BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) -John Thorrington and Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored as the Chicago Fire advanced to the Eastern Conference final, beating the New England Revolution 2-0 Saturday night to win on 3-2 aggregate.

Chicago 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 win with six minutes remaining in regulation.

It's the second consecutive season in which Chicago has eliminated New England from the playoffs, and fourth in eight all-time postseason matchups.

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

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

Chicago outshot New England 21-12, but also had 13 shots on net compared to four for the Revolution.

---

Story from: STATS LLC, http://www.stats.com.

MORE FROM SOCCER

Soccer Section Front

Irish eyes not smiling: Game won't be replayed   Vote: Should France forfeit its win over Ireland? Beckham has bone bruise but expects to play Starry Galaxy wary of scrappy Salt Lake in MLS Cup Donovan wins MLS MVP award for first time Police: 17 arrests in soccer match-fixing probe Egyptian fans riot against Algeria FIFA suspends Iraq for political meddling NYT: ‘I have so much regret,’ N.M. soccer player says Spain regains 1st place from Brazil in rankings Soccer Section Front   Add Soccer headlines to your news reader: