FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Jose Goncalves sat calmly at his locker 45 minutes after the final whistle, Eastern Conference Championship trophy nestled snugly on his lap, soaking in the moment.
The New England Revolution captain had earlier victoriously raised that very trophy in front of 32,698 fans – a playoff-record crowd at Gillette Stadium – following his side’s 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls, a result which was enough to send the Revs on to MLS Cup with a 4-3 aggregate win.
“It feels great. It’s a nice moment,” Goncalves said while showing off a matching Eastern Conference Champion hat and t-shirt. “I’m very proud to lift this trophy. I’m very proud of the team. I think we fully deserve it. It’s been a long season. It’s not finished yet, and I think everyone is looking forward to winning the next one.”
The next one is MLS Cup 2014, to be hosted by either the LA Galaxy or Seattle Sounders FC next Sunday afternoon. Those two sides meet at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field tomorrow night, the Galaxy carrying a 1-0 aggregate lead into the second and decisive leg.
Admittedly, there were moments on Saturday afternoon when the Revolution’s spot in MLS Cup appeared far from certain. Tim Cahill opened the scoring in the 26th minute to bring the series level on aggregate, only for Charlie Davies to nod home the first of his two goals shortly before halftime and restore the Revs’ lead.
But Peguy Luyindula scored New York’s second in the 52nd minute to set the series on course for extra time, and another Red Bulls goal at that juncture would’ve likely sealed a win for the visitors.
Davies popped up again, however, burying his second header of the night – both from Chris Tierney crosses – and the Revs held on for the frantic final 20 minutes to book their spot in next weekend’s title game.
“We were expecting some trouble at some point in the game because New York had to score,” said Goncalves. “We defended very well and scored at the right moment. The end of the game was a little bit chaotic, but we stayed compact and we had to fight. Everyone was ready to fight.”
“Credit to everyone on the team,” said goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. “We all grinded tonight. I think it was a total team effort. I think everyone showed up to play. There were times when people needed to step up and fill some gaps, and I think at the end of the day people did that. We were able to get a result and move on.”
Amidst the celebration, all of New England’s postgame comments came back to that aspect of “moving on.” While an Eastern Conference Championship is a tremendous accomplishment for a squad which hadn’t reached this stage in seven years, this is the club’s fifth time raising a conference championship trophy.
One trophy the club has never lifted, however, is MLS Cup. They’ll be hoping to change that next weekend.
“It’s been a lot of sleepless nights, it’s been a lot of hard work, so there’s a reward in getting there,” said head coach Jay Heaps, who was a player the first four times New England won the East. “But for us, the ultimate is getting that ring. That’s what this is all about.”
