Fire advance to conference final

BRIDGEVIEW – John Thorrington and Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored as the Fire advanced to the Eastern Conference final with a 2-0 win against the New England Revolution on Saturday night.

The Fire entered the match trailing in the two-game, total-goal semifinals 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 victory with six minutes remaining in regulation.

It’s the second consecutive season in which the Fire have eliminated New England from the playoffs, and fourth in eight all-time postseason matchups.

The Fire will host Real Salt Lake, which beat Columbus, 4-2, on aggregate two days ago, on Saturday.

This will be the Fire’s third consecutive appearance in the conference final, where they’ve lost each of the previous two.