ORLANDO, Fla. – Throughout the postseason, the Crew held a simple mentality that every game is a different story. This was never more true than in their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup against Orlando City SC on Saturday.

In what was a gritty game that went into overtime, the Crew were able to overcome their struggles on the road and knock out Orlando City 2-0 to advance to the MLS Cup Eastern Conference Final.

It was unlikely hero Christian Ramírez, an extra-time substitution for the Crew, who powered Columbus to victory when he tapped a ball off the hands of goalkeeper Pedro Gallese into the net three minutes into overtime. This victory marked the team's first postseason win on the road since 2002 and the first time they beat Orlando City this year.

"I didn't want to talk about this before the game with my team, because I knew this moment would come," Wilfried Nancy said. "We were able to do our job with the ball and without the ball."

Much different from their two regular season matchups, both Columbus and Orlando City struggled to get past their opponent's backline and were silenced during regulation. Through the first 45 minutes of play, the Crew held the advantage, recording three shots on goal on nine attempts compared to Orlando City's three shots, none of which were on target.

This slight advantage would be moot, however, as none of the Crew's attempts found the back of the net and by the end of the first half the match remained scoreless. This was a far cry from the Atlanta series in which the Crew never went into halftime without a mark on the board.

The second half saw a similar result, with the Crew's offense unable to get anything going. Even after Rodrigo Schlegel was handed his second yellow card of the match, forcing Orlando City to play with 10 men from the 77th minute, the Crew remained scoreless through regulation.

While the offense was struggling, the defense kept the Crew alive. After 90 minutes of play, Columbus still held Orlando City to zero shots on goal, despite being in front of more than 25,000 opposing fans.

"What I think about, in the moment, is don't let the distractions of the outside noise or anything going on around you get to you," Patrick Schulte said. "As well as communicating with the backline, urging the people in front of me to stay mentally engaged at all times."

Going into overtime deadlocked at 0-0, Nancy would make the game-changing decision of substituting Ramírez for Alex Matan. Ramírez, who while on the sidelines had noticed that nobody was in the box once they went up a man, had a gameplan ready from the moment he checked in.

"Before the overtime started, I told the guys, 'Do your thing, I'll be in the box, only look for me when I'm in there,'" Ramírez said.

Ramírez executing on his plan put the Crew ahead early in overtime, but their night didn't end there. Schulte - who had an easy match up until this point - had his moment to shine, making three huge saves during the final 30 minutes to ensure Orlando City didn't come back as they had in the past.

"Pat has been outstanding, he kept us in the game," Nancy said. "All the time he is extremely demanding of himself to deliver up and tonight he made plays."

Following Ramirez's goal, Cucho Hernadez would finally overcome his game-long struggles and put up an insurance goal within the last two minutes of overtime.

The Crew will face FC Cincinnati, who defeated Philadelphia Union in the conference semifinals, in a "Hell is Real" rivalry match at 6 p.m. Saturday in the MLS Eastern Conference Final.

bmackay@dispatch.com

@brimackay15

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew top Orlando City in extra time, advance to Eastern Final