FOXBOROUGH — The Revolution might not have been playing in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup semifinal if it weren’t for a clutch quarterfinal goal from Je-Vaughn Watson.
Tuesday night at Gillette Stadium, Watson made sure New England advanced once again.
The 32-year-old defender scored late in the first half of the semifinal to help the Revolution capture a 3-1 win over the Chicago Fire, securing New England’s first berth in the US Open Cup final since 2007.
“He’s hungry, he likes the ball,’’ Revolution coach Jay Heaps said of Watson. “He’s dangerous and he never stops moving in the box, that’s the important thing.’’
The Revolution advanced to the final twice before, accomplishing the feat in 2001 before winning the Cup in 2007.
“Whenever you can make a final, it’s huge,’’ said Revolution midfielder Teal Bunbury, who sealed the victory with his insurance goal in the 85th minute.
“Credit to all the guys, it’s a lot of hard work, it’s a lot of different types of games throughout the tournament and I’m just pleased we were able to make it to this point.’’
Watson, who tallied the Revolution’s only regulation goal in a July 20 quarterfinal win over the Philadelphia Union, scored two minutes after Chicago tied the semifinal at one apiece, nudging the ball past Fire goalie Matt Lampson off a corner kick.
The Jamaican-born Watson, who was acquired by the Revolution in a trade with FC Dallas just before the start of the 2016 season, has logged one MLS goal this season and one assist in addition to his pair of US Open Cup goals.
“I come here to win trophies, and wherever we’re going I’m going to go there to win,’’ Watson said. “It’s the first time I’ve been in the final and I want to win something for the club because it’s a good club, good organization.’’
The Revolution got on the board in the 16th minute after midfielder Kelyn Rowe was dragged down in the box, drawing a penalty kick. Forward Kei Kamara converted, sending the ball into the bottom left corner past the reach of Lampson.
“I thought Kei did a lot of work for us,’’ said Heaps, who played on the Revolution team that won the Cup final in 2007. “He held the ball, he was dangerous, he was creative. Unfortunate not to get a goal from the run of play.
“But I thought Kei was great from start to finish and that’s what we needed tonight in the semifinal.’’
Chicago forward David Accam tied the game in the 40th minute after dancing through the Revolution defense, easily beating New England goalie Brad Knighton from just yards away. Fire forward Michael de Leeuw was credited with the assist.
“Really, we were so disappointed that goal went through,’’ Heaps said. “It was basically a comedy of errors in terms of how we rushed to the ball on a goal kick, it fell down, [and] had four or five chances to clear it.
“I love that we just responded well.’’
Watson capitalized on a set play off a corner kick for his 42d-minute tally that gave the momentum back to the Revolution before halftime.
“Obviously we work on set pieces,’’ Heaps said. “That was one we worked on this week.’’
The Revolution will face the winner of the second semifinal between the Los Angeles Galaxy and FC Dallas Sept. 21. New England will resume MLS play Saturday by hosting Philadelphia.
“I think tonight we’re going to enjoy that we’re going to be making it to the final,’’ Bunbury said.
“Obviously winning is huge, playing at home, moving the ball around well. So there’s a lot of good things and there’s some things that we need to work on and moving forward that’s what we’re going to focus on.’’
