Twellman's bicycle kick snuffs Fire

Soccer Betting Lines

11/08/2007 - Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A couple days after the New England Revolution won their first trophy in franchise history, the U.S. Open Cup, Major League Soccer's 2007 Defender of the Year Michael Parkhurst said, "These opportunities don't come very much in the sport. We want to take advantage of these championship runs when they come along."

After a Taylor Twellman bicycle kick goal held up on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium in a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Fire in the MLS Eastern Conference final, the Revs have a chance to take advantage of another championship run. This time for the MLS Cup after the team advanced to the league championship game for the third consecutive year.

Twellman scored the spectacular goal in the 38th minute after winger Wells Thompson crossed into the Chicago penalty area. Twellman headed the ball straight up in the air, turned and fired an overhead shot between defenders Dasan Robinson and Logan Pause and past goalkeeper Matt Pickens for the 1-0 lead.

The goal was Twellman's ninth in MLS playoff history to tie him with Brian McBride for seventh all-time. Twellman has tallied six goals in his last seven playoff games, including two in three games this season.

His fifth career playoff goal against the Fire would hold up as the Revolution knocked rivals Chicago out of the playoffs for the fourth time in their playoff history. The Revs also improve to 6-0-0 all-time at home against the Fire in the postseason while snapping the visitors 10-game unbeaten streak.

The game started with the Revolution getting a couple early shots - by Twellman and Thompson - in the first four minutes, but neither was on target.

C.J. Brown had Chicago's first shot, but it also went wide in the sixth minute.

Chicago forward Paulo Wanchope had the first legitimate chance two minutes later when he took control of the ball in the box, but his shot from the right side of the penalty area went wide of the far post.

Twellman had the best early chance of the game about 10 minutes later when he headed a shot from about six-yards out toward the far post, but a diving Pickens got a hand on it to tip it over the crossbar and keep the game scoreless.

Chicago's best chance of the first half occurred on a free kick from outside the left side of the Revs' box. Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who drew the foul, took the kick and played a perfect ball to Wanchope, who was alone in the middle of the six-yard box and onside only because defender Avery John was level with him. Wanchope got his head on the cross, but he snapped it wide of the near post.

Twellman then gave the home side the first-half lead with a his bicycle kick goal seven minutes before the break.

Revs' captain Steve Ralston had a great look from the top of the box in the 44th minute after Twellman and Pat Noonan worked the defense before playing a ball to the veteran, but the league's all-time leader in assists blasted the shot high and wide.

The second half started slow as the Revs defense, led by Parkhurst and central midfielder Shalrie Joseph, shut down the Fire attack. The visitors did get a chance when a Chad Barrett blast from the top of the box went wide of the left post just before the hour mark.

Wilman Conde let a 30-yard knuckler loose three minutes later, but it just wide of the left post also.

Five minutes later, Twellman tried for the double with a chip shot after Khano Smith received a pass from Noonan and found the forward on the right side at the top of the box, but it was saved by Pickens.

About 10 minutes later, with the Fire pressing for the equalizer, Chicago defender Gonzalo Segares blasted long shot in on goal that was saved by Matt Reis, one of his 10 saves in the game.

Chicago coach Juan Carlos Osorio brought in Justin Mapp, who has missed the previous 11 games with an ankle injury, in the 77th minute in an effort to spark his team's offense, but the talented American had little impact in the final 13 minutes.

Pickens kept it close seven minutes from time with a save on Noonan, who drove at the defense, beat a defender then hit a shot from a crowd in the box.

Fire attacker Chris Rolfe, held in check most of the game after scoring two goals in the semis against D.C., had two shots in the final five minutes, but was unable to beat Reis.

The Fire's last good chance came in the 90th minute when late substitute Calen Carr headed a Blanco cross on goal from close range, but Reis did well to hang on for his third shutout in three postseason games this season and seventh all-time, good for a fourth-place tie with former Columbus 'keeper Tom Presthus.

The Revs will now play the winner of the other conference final between defending champs Houston and Kansas City on Saturday. The MLS Cup final will be Nov. 18 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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