Toronto and Columbus took different routes to Eastern final

TORONTO One game away from the MLS Cup final, Toronto FC and Columbus Crew SC are two teams trying to reach the same destination via different paths.

On Wednesday night, one journey will come to an end in a winner-take-all Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final after a scoreless tie in Ohio.

Toronto (20-5-9) racked up victories in a record-breaking regular season. Columbus (16-12-6) was 10-12-2 in early August before reeling off a 10-game unbeaten run (6-0-4) to end the regular season.

And while the franchises are both winning on the field, they are occupying a markedly different space off it.

Toronto, the best team in Major League Soccer this year, is bidding to complete a historic season with the only hardware that matters. The well-heeled franchise has all its big guns available Wednesday with star strikers Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco — and their 31 goals — back from suspension.

A sellout crowd will be roaring TFC on at BMO Field, where Toronto lost just twice in 2017 — once during the regular season and once in the post-season. Toronto (13-13) led the league with an .853 home winning percentage.

Fifth-seeded Columbus is wondering where its future lies after next season, with ownership talking of a move to Austin, Texas. It ranked 20th in the league in attendance, averaging 15,439 fans a game in a stadium that looks like it came out of a Lego box.

The Crew did their talking on the field, adding two playoff wins to the unbeaten run at the end of the regular season. Apart from a 2-0 playoff defeat at the hands of New York City FC — Columbus still won the Eastern Conference semifinal 4-3 on aggregate — the Crew’s last loss was Aug. 5.