E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- With the top seed in the forthcoming MLS Cup Playoffs already in the bag, Columbus Crew coach Sigi Schmid took the opportunity to rest some key regulars against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night.
But although the reserve-heavy lineup lost the match 3-1, snapping the Crew's nine-game unbeaten streak, Schmid insisted he made the right choice with his lineup.
"It was an important thing for us," Schmid said of the decision to rest several starters. "We had some guys on international duty in the middle of the week. Robbie Rogers took a pretty good hit in the Chicago game (last week) so we didn't want to expose him tonight, we wanted to make sure he got healthy.
"We just didn't feel it made sense to bring the guys here, on turf, after they had just played 90 minutes on Wednesday," Schmid continued. "So from that standpoint, it gave us a chance to give some minutes to (Emmanuel) Ekpo and (Pat) Noonan and make sure those guys are ready for the playoffs."
Still, the Crew boss was disappointed with the defeat. Schmid felt his team erred on each of New York's three goals, and none was more blatant than the mistake backup goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum made on Red Bulls 'keeper Danny Cepero's late free kick from deep inside his own half that bounced over his head and in for the final tally. It was the first goal scored by a goalkeeper in MLS history.
"We made three mistakes and they scored three goals," Schmid said. "The first goal, Andy Iro couldn't get it off his feet and it was a mistake. It came against the run [of play] a bit. We got it equal, but another bad clearance and they jumped on that. Then the third goal was -- what can you say?"
Juan Pablo Angel scored the other two goals for New York; Steven Lenhart got the Crew's lone strike.
But with just one game left before the postseason begins, next Sunday against D.C. United, the coach isn't going to spend much time agonizing over the loss.
"The last game for us is at home and we want to put our team back together," Schmid said.
"We've got to have a good week of training. We locked up [the top playoff seed] last week so we eased off a little bit this week, for sure, because it's the smart thing to do. But now we want to push for these next five weeks [until MLS Cup] and it's important that we come out every day and work hard in training."
One thing that might work against the Crew when the postseason begins is their lack of playoff experience as a team. Columbus had missed the playoffs the last three seasons before qualifying this year. However, 12-year veteran Ezra Hendrickson thinks the squad has enough experience to contend for the title.
"Playoff experience helps," said Hendrickson. "But we've been on a good run and played all the teams we're going to face in the playoffs. We have to keep up our intensity and keep playing the way we've been playing. Today was a setback for us but we can't dwell on that. We need to get back on track before the playoffs start. We want to make sure we go into the playoffs on a high note."
Schmid agreed.
"We have a lot of players, like [Alejandro] Moreno, who've been in the playoffs before," Schmid said. "Guillermo Schelotto has played in a lot of big games -- I don't have to worry about him. Brian Carroll is a guy who has played in a lot of playoff games as well. Ezra has too, so we have a lot of guys who have been there. The young guys, they know what they have to do and they know how to play. It's just a matter of playing well so I don't worry about it too much."
No matter what happens after next weekend, Schmid, who was released by the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2004 with the team in first place, is thrilled that Columbus captured the Supporters' Shield with the best record in MLS this season.
"Anywhere else in the world we'd be champions right now," he said. "It's only here that we have a cup competition at the end of the regular season. So from that standpoint I think we've proven over 30 games that we've had the best team and that's something that we're really proud of. But we want to win MLS Cup as well so we have to get back to the grindstone."
The loss against New York might even help the Columbus cause come playoff time, according to defender Danny O'Rourke.
"Once you get into the playoffs, anyone can win," O'Rourke said. "That's how the MLS playoffs are. We're familiar with every team. This game had a playoff atmosphere. I think we learned a lot tonight, learned that the other team played hard and that's how it will be in the playoffs."
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