HANOVER, N.J. — As he sat at home watching Columbus Crew SC upset D.C. United and advancing out of the Knockout Round for a second straight year on penalty kicks, New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles couldn’t help but be excited.
He vividly remembers the last time the MLS originals met in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs and the veteran would love to avenge the bitter loss in the Eastern Conference Championship in 2015.
“It’s in the back of my mind, for sure,” Robles said after training on Friday. “When I saw they advanced, I thought here’s an opportunity to redeem that ’15 experience.”
The Red Bulls entered the postseason that year after winning their second Supporters’ Shield in three years, while Crew SC finished a distant second in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Red Bulls knocked off bitter rival D.C. and Columbus dispatched of the Montreal Impact to set up a tasty two-legged conference final.
New York was the favorite, but Crew SC scored the fastest goal in playoff history with Justin Meram firing past Robles eight seconds after kickoff.
“I think the most frustrating thing about that kickoff play is that we actually practiced it in training that these guys were going to do it and we should have been better prepared,” Robles said. “We didn’t handle it and it sort of set the tone for the series.”
Kei Kamara tacked on a late insurance goal to give Columbus a two-goal cushion going back to Red Bull Arena for the second leg.
Anatole Abang scored in stoppage time to give the Red Bulls a late lifeline and Bradley Wright-Phillips fired off the post in the fifth minute of stoppage time before Baldomero Toledo blew the final whistle.
Crew SC advanced to the MLS Cup final, while the Red Bulls were left to lament more postseason failure. Robles is hoping history doesn’t repeat itself this November.
Robles is one of three regular starters, along with Wright-Phillips and Kemar Lawrence, back from that 2015 squad, while Gaston Sauro, Harrison Afful, Wil Trapp, Federico Higuain and Meram were all in Gregg Berhalter’s starting XI in that two-legged series.
“I think I’m at the point of my career where I’m just building off of experience. This is my seventh year in the playoffs and with each experience you’re hoping you can learn a little more and improve upon every single experience,” Robles said. “When you look at this year, the thing that’s different about this team of course is our defense is so good. That’s something we put a lot of confidence in, the way that we defend as a team, and we hope it’s through that it’s going to be difficult to play against us and when we get opportunities we have to make them count.”
