Different paths aiming at same destination
East final tonight as Toronto FC, Columbus look to reach MLS Cup
TORONTO — One game away from the MLS Cup final, Toronto FC and the Columbus Crew are two teams trying to reach the same destination via different paths.
One journey comes to an end tonight in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final, with everything to play for after a scoreless tie in Ohio. Toronto (20-5-9) racked up wins throughout 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 two franchises are 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 today 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 (13-1-3) led the league with an .853 home winning percentage during the regular season.
Fifth-seeded Columbus is wondering where its future lies after next season, with ownership talk 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 its talking on the field, adding two playoff wins to the season-ending unbeaten run.
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.
“People forget that we went 12 games unbeaten ... We went three months without losing a game,” said Columbus head coach Gregg Berhalter. “We’ve been plugging away. We’re a good team. We keep our heads down and we keep working. We want to play our game. It’s a really simple formula.
“We want to host MLS Cup in front of our fans and we want to give them a great game — no better game than the MLS Cup. But we have to go out and do it.”
Given the glacial pace of the MLS playoffs, both teams can’t wait for the whistle to blow.
“They’re tired of training, they’re tired of talking, I’m sure, about all of this. They’re just looking forward to getting out on the field and settling it,” Toronto coach Greg Vanney said of his charges.
With away goals counting double in event of an aggregate tie, a Columbus goal would make life difficult for the home side. If the Crew score one, Toronto will have to answer with two and so on.
“I think we are ready for it,” said Toronto’s Spanish playmaker Victor Vazquez. “We have the best squad in MLS and we will do it for sure.”
The margins in MLS are always tight, especially in the business end of the schedule.
Despite rewriting the club record book and setting a league mark with 69 points during a stellar regular season, Toronto has been winning ugly of late.
It has only managed a 1-1-1 record in the playoffs with just four shots on goal in total (none in Game 1 in Columbus). Including the regular season it has lost two of its last four home matches and hasn’t scored in its last 198 minutes home and away. — The Canadian Press