It's not outside the realm of possibility to imagine a scenario where New England Revolution manager Jay Heaps implements a strict no-checking-of-scores-today policy over the course of the next 11 hours or so. Today, of course, is the last day of the 2013 MLS regular season, and the Revs are in a position to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2009.
The Western Conference has already settled its playoff spots. The Eastern Conference playoff picture grew increasingly clearer yesterday, when Sporting Kansas City knocked Philadelphia out of contention. Four teams are competing for the final three spots in the Eastern Conference--and only three of those four are in action today. Those four teams--Montreal, Chicago, New England, and Houston--are separated by a single, solitary point.
That said, today's match with the Columbus Crew in the Buckeye State is, most definitely, The Single Most Important Revs Match In Recent History. Here's why.
Coming into today, Montreal sits in third but is idle today, having lost to Toronto, 1-nil, yesterday. They will be checking scores violently, having their playoff lives decided for them.
We have to presume that Chicago (14 wins), New England (13), and Houston (13) are going to play to win their matches today, especially with total wins representing the first tie breaking decider. Get ready to break out your calculators, because this is where the nervousness begins.
Houston will be the first team to know if it is in the playoffs or not, as they take on DC United in the nation's capital at 1:30 p.m. ET. Houston, sitting sixth on 48 points, must win today, and hope either Chicago or New England lose or draw, in order to qualify. A loss to the US Open Cup champions (and it hurt to type that) will knock it out completely. A win would take them to 51 points, moving Montreal to fourth, Chicago to fifth, and New England to sixth, temporarily. A loss or a draw, and you'll hear a mighty sigh of relief coming from Montreal. A Houston win, a Chicago win and a New England win will push Montreal out. A draw against DC may not do it any good, either. A draw would put Houston at 49 points--and then they'd need help from Columbus. Simply put: whatever happens between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. today
The Revs are sitting fifth on 48 points. They need to play to win--regardless if Houston wins or loses (and going back to my earlier theory, will anyone tell them the result until 6 p.m.?). Of course, a Houston loss would automatically qualify the Revolution for the fifth and final playoff spot in the East. But let's say, just for giggles and grins, Columbus and the Revs draw, and Houston draws with DC. Both would be on 49, and both would have 13 wins. The second tie-breaker is Goals For. Currently, New England is at 48, while Houston is at 39. And since the odds of Houston and DC drawing by a score of 9-9 are highly improbable, New England would get the berth.
I don't see New England losing this one. Yes, Columbus has nothing to play for except for pride, a tough adversary with which to deal. The Revs players know how much today means for their supporters, who have gone through so much toil and heartbreak over the last four years. Seeing their way into the playoffs will give their supporters hope--and while it may be false hope, especially with the way New York, Sporting, and Portland are playing, any hope will be a good thing for these supporters. They want to see this football club doing something after languishing in-or-near the EC basement the last couple of years.
We're kind of forgetting about Chicago in all of this. The Fire are in the middle, and they are focused on New York as they should be. And while Chicago has to play like its playoff life is in the balance (which it is), New York also has something with which to play--the Supporter's Shield. A win against Chicago will see the Red Bulls to 59 points, nipping Sporting Kansas City by a point and pipping the Shield. A Chicago loss, coupled with a New England win and a Houston win, would knock the Fire out. A Chicago win would put the Fire third on 52 points. Of course, whatever Houston does is the trigger for everything else today.
Where will everyone finish? Who knows. Everything to gain or lose happens today.
Bring. It. On.
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