COLUMBUS, Ohio — In position to advance to an MLS semifinal for the second time in three seasons, the only thing the Columbus Crew has to do is beat the Rapids by two goals, or by one and win in overtime.
The Rapids haven’t won in Columbus since 2004, and at home the Crew is 32-8-8 (.750) in 48 regular-season and playoff games since 2008.
Columbus lost Game 1 and trails at the “half” of what is essentially a single, 180-minute game. The Rapids need only a tie to advance. A one-goal Crew victory would send the game to overtime and, if needed, a penalty-kick shootout.
“It’s not terrible,” Crew midfielder Brian Carroll said. “It’s not the end of the world. We have 90 minutes to get that (tying) goal. We just need to get that first goal and then keep them off the score sheet.”
The Crew is the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Colorado is No. 3. In the 28 first-round series since MLS implemented the aggregate-goal format in 2003, higher seeds have lost the first leg 14 times but won the series eight of those times.
More often than not, a Game 1 deficit is overturned, although the Crew failed to do so last year when it trailed Real Salt Lake 1-0 after Game 1, took a 2-1 aggregate lead after a pair of goals by Guillermo Barros Schelotto in Game 2 but lost the series 4-2.
“I hope we start the way we did last year,” Crew coach Robert Warzycha said. “But I’m not thinking about the way that went. We only need to learn from it and know that a team as good as we are should not have given that game away.”
The Crew scored first in 15 of 30 games this season, and was 13-0-2 in those games.
Columbus will focus on preventing Colorado strikers Conor Casey and Omar Cummings from being as effective as they were in Game 1. The pair combined to set up a goal by Pablo Mastroeni in the first half. Cummings, making diagonal runs into space, was dangerous throughout the game.
“There is no reason why we shouldn’t win this one,” Warzycha said. “We won 10 games at home, and we are capable of scoring goals. The question is whether we’ll have a performance where everyone has their best game.”
Footnote. The winner of the game will host one semifinal, which will be Nov. 13 at Crew Stadium or Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, against San Jose.
