with a combined five MLS career matches between them -- got the start in the back while usual reserves Ekpo, Brad Evans, Zayner and Steven Lenhart were also in the first 11.
"We didn't come out with the right mentality," Garey said. "The first 20, 30 minutes we weren't ourselves. After that we were able to turn it around. Anytime you score in any game it's good for the confidence. I wish we would have finished better and got a couple of more goals."
The Crew trailed 1-0 at the break on a 10th-minute goal by Stephen King and it was no mystery why they did.
"The main talk at halftime was we have to be men out there," Schmid said. "We were too tentative and played a little naïve. Lenhart and Evans played better as the game went along and Eddie Gaven was having a real good game until he got hurt. It was good to have Iro and Junge out there at the end of the game. We dominated the second half. Duncan had three opportunities to win the game but you've got to get one on frame to have a shot at winning."
Besides the intermission tongue-lashing Schmid made some tactical adjustments. He had Ekpo play wider on the flanks to allow Gaven more freedom on the inside and also inserted leading scorer Robbie Rogers into the mix in the 56th minute.
The Crew had not scored in a team-record 368 minutes of MLS play but struck for goals by Ekpo (63rd minute) and Garey (67th) with a responder by Herron in between.
"At times we were not comfortable pressuring the ball, pressuring as a team. They were finding a lot of space in the middle of the park," Moreno said of the opening 45 minutes. "We started pressing the issue a little bit more in the second half. We put pressure on their backline and forced them to turn the ball over in their half of the field. We had some momentum going into overtime and we carried it the first 15 minutes where we actually created some quality chances and we didn't take advantage of them. In the end we didn't react well to a turnover."
The Crew paid for their mistake as always seems to be the case against the Fire.
Columbus and the Fire can't match the longevity of the 95-year-old tournament but they have accumulated some history since competing against each other in Cup competition over the past 10 years. Unfortunately for Columbus, the previous two results were not good, beginning with the first encounter in 1998 when the teams played for the championship in Soldier Field.
The events leading to the Fire's 2-1 overtime win were bizarre. The title match had been scheduled for late August in Virginia Beach, Va., but Hurricane Bonnie roared up the eastern seaboard and forced a one day delay then a postponement for two months.
In the interim each team lobbied U.S. Soccer officials to host the match, assuming a home-field advantage could make the difference. They were right. A raucous crowd of 18,615 in the Windy City not only celebrated the expansion Fire's MLS Cup victory five days earlier but local hero Frank Klopas' extra time score that completed an unlikely double.
The second meeting in the round-of-16 in 2004 had less at stake but was just as dramatic when Damani Ralph scored twice, including the winner in the 106th minute to take a 2-1 win in Columbus Crew Stadium.
Columbus has won the tournament named for its founder once -- in 2002 against Schmid's Los Angeles Galaxy -- but has failed to reach the round-of-16 for the third time in four years.
"The Open Cup is certainly important for the team. They know it was named after Lamar. It's an important ingredient for them to go after it," Schmid said. "You want to do well because of what Lamar meant to this organization."
Craig Merz is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
