Real Salt Lake notebook: RSL will face fierce Fire for shot at MLS Cup

After taking down the top team in the East in the first round, Real Salt Lake now shifts its focus to the No. 2 seed back East.

Chicago advanced to the Eastern Conference final with a 2-0 victory over New England on Saturday, winning the series on aggregate 3-2. The Fire host RSL next Saturday at 6 p.m. (MST) for a berth in the MLS Cup the following weekend in Seattle. The East final will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel.

RSL, which finished in fifth place in the West but was placed in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket by finishing with a better record than the East No. 4 seed, took down defending MLS Cup champion in the first round with a 4-2 aggregate victory.

Beating Chicago might be tougher. In the first round Real Salt Lake had the luxury of playing one of the two matches at Rio Tinto Stadium, where it finished with the best home record in MLS this year. The conference final, however, is just one game and it's always played at the higher seed.

Chicago won the season series with Real Salt Lake this year by tying on the road 1-1 and winning at Toyota Park 1-0. The Fire haven't lost to RSL since June 3, 2006, posting a 3-0-4 record in the seven meetings since.

Real Salt Lake has never won in its four visits to Toyota Park, but it did walk away with a pair of scoreless draws in 2007 and 2008.

Interestingly enough, Chicago actually finished with a better road record than home record in 2009. Only Kansas City and New York picked up fewer points at home this year than the Fire.

e-mail: jedward@desnews.com