Boston versus New York. It’s a rivalry that goes back more than a century. The Patriots, Bruins and Red Sox carry the honor of their city into battle against the Jets, Rangers and Yankees. Its now time for the Revolution and Red Bulls to throw their names into the mix.

Both teams earned their way into the Eastern Conference Finals, but did so using different paths. The Revolution beat a lackadaisical Columbus Crew team in the first round of the playoffs, while the Red Bulls had to win a one off wild card game against formidable Sporting KC before moving onto DC United. United was never going to be an easy task having moved from the bottom of the conference in 2013 to winning the regular season standing in 2014. New York jumped out to an early series lead at home before finishing United off in DC.

The New York Red Bulls come rolling into the conference championship series with one of the league’s most explosive offenses. They may not have the explosiveness or pedigree of the LA Galaxy, but they seem to have an answer every time they have been backed into a corner this postseason.

The key for the Red Bulls to advance to MLS Cup 2014 is Thierry Henry. Henry is carrying his team with leadership, passion and impossible passes he seemingly pulls out of nowhere. Henry is very similar to another league star, Landon Donovan, in that he may be playing in his final home game in this series and will want to go out with a bang. While he has not confirmed that his playing days may be numbered, many people expect that he will opt out of New York and either return to his beloved Arsenal as a mentor or call it quits all together. While there is no way to know for sure until the man himself makes his plans known to the public, we do know that this will be one of the final times he appears in the MLS Playoffs.

Bradley Wright-Phillips has also been a standout for the Red Bulls this season. He scored a league leading 27 goals this season, tying the MLS single season record in the process. He has benefitted greatly from Henry being on the field. Teams are automatically drawn to Henry which leaves massive shooting lanes for Wright-Phillips. That is not to say it has been easy. Wright-Phillips has begun to show the prolific scoring style Henry made famous years ago. He is on the shortlist for MLS MVP this season and he has earned it.

The Revolution on the other hand must rely on league MVP candidate Lee Nguyen. Nguyen has upped the ante in his career this season, turning in performances he never has before. The Revolution needed a leader to step up and deliver if they wanted to go deep into the playoffs and Nguyen has delivered. The midseason addition of Jermaine Jones has added a massive defensive option in midfield which has allowed Nguyen to move forward in attack. He responded to his new found offensive freedom by scoring more goals (18) than he has in all previous seasons he has played in MLS.

If the Red Bulls are able to stop Nguyen, the Revs will have to find another option, something they have struggled to do at times in 2014. While Nguyen has found the back of the net often this season, the rest of the New England roster has not been so lucky. Kelyn Rowe and Diego Fagundez are tied for second in scoring this year with only five goals each. Charlie Davies was able to turn back the clock against the Crew, scoring twice in Columbus, but has not been as consistent as he once was.

This series may just come down to defense. The teams gave up 46 goals (New England) and 50 goals (New York) this season and both finished with a +5 goal differential overall. Jones has added a bite to the Revs defense they were lacking before his signing. Jose Goncalves and Andrew Farrell form a solid defensive pairing that has been able to shut down opponents this season. New York will rely on Jamison Olave and Ryan Meara to slow Nguyen and the rest of the Revs attack.

Time will tell if Boston or New York will come out on top in this battle, and the winning side will surely rub it in the faces of their bitter rival come their first match up next season.

GOOD:

Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy/Forward) – Landon Donovan completely dominated the Salt Lake defense in Carson to push his Galaxy into the MLS CUP Semifinals. His three goals and one assist turned the game on its head and buried Real, ending their hunt for the league championship. This game was just another chapter in the amazing career of Donovan, the best player in MLS and USMNT history. With his career on the line, he not only stepped up, he excelled. This is the trait that has marked his entire career. When Donovan is in the spotlight, he fine tunes his game and becomes nearly unstoppable. This was his third career MLS Playoff hat-trick. If the Galaxy continue playing like this, Donovan might just go out a champion.

Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution/Midfielder) – Lee Nguyen has had arguably the best season of any player in MLS. He is not only in contention for MLS MVP, he should also be in contention for MLS Comeback Player of the Year because his level of play this season has been so much higher than anything he has ever produced. He has become a true leader for a team that desperately needed one to step up if they wanted to make a run in the playoffs. The addition of a solid defensive presence behind him in midfield, Jermaine Jones, has helped Nguyen get more involved in the attack. He tallied the games first goal in the 43rd minute when he received a flick from teammate Teal Bunbury. Columbus let a free running Nguyen get to the ball first and he buried it in stride. The Revolution will now face rivals New York Red Bulls to determine the Eastern Conference participant in MLC CUP 2014.

BAD:

Real Salt Lake – Real Salt Lake were totally out of sorts in their matchup against LA. They came into the game looking unprepared for the inevitable Galaxy attack, which ended the night scoring five unanswered goals. The Galaxy were not only the best defensive team in MLS this season, they were also the best offensive team this season. Real had to know they would be facing an onslaught, yet they looked like they didn’t know how to respond when that moment occurred. Real looked like Brazil when Germany started picking them apart. No answers, blank stares and nothing but embarrassment to show for their trip to SoCal. This was a sad ending for a team that performed very well in their first season without their club leader Jason Kreis.

Oscar Pareja (FC Dallas/Head Coach) – Oscar Pareja has done a wonderful job turning FC Dallas around this season. He has given the team energy and a game plan they performed very well in stretches throughout the year. Early in the year Dallas was the leagues hottest team and looked to be true championship contenders. Heading into their second leg game against Seattle he knew they had to score at least one goal to win the series and advance. The team had some chances, and a few possible penalties, yet were never able to convert and ended the night scoreless. He even took out possibly his two best offensive players late in the game, Blas Perez and Michel, putting on less accomplished players. This was an odd move considering the team had to score to advance. For everything good he did throughout the year, he made some odd moves late in this game that seemed very counter intuitive to what the team goals were.

UGLY:

Roy Miller (New York Red Bulls/Defender) and Fabian Espindola (DC United/Forward) – Both Miller and Espindola committed ridiculous fouls in their meeting in Washington DC on Saturday afternoon. Roy Miller got a yellow card late in the first half for dragging Chris Pontius to the ground. Pontius, who was on a on a minor breakaway opportunity, had 30 yards and two defenders between him and the goal. Miller, who was beat earlier in the play, still felt the need to drag Pontius down causing a free kick opportunity and a needless yellow card. Later in the game, Miller once again made a horrid attempt at the ball and in the process kicked United defender Sean Franklin in the upper body. Miller was in a very bad position to make a play on the ball and had little to no control of his body during the clearance attempt. He was shown an immediate red card for serious foul play and was sent off, leaving his teammates to finish out the game down a man. The Red Bulls went on to win the series regardless but Miller will have to sit out the opening game of the next series because of his poor mistakes. Fabian Espindola on the other hand showed a red hot temper through much of the match. He became incensed at an assist referee for not calling a ball out of bounds which would have given United possession deep inside the Red Bulls side of the field. He berated the assistant referee for minutes after the incident, and had to be calmed by the officiating referee and teammates on the field. A replay confirmed the call made on the field was correct and that the whole ball never crossed out of bounds. Espindola, like Miller, was also shown a red card deep into second half stoppage time for a fighting incident.

This is the ending Major League Soccer was dreaming of when they paired the LA Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders together for the final two weeks of the regular season.

Both teams were locked on 60 points with two games to play. The first game of the home and away series, played at LA Galaxy’s stadium, was a tightly contested 2-2 draw that saw the Galaxy, with the league’s best defense, give up a two goal lead.

The teams will now head to Seattle for their final regular season game where the winner will cement their place as the best in the regular season and be awarded the Supporters’ Shield and home field advantage throughout the MLS playoffs. However, a draw will be enough for the Sounders to take the trophy.

LA will be without star defender Omar Gonzalez, as he was shown two yellow cards by referee Ismail Elfath last Sunday. Gonzalez was visibly upset with the referee following his second yellow card, and criticized the handling of the game in his post-match interviews.

Getting a win at CenturyLink Field will not be an easy task for the Galaxy, but they only have to look at recent history to see they have more than a chance in this showdown. Since the beginning of the 2013 season, the Sounders and Galaxy have played five times. LA have won two of those games, including a 3-0 result in Seattle in July 2014. They outscored the Sounders 11-4 in those five games.

This season the Sounders have a +13 home goal difference, which is tied for fifth best in MLS. The Galaxy have a +4 road goal difference, which is best in the league. They are also one of only three teams in the league (Portland, Kansas City) that has a positive road goal difference.

Both teams will have to dig deep Saturday afternoon (starting at 2:30pm ET on NBC) to secure the Shield. The visiting Galaxy have to rely on Dan Gargan and Robbie Rogers to be standouts in defense if they are going to win the game. Rogers’ form has been outstanding since moving to left back after returning from injuries that kept him out more months after his much publicized return to MLS. He was hot and cold in midfield but has really stepped up since moving to his new spot. Landon Donovan, who will be playing in his final regular season game ever, will need to be more involved than in their previous meeting just a few days ago. The X-factor for LA will be the combination of Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes, who are both in the top six in scoring in MLS.  Zardes has taken a massive step forward this season by taking more prepared shots on goal in contrast to his normal quick shot method of 2013, which resulted in many shots with little to no results. He has scored 16 goals this season in 31 appearances, easily making it his best season since turning pro last spring. Keane, on the other hand, has been his normal self in 2014, scoring 19 goals in 29 games.

The obvious X-factor for Seattle is the Dempsey-Martins connection. Dempsey, who missed games this summer due to the World Cup, has found the back of the net 15 times in 25 games, while Martins has tallied 17 goals in 30 appearances. Martins ranks fourth in MLS in goals scored while Dempsey comes in at number seven overall. Dempsey and Martins will also have to rely on young star DeAndre Yedlin and former two-time MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall to keep the high powered offense of LA off the board.

Both goalkeepers, Jaime Penedo and Stefan Frei, will be forced into making great saves in order for their team to be crowned champions of the regular season. Penedo has earned himself a top half of the league save percentage of 72%, while Frei is near the bottom of the league with a 66% save percentage.

Both teams are safe in the race to the playoffs. They can both say their seasons have gone well to this point and build a successful playoff run with the things they have learned in the regular season. Ultimately, this is nothing more than a warm up to the high stakes game known as the MLS Playoffs. However, there is nothing like winning the Supporters’ Shield in the process.