The New England Revolution have advanced to the Eastern Conference final after defeating the Columbus Crew 7-3 on aggregate. The Revolution will face the New York Red Bulls in the next round.

Both New York and New England are flying high at the moment, which makes this a matchup between two “teams of destiny” that are very motivated to silence their critics.

The Red Bulls have been in terrific form recently, which has resulted in their first conference final appearance since 2008. New York has lost just twice since October 4, and one of those defeats was to D.C. United in the second leg of their semifinal, which ended up as a meaningless result.

However, New England has been equally, if not, more impressive. The Revolution won 10 of their final 14 matches after losing their previous eight. MVP candidate Lee Nguyen has led the charge with 18 goals and five assists in 32 appearances.

Nguyen has continued his impressive 2014 in the playoffs. He scored twice in the semifinals against the Crew, and has been a standout on one of the most entertaining teams in MLS.

The Red Bulls are no slouch, though. The likes of Thierry Henry and Peguy Luyindula have contributed to their playoff efforts whenever Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Phillips is kept in check.

The New York defense has also been a surprise so far. Mike Petke’s side conceded 50 goals in the regular season, which is the joint-highest amount for any playoff team.

The playoffs have been a different story. The Red Bulls have allowed three goals in three matches, conceding just 10 shots in that span. Their regular-season total in the latter category was 171, or just over five per game, so New York has been restricting its opponents’ chances.

Containing New England will be a much more difficult task, especially when Charlie Davies, Teal Bunbury and Kelyn Rowe are all contributing on the attack with Nguyen.

The Revs defense has been solid all year but had troubles against the Red Bulls during the regular season. New England lost 2-0 in their first meeting before falling to New York again the second time around.

It will be a stern test for New England as it guns for the MLS Cup. The addition of Jermaine Jones has given the Revs an extra boost in the playoffs, so the team has significantly improved since the two games against New York.

This will be a very interesting game. Both holding-midfield partnerships are solid, the defenses have been decent, and the offensive firepower is the strength of both teams.

One of these hot teams will be playing in MLS Cup in a few weeks. Very few people expected New England to make this sort of an impact, and New York is the big-market team that’s hoping to exorcise the demons of the last few playoff campaigns. It will be a fascinating conference final.

Stats via MLSsoccer.com unless otherwise noted. 

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Source: Click Here