Crew reflect on late-season meeting vs Orlando City SC last year ahead of upcoming match
Last September, the Crew went on the road to face Orlando City SC in a match crucial for both team's standings ahead of the MLS playoffs. Columbus was close to leaving Orlando with a 3-2 victory when forward Ramiro Enrique scored a goal with four minutes left in the regulation, and then another seven minutes into stoppage time to give Orlando the win.
Orlando finished ahead of the Crew in the Eastern Conference standings, putting their eventual meeting in the MLS Cup conference semifinals in Orlando, but hindsight for coach Wilfried Nancy proved the September match had more of a positive impact for Columbus.
"For me, last year when we won the trophy, it was because of Orlando, the game that we lost," Nancy said. "It was the trigger for my players to realize and to address certain things. For me, I have to accept it was difficult after this game, but for me it was one of the games that helped us to become champions."
The Crew went on to win the 2023 MLS Cup after defeating Orlando 2-0 in overtime of the conference semifinals and have seen consistent success since the game against Orlando last September. Counting both regular-season and tournament matches, the Crew are 30-7-15 since the loss.
The Crew defeated Orlando earlier this season, recording a 2-0 victory behind two goals from forward Diego Rossi and have held Orlando scoreless since Enrique's two goals over a year ago.
"I try to take every moment, good, bad, as a learning moment, and just trying to grow from it," Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte said. "Not only for myself. That was a big learning moment, but it was kind of a big learning moment for the team as well. ... All these little things we’ve learned, it’s been a long two year, but I think when you look back a year ago, we’ve come a long way.”
The Crew's defense has held FC Cincinnati and Toronto FC scoreless in their past two games.
Schulte was in goal for both games, but there was rotation within Columbus' back line. Against Cincinnati, Nancy put Rudy Camacho, Steven Moreira and Sean Zawadzki in the starting lineup as center backs, but against Toronto, Nancy replaced Moreira and Zawadzki with Malte Amundsen and Yevhen Cheberko.
All five center backs have played roles in the Crew having the fewest number of goals against in the league, with 28 allowed goals in 28 regular-season matches.
"We are better defensively because my players adjusted," Nancy said. "This desire to compete, because we haven’t changed anything in terms of the way we train or the way we do things."
Where do Columbus Crew, Orlando City SC rank in Eastern Conference standings?
Both clubs are near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Columbus is in third and Orlando in fourth.
The Crew, rather than worrying about Orlando, have their eye on catching second-place Cincinnati.
After the 0-0 draw against Cincinnati on Sept. 14, the Crew have no matches against their Hell is Real rival left on the schedule, but they can knock Cincinnati out of its current ranking, even if Cincinnati wins all its remaining games. The Crew (53 points) have one additional game compared to Cincinnati (55 points), and need only three points to surpass Cincinnati.
"I know if we win games, and we win the rest of the year, then we’re in second place," Schulte said. "So, we try to focus on ourselves each and every day. If the result goes out way, it goes our way, but what they do is out of our control. So, we know that if we win out, then we’re in second place.”
Get more Columbus Crew content by listening to our podcast
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew face Orlando City SC in late-season meeting
