncalves and Teal Bunbury each scored after the break to give the Revs, who had won the first leg 4-2 in Columbus, the victory. New England’s seven goals were the most in MLS history in a two-leg, aggregate goal playoff series while the four goal margin of victory equaled the biggest series victory in league history.

MLS MVP candidate Lee Nguyen put the Revs in front just before the halftime break, finishing a Teal Bunbury cross for his second goal of the postseason. After scoring 18 regular-season goals, Nguyen now has 20 goals in all competitions this season, becoming the first Revolution player to score 20 or more goals in a single year since Taylor Twellman had 23 in all competitions in 2007.

Ten minutes into the second half, Jose Goncalves doubled the Revolution lead with the first postseason goal of his MLS career. The Revolution captain won the ball inside his own half and played the ball forward to Nguyen before continuing his run forward. Nguyen picked out Charlie Davies’ forward run, setting up a two-on-one for Davies and Goncalves. The Revolution forward crossed for Goncalves at the top of the box and the center back hit a bouncing, left-footed shot that just crept in at the near post, making the score 2-0.

Columbus pulled a goal back in the 69th minute when Tony Tchani headed a Justin Meram free kick past Bobby Shuttleworth, cutting the Revolution lead to 2-1. That would be the only goal allowed on the evening by Shuttleworth, who finished the game with a postseason career-high six saves.

Teal Bunbury restored the Revs’ two-goal advantage eight minutes later when he collected a perfectly weighted through ball from Daigo Kobayashi and fired a left-footed shot high past Columbus goalkeeper Steve Clark from close range to give the Revs a 3-1 victory and 7-3 win in the series.

Santander Man of the Match

• LEE NGUYEN – Scored his team’s first goal just before halftime and then set up the eventual-game winner early in the second half to spearhead the Revolution attack.

Next Game
The Revolution will face the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference Championship with the winner of the two-leg, aggregate-goal series advancing to MLS Cup 2014. The first leg of that series will be played at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. on Sunday, November 23 with the return leg to be played at Gillette Stadium on either November 29 or November 30.

New England Revolution vs. Columbus Crew
November 9, 2014 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Eastern Conference Semifinal – Second Leg

New England Revolution 3, Columbus Crew 1
(Revolution win series 7-3 on aggregate)

Scoring Summary:
NE – Lee Nguyen 2 (Teal Bunbury 1) 43’
NE – Jose Goncalves 1 (Charlie Davies 1, Lee Nguyen 2) 53’
CLB – Tony Tchani 1 (Justin Meram 1) 69’
NE – Teal Bunbury 1 (Daigo Kobayashi 1) 77’

Misconduct Summary:
CLB – Ethan Finlay (Red Card) 61’
CLB – Justin Meram (Yellow Card) 66’
CLB – Justin Meram (Yellow Card/Red Card) 85’

New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth; Kevin Alston, Jose Goncalves © (Andy Dorman 79’), A.J. Soares, Chris Tierney; Jermaine Jones, Scott Caldwell; Teal Bunbury, Lee Nguyen (Daigo Kobayashi 75’), Kelyn Rowe; Charlie Davies.

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Darrius Barnes, Steve Neumann, Diego Fagundez, Patrick Mullins

STATS: Shots 15, Shots on target 10, Saves 6, Corner kicks 4, Offsides 2, Fouls 8, Possession 46.0%, Passes 354 (76.6%)

Columbus Crew: Steve Clark; Eric Gehrig (Josh Williams 56’), Michael Parkhurst ©, Tyson Wahl (Adam Bedell 46’), Waylon Francis; Ethan Finlay (Sent Off 61’), Wil Trapp, Tony Tchani, Justin Meram; Hector Jimenez; Jairo Arrieta (Ben Spears 74’).

Substitutes Not Used: Matt Lampson, Emanuel Pogatetz, Chad Barson, Kevan George

STATS: Shots 17, Shots on target 7, Saves 7, Corner kicks 5, Offsides 2, Fouls 12, Possession 54.0%, Passes 400 (77.8%)

Referee: Armando Villarreal
Assistant Referees: Peter Manikowski (AR1) and Corey Parker (AR2)
Fourth Official: Chris Penso

Weather: Clear and 51 degrees
Attendance: 20,184

Additional Game Notes

• With the 3-1 win, the Revolution win the Eastern Conference Semifinal series 7-3 on aggregate.
• The Revolution will face the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference Championship … the first leg of that series will be played at Red Bull Arena on Sunday, November 23 while the second leg will be played at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, November 29 or Sunday, November 30.
• This is the first time that the Revs have qualified for the Eastern Conference Championship since 2007.
• The Revolution are now 4-0-3 in seven all-time postseason games against the Crew, knocking Columbus out of the playoffs in 2002, 2004 and now 2014.
• New England’s seven goals in the series are a new MLS record for goals in a two-leg, aggregate-goal playoff series … the previous record had been five goals.
• The four goal margin of victory in the series equals the MLS record for largest series win in a two-leg, aggregate goal playoff series.
• The Revs are now 4-3-2 all-time in the second leg of two-leg, aggregate-goal Conference Semifinal series.
• New England is now 12-0-4 in its last 16 home playoff games dating back to 1997.
• The Revs are 8-0-1 in their last nine home games in all competitions, dating back to July 30 … in those nine games, the Revs have outscored opponents 18-6.
• After losing the first two games of the season to Columbus, New England won each of the final three meetings between the sides.
• Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made one change to the team that beat Columbus 4-2 in the first leg of the series last weekend with Kevin Alston getting the start at right back in place of Andrew Farrell … Farrell missed the game with a right-leg injury that he suffered in training late in the week.
• Alston’s spot on the Revolution bench was taken by Andy Dorman, who came on as a second-half substitute.
• In addition to Farrell, Shalrie Joseph (left groin strain) was the only other Revolution player to miss the game because of injury.
• Lee Nguyen gave the Revolution a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute with his second goal of the postseason … he is now tied with Charlie Davies and three others for third place in club history in postseason scoring.
• Nguyen has now scored in each of his last six games, dating back to the start of October.
• Nguyen’s 20 goals in all competitions are the most by a Revolution player in a single season since 2007 when Taylor Twellman had 23 goals on the year, scoring 16 in the regular season, four in the U.S. Open Cup and three in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
• The Revs are now 12-2-2 in all competitions when Nguyen has a goal or an assist.
• Teal Bunbury was credited with the lone assist on the goal … it was the first postseason assist of his MLS career.
• Jose Goncalves made the score 2-0 early in the second half with the first goal of his postseason career … this was the second straight game in which a Revolution defender scored a goal … no Revolution defender had scored a goal in the playoffs since 2009 when Emmanuel Osei scored in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Chicago.
• Charlie Davies and Lee Nguyen were each credited with assists on the goal … for Davies, it was the first of his postseason career and for Nguyen it was his second in as many years, having also collected one against Sporting Kansas City in 2013.
• Teal Bunbury scored New England’s third and final goal in the 70th minute, restoring the Revs lead to two goals … the goal was his third postseason goal and his first for New England … Bunbury’s scored twice in his MLS Playoff debut while playing for Sporting Kansas City at Colorado on October 30, 2011.
• Columbus finished the game with nine men after Ethan Finlay was shown a straight red card in the 61st minute for a foul on Bobby Shuttleworth while Justin Meram was shown his second yellow card in the 85th minute … they were the 11th and 12th players to be sent off against New England in all competitions this year.
• No Revolution players were booked in the game, meaning that Jose Goncalves is the only player on yellow card warning heading into the first leg of the Eastern Conference Championship … if he is booked in that game, he will be forced to sit out the second leg of that series because of yellow card accumulation.
• After playing in all 34 regular-season games, Daigo Kobayashi came off the bench for the second straight game, replacing Lee Nguyen in the 75th minute … this was his 38th appearance in all competitions, having also played twice in the U.S. Open Cup.
• Bobby Shuttleworth finished the game with six saves, giving him 10 for the series.
• The Revs are now 19-0-1 in all competitions this season when scoring two or more goals.