2:2 New York (5:4) Columbus Vanzeir Forsberg Arfsten Ramirez 11.03.24 · Playoff

It all looked doomed. Four rounds into the penalty shootout, and Columbus hasn't missed yet. Carlos Coronel hasn't even come close. One more, it would be all over. (In this context, "all" is just this game. Metro would still go back to Columbus for Game 3. But we didn't want Game 3!)

How did we get to this point of doom? Oh, it wasn't easy, as Metro struggled through the first half. Sandro Schwarz elected to stick with the formation that won in Columbus, but the outcome on the field was different. Columbus looked to be the better of the two teams, hitting the woodwork twice in quick succession late in the period. Maybe this was the rope-a-dope Herr Schwarz promised for Game 1, we thought. Maybe Metro will wake up after the break.

Wake up they did, but it wasn't immediate. Ten minutes in, a cross was served into the box, a free runner came on the left, connecting to put the Crew on top. That was the alarm bell that Metro sorely needed.

Nine minutes later, Lewis Morgan, operating on the center of the left sideline, won the ball and somehow kept it in play. He took it up the flank and centered it to -- who else! -- Emil Forsberg. The Swede quickly sent it forward to Dante Vanzeir, with the Belgian running onto it in the box and slotting it into the net from a tough angle.

And then, in the 80th, Dylan Nealis stole the ball and sprung -- who else! -- Forsberg, who was taken down in the box for an obvious penalty kick. The keeper guessed wrong, Forsberg rolled it to his left, and somehow, improbably, Metro was up 2:1.

Then the referee flashed 12 minutes of injury time. 12! For a half with two minor stoppages and no VAR. 12! Columbus needed just six, tying the game on a header off a corner.

So off to the penalties we go, and we all know how this usually ends. Since penalties became prevalent in various MLS competitions last year, Metro has been 1-5, with the lone win coming in the mostly irrelevant Leagues Cup group stage. They were not winning this one, were they?

It sure didn't look this way when John Tolkin sent a poor penalty directly at the keeper to open Metro's side of the proceedings. Noah Eile blasted it into the upper right corner. and Wiki Carmona just snuck it inside the left post, with the Crew keeper guessing correctly. Needing to score to keep it alive, Elias Manoel blasted to the right. And then it was our point of doom... and Coronel's moment of truth.

Yevhen Cheberko went to his right, and there was Coronel, flying to keep Metro alive. Forsberg now had to score to extend to extra frames, and did just that, this time placing it perfectly to the bottom right. Coronel again saved, this time to the kicker's left, so it was up to Sean Nealis to win it for Metro. The defender, who has somehow never missed a penalty before, usually going for power, this time went for placement, and had his shot saved.

So Columbus goes again, again to the left, and there is Coronel again, saving his third in a row. And then it's Daniel Edelman, blasting to the upper right, sending Metro to a delirious victory.

Who would have thunk it? Metro sweeping the defending champion? Metro winning a penalty kick shootout? Metro keeping the season alive?

Is this luck? Momentum?

Lineup: Coronel, Tolkin, Nealis, Reyes, Nealis, Harper, Edelman, Carballo, Forsberg, Morgan, Vanzeir. Subs: Donkor, Eile, Carmona, Manoel. Shootout: Tolkin, Eile, Carmona, Manoel, Forsberg, Nealis, Edelman.