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Columbus Crew SC

Crew Preparing for Tough Fight in First Leg against Revs

October 31, 2014 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Columbus Crew SC News Release


For the first time since 2010, Columbus is hosting an MLS Cup Playoff match. Saturday's first leg of the 2014 Eastern Conference Semifinals is the first postseason encounter in Columbus Crew Stadium since November 6, 2010, when the Colorado Rapids were in town for the second leg of the Conference Semifinals.

This time around, the New England Revolution is the opponent, a side that the Crew went 2-1-0 against in 2014 and has faced twice in the postseason before. Now that the calendar has flipped to November, however, it's all business for the Black & Gold.

"The Playoffs are a whole different beast," said winger Ethan Finlay. "We've played 34 regular-season games, you make the Playoffs and now you have two games, home and away, to advance to the next round. We're going over all of the game tape that we've played against New England and we're focused on the task at hand."

"We're not satisfied at all," added Justin Meram. "We have a great test ahead of us and we have to come out focused. There's going to be no laughter or letdowns this week. We have to go right at it and try our hardest to get a win, especially at home, because that's a really important game."

The strategic approach changes a bit now that the postseason has arrived. A two-legged aggregate series with away goals in effect, keeping a clean sheet at home takes on a huge importance. That's something that the Crew is focusing on headed into Saturday's contest.

"We talked about it after this past weekend against Philly. That late goal we gave up could be a decider in a two-legged system like this where away goals count," said midfielder Wil Trapp. "We have to be on our toes that much more. Ninety minutes, set piece, if we're winning the game, we have to be locked in."

The series could very well come down to the play in the center of the pitch between both sides. It's strength versus strength in that sense, with Lee Nguyen, Jermaine Jones and Kelyn Rowe matching-up against Federico Higuain, Wil Trapp and Tony Tchani.

"It's two teams that have surprised some teams this year and have a really good core, right down the middle when you talk about the central defense and the center midfielders," said Finlay. "We've had guys step up for our team and they've had the same thing with Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe, guys who haven't had as big of a role before playing a bigger role on their team. I think the same thing [applies] to our team. It's going to be a great match-up and good soccer."

"It's two teams battling that were probably overlooked a little bit in the beginning," added Meram. "They have some strong pieces in the middle, as well as we do - Lee Nguyen, [Federico Higuain], Tony Tchani, Jermaine Jones. That's going to be a battle. It's going to be a fight for 90 minutes."

The Crew and the Revs met previously in the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals and the 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals. In 2002, New England advanced by taking a best-of-three setup five points to two. In 2004, it was again the Revs that went through by advancing 2-1 on aggregate. Still, those match-ups are merely ancient history, and a chance for a new script to be written lies before the Black & Gold on Saturday.

"They like to attack, they like to play and they have some crafty guys up front," said Trapp. "We like to have the ball too, so it's a little bit of a power struggle. It's going to be a battle, but it's going to be fun."

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