FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution are expecting to face a highly-motivated Columbus Crew SC side on Saturday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, where Crew SC’s 2014 season came to an end at the hands of the Revs in last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Charlie Davies and Lee Nguyen each scored twice in that series as the Revs set an MLS record with seven goals over the two legs, following up a 4-2 win in Columbus with a 3-1 victory at Gillette Stadium to book a spot in the Eastern Conference Championship.
It’s likely not something Crew SC players will need to be reminded of ahead of Saturday.
“I don’t think you forget anything like that,” said Darrius Barnes. “When you go out of the playoffs that way, it kind of stings and burns a little bit. I’m sure they’ll come out with a little extra chip on their shoulder.”
It’s a feeling many of the Revs are familiar with themselves, having fallen in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to Sporting Kansas City in 2013. Last year Revolution players admitted to an increased sense of motivation against SKC, something that helped spur the Revs to three straight wins in the series.
That’s a scenario the Revs will be prepared to deal with this weekend.
“They definitely want to come here and prove themselves,” said Nguyen. “We’ve got to be wary of that. We can’t take our feet off the pedal.”
“We had a few tough games towards the end of the season last year and the playoffs, so it’s going to be fresh in their minds,” said Scott Caldwell. “I know we look forward to the game this weekend.”
Despite the seemingly lopsided aggregate score in last year’s playoff series, it was a heated battle in which Crew SC gave the Revs all they could handle. In fact, Columbus won two of the three regular-season meetings last year, so the Revs know exactly what kind of challenge awaits them on Saturday.
“We know Columbus is a quality side – they have great players all over the pitch – and I think we’re going to be up for the challenge,” said Barnes. “We just have to go out there, match their intensity and one-up them once we get out there on our home field.”
