Crew, NYCFC to battle for playoff spots (Oct 22, 2017)

By AP
Published

Columbus and New York City try to overcome distractions as they jockey for playoff positioning on the final day of the MLS season Sunday.

The Crew (16-12-5) has the most daunting task. They have secured a postseason berth and can finish no worse than fifth in the Eastern Conference, but they could climb to second and earn one of the first-round byes that go to the top two teams.

However, that scenario has taken a backseat to the bombshell announcement Tuesday by owner Anthony Precourt that he is considering moving the franchise to Austin, Texas, for the 2019 season if a new stadium is not built in Columbus.

The players were caught off guard but Crew captain Wil Trapp, a native of the Columbus suburb of Gahanna, said the focus remains on NYC.

"I'm going to try to get my guys ready to play on Sunday and be as professional as possible," he said.

The Crew has 53 points and would play a knockout-round match on the road Wednesday or Thursday if they lose.

Columbus could finish as the No. 2 seed with a win over second-place New York City (16-9-88, 56 points) and losses or ties by Chicago (third, 55 points) and Atlanta United (fourth, 54 points) because Columbus holds the tiebreaker.

Conversely, New York City could drop all the way to fifth with a loss and other results break against it.

NYC has challenges of its own. The match will be played at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, instead of Yankee Stadium because of the Yankees' participation in the American League Championship Series.

Friday was the first time NYC practiced at Citi Field, which mimics the narrow dimensions at Yankee Stadium. New York may have a home-crowd advantage but not necessarily a home-field one.

"We've been talking about it all week and we know that we're going to play here," NYC coach Patrick Vieira said. "The way we prepared is the same. It's an important game for us because we want to finish as high up as we can and we have prepared well."

The Crew is 6-0-3 in the past nine matches and will enter the playoffs on a roll after not qualifying last season.

"By and large a lot of people wrote us off," coach Gregg Berhalter said. "The harder the game, the more we look forward to it."