Crew likes being cast as underdog
A few Crew SC players had flashbacks going into the second leg of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night at Toronto FC.
At BMO Field, where Toronto has lost just twice this season, the Crew is looking to extend its playoff run. It faces a higher-seeded team in front of an expected sellout crowd. A Crew win or a tie other than 0-0 would put it
in the MLS Cup championship Dec. 9 at Mapfre Stadium. A scoreless tie would prompt overtime. A scoreless overtime would lead to a penalty shootout.
The Crew is an underdog, but it’s a role the club has taken on before, including twice this playoffs. Entering a knockout-round game in Atlanta, many predicted the Crew’s season would end, but it withstood a scoreless tie for 120 minutes and won in a penalty shootout.
“To go in there and to pull together like we did and to go to extra time and still not give up a goal, I think that did a lot for the spirit of the team,” defender Josh Williams said. “That was just a steppingstone, a confidencebuilder for us. I think that kind of proved that we had something special here.”
An important steppingstone, followed by a series win over New York City FC and a scoreless first leg against Toronto led the Crew to this, a 90-minute chess match to determine who will represent the Eastern Conference and host the MLS Cup final.
Both teams have had their cautious moments in the playoffs, and each team has scored in just one of its playoff games. On Nov. 21, the Crew registered three shots on goal to Toronto’s zero. Both teams are capable of scoring — the Crew and Toronto FC finished seventh and first, respectively, in goals this season — and would prefer to avoid extra time.
When either chooses to push for the opening score is part of the game’s intrigue.
“For us it’s gonna be no different (than leg 1). It’s gonna be another tale of two halves out there, and it’ll be a little cautious and then the game will open up,” midfielder Justin Meram said. “It’s the same objective as (in the first leg). It’s not (give) up a goal and see if we can get one.”
Another reminder from the Atlanta game is the narrative surrounding the team. The Crew might move to Austin, Texas, after the 2018 season, and fans learned of that situation on the eve of the playoffs, drawing the sports cliche “team of destiny.”
It’s a label the team doesn’t entirely reject, but views as narrow in scope: The Crew has lost just one game since Aug. 5 and found its rhythm well before news of a potential move broke.
“To call it destiny because of the news of Austin coming out, people forget that we went 12 games unbeaten,” coach Gregg Berhalter said. “We hadn’t lost since Aug. 5. We went three months without losing a game. I didn’t hear a lot of destiny talk back in September.”
Williams’ thoughts on the moniker depend on the day.
“Some days I’m just like, ‘Man, what? We’re the hottest team in the league if you actually look at everything,’ ” Williams said. “On other days we kind of keep it like, ‘Keep looking at us as an underdog.’ ”
On Wednesday, they will cast labels and narratives aside. Ninety — perhaps 120 — minutes of soccer will determine the Eastern Conference champion. For the Crew, it’s win, tie or go home.
“All the other stuff, all the other rhetoric and everything else that’s been written doesn’t bother us,” Berhalter said. “We keep going.”