Sunday night was by far Columbus Crew SC’s most exciting match of 2015. In thrilling fashion, the Black & Gold defeated the Montreal Impact 4-3 on aggregate scoring to advance to the Eastern Conference Championship.
“Man, that was unbelievable,” midfielder Wil Trapp said. “It’s hard to put into words. […] It was just a comprehensive, amazing win. It showed in the way we played and the reaction we had after the game. We’re just excited, we’re going to enjoy it, but we’re going to move forward.”
In 210 minutes, including two halves of extra time on Sunday night, the resiliency and comradery the Black & Gold have displayed all season, shone through when they needed it most.
“Character, resiliency, and just battling,” Trapp said about his team's strengths. “When the chips are down, we respond. That’s what you want.”
Heading into the Second Leg of the series trailing Montreal 2-1, the odds were against the Black & Gold. But they came off the first whistle looking sharp. On a buildup from Federico Higuaín to Waylon Francis, Kei Kamara smashed the leftback’s cross home with his head for the 1-0 lead in the fourth minute.
Crew SC Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter said the opening minutes of the match showcased his team’s confidence.
“You can see we’re up for it and we know we are a good team and when we play like that, we are a very hard team to play against.”
After a hot start, the pace slowed down a bit for Crew SC toward the end of the first half. Dilly Duka pulled the score even at one on a goal that was later confirmed to be offside.
“It was a battle,” midfielder Ethan Finlay said. “It wasn’t pretty at all times and obviously getting that first goal was huge for us. That was what we wanted to do and I thought we continued to push throughout the whole first half. Giving up the offside goal was difficult and a little frustrating, but I’m proud of these guys, how we stuck in it and how we kept going.”
Ten minutes after Kamara missed a Crew SC penalty kick, Cedrick Mabwati and Jack McInerney subbed on and proved to be the difference in the match. With the quick one-v-one attacking players, the offensive dynamic changed and the speed of play increased again.
“Cedrick and I had to come on and make a difference for the team,” McInerney said. “I knew shooting it back post on the ground, the ‘keeper would have to make a save or it would go in and luckily, Ethan was there.”
McInerney's first shot against his former club came within three minutes of stepping onto the pitch, and it had an immediate impact. Finlay made one of many runs back post and was there to finish the deflection to keep Crew SC’s season alive.
“For me, it was just to continue to keep going,” Finlay said. “My biggest thing is always affecting the game. You make a lot of back post runs and you’re always there and it might not come to you nine out of 10 times; but the one time it does, you have to be ‘Johnny on the spot,’ and I was, so I was happy to be able to finish it up.”
The energy level of the 19,026 supporters at MAPFRE Stadium continued to rise with the aggregate goals tied at 3.
In the second half of extra time, Finlay dribbled out of pressure to the middle of the pitch and found Mabwati on the wing. The left mid targeted the best aerial player in MLS with a lofted cross back post, and headmaster Kamara put his power and grit behind the ball to send Crew SC to the next round.
“We were feeding off the fans and we were pushing ourselves,” Kamara said. “I pushed myself during the week and said it doesn’t matter what happens because it’s do-or-die in this game. If we don’t win it, then there’s no other chance I’m going to get. So no matter what’s happening I just have to keep pushing myself and that’s what I did.”
That never-die attitude comes from the top.
“We want to win,” Berhalter said. “So it was clear and the guys were focused on that. I think that although they [Montreal] came back in the game, our intention was still to win that game and the guys never stopped believing that they could.”
Since McInerney’s arrival in August, he’s witnessed this belief.
“We’ve had a lot of games like this this year, where we’ve had to come back or we got those last-minute goals, and I think that’s exactly what this team’s made of,” he said. “It just shows the commitment we put in and that hard work pays off, so we’re happy just to move on to the next round.”
Columbus Crew SC is in the Eastern Conference Championships for the first time since 2008, when it won the MLS Cup. The Black & Gold will host the No. 1 seed New York Red Bulls in a Two Leg Series. The first match is Sunday, November 22 at MAPFRE Stadium. Tickets are available here.
