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The Crew heads to Cincinnati next Saturday for the Eastern Conference finals
A place in this season’s crucial MLS Cup final is up for grabs tonight
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Christian Ramirez and Cucho Hernandez struck in overtime to send the Columbus Crew to the final of the MLS Eastern Conference with a 2-0 victory over Orlando City on Saturday evening.
Columbus (17-9-9) broke a league record of 16 consecutive playoff road games without a win.
And in next Saturday’s final, they visit FC Cincinnati, which secured victory in the Conference semi-final against Philadelphia Union thanks to Yerson Mosquera’s 94th-minute winner earlier in the evening.
In Orlando, neither team scored until Ramirez found the net unassisted. It was the second career play-off goal for the American forward, who came on for Alexandru Matan two minutes before scoring.
Ramirez, who scored eight goals for the Crew during the regular season, scored a goal in his only appearance for Los Angeles FC in the 2018 postseason.
Cucho Hernandez struck late in overtime as Columbus Crew advanced to the MLS Eastern Conference finals
Christian Ramirez scored the first goal in overtime to send the Crew on their way to victory
In next week’s final they will face FC Cincinnati, who defeated Philadelphia Union earlier in the day
Orlando City (18-8-9), the second seed in the East, almost tied the game in the 108th minute, but Ramiro Enrique’s header hit the left post. Hernandez then added an insurance goal in the 118th minute when he received a pass from Kevin Molino and scored for the fourth time in his first postseason with the Crew.
Defender Rodrigo Schlegel picked up a second yellow card in the 77th minute, forcing Orlando City to play a man down.
Patrick Schulte saved three shots to earn a clean sheet for Columbus on 120 minutes. It was Schulte’s second playoff shutout, with both coming in his first postseason this year. Pedro Gallese finished with five saves for Orlando City.
It was the first time the two clubs faced each other in the MLS Cup. Orlando City defeated visiting Columbus 2-0 in the fifth round of this year’s US Open Cup. The Crew have won seven consecutive postseason games at home, but they were 0-11-5 in their 16 previous playoff road games dating to 2002. Two of the ties ended in shootout victories.
Orlando entered the game with an 8-1-1 record in its last ten games against the Crew, including six straight wins at home. Orlando City saw its longest home winning streak against a single opponent end, while Columbus ended its longest losing streak against a single opponent in two decades. Orlando City had a clean sheet in five of the six games. They had six in the previous 34 games.
Five other teams besides Orlando City have entered an MLS Cup playoff match on a six-match win streak, but only the 1996 Tampa Bay Mutiny won the next match.