Columbus Crew vs. Real Salt Lake playoff match preview

November 4, 1:24 AMColumbus Crew ExaminerMatthew Bernhardt

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The Columbus Crew enter Thursday’s playoff game with a clear objective. They need to beat Real Salt Lake by two goals. If they succeed, they will advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the sixth time in their history, and the second time in two years. If the Crew win by only one goal, they will play an extra 30-minute "mini game," followed by penalty kicks if necessary.

This is hardly an impossible mission. Real Salt Lake finished the regular season with the worst road record of any of the playoff teams (two wins and two ties in 15 games). Their scoring record is similarly encouraging, having scored only nine times while conceding 24 goals; both marks are the worst among playoff teams.

As any financial advisor will advise, however, past performance should not be used to predict future events. Ultimately, it will be the Crew’s responsibility to ensure that Salt Lake’s road woes continue. That task will fall to the feet of the eleven players selected by coach Robert Warzycha.

Here, Crew fans have ample evidence to support either optimism or pessimism. Chad Marshall played well in his return to competition after a knee injury, giving the team their preferred defensive lineup for the first time in almost two months. The team was two minutes from shutting out the highest scoring team in the playoffs.

Unfortunately, the area of the field where the Crew needs the most improvement is not in defense, but the attack. The team has surprised many observers by struggling to score goals over the past few games, having been shut out in the last three domestic games, and four of the last six games across all competitions.

Before these recent troubles, the team’s most consistent performers were wingers Eddie Gaven and Robbie Rogers. Yet it has been those two positions that have struggled to make an impact in recent games, while the two forward positions have rotated through the quintet of Alejandro Moreno, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Jason Garey, Steven Lenhart and Emilio Renteria.

If the Crew can rediscover the attacking chemistry that carried them through the late summer, including the involved wing play and short passing game that produced five goals and four assists from the flanks in nine games, then the prospects for a repeat appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals will look very good.