Conference Semifinal Mega Open Thread

With two playoff games on the docket today, we thought it would be good to have an open thread for those of you who are watching. Even though the Portland Timbers were eliminated, there is still football to be played and we’re here for it.

Orlando City SC vs New England Revolution 12 pm pst/3 pm Eastern

From mlssoccer.com,

Oscar Pareja’s Lions advanced via an epic penalty-kick shootout win over New York City FC in the the club’s first-ever Audi MLS Cup Playoffs game last Saturday, with defender Rodrigo Schlegel saving the Cityzens’s final attempt after Pedro Gallese was sent off on a second yellow card for coming off his line early following Video Review.

The Revolution traversed a more traditional route to the Conference Semifinals, upsetting Supporters’ Shield winners Philadelphia 2-0 at Subaru Park on Tuesday. It was a masterclass by Carles Gil, who set up goals by Adam Buksa and Tajon Buchanan four minutes apart to give the visitors an insurmountable lead inside the opening 30 minutes.

This will also be the first time this season that these two teams have met. The last time they faced each other is last September where the results were a 3-3 draw thanks to Nani that night, as the Lions came back from a 3-1 deficit to earn the tie.

Exploria Stadium – Orlando
TV: ABC, ESPN Deportes, TSN 4, TVA Sports
STREAMING: ESPN App in US

Columbus Crew SC vs Nashville SC 5 pm pst/8 pm est

From mlssoccer.com

The Crew’s stars shined bright in a Round One win over the New York Red Bulls. The visitors struck first, but Pedro Santos struck from the spot just three minutes later. Nagbe broke the deadlock just 23 seconds into the second half and the momentum carried into the 68th minute when Gyasi Zardes cushioned a looping header back across goal for the 3-1 lead. He latched onto a deep cross from former Red Bulls Homegrown Derrick Etienne Jr. at the back post, then supplied the eventual game-winner.

It’s a win, Porter believes, is a clear statement of intent from his side to make the deepest of postseason runs.

“I really like when I walked in the locker room, just seeing the look in the guys’ eyes,” Porter said. “I’ve been in locker rooms a lot of years and the teams that win championships, they’re very business-like and that’s what they looked like after the game. It was almost like they were onto the next immediately. So that’s what you want to see out of your group and I thought the guys were extremely hungry.”

Nashville SC stunned MLS by beating a Toronto FC side that played in the MLS Cup Final three times in the last four years. The win came in extratime, via a Rios goal in the 108th minute. But Gary Smith’s team showed over the course of 120 minutes the goal was no fluke. It was far from their only scoring chance in a game they outshot Toronto FC 21-12 and Nashville had three other goals called back due to offside.

Nashville are one of only two expansion teams in MLS history to advance this deep in the playoffs – the other being the Chicago Fire of 1998, who went on to win MLS Cup. Could Nashville pull off such a feat, too?

MAPFRE Stadium – Columbus
TV: ESPN, ESPN Deportes, TSN 4, TVA Sports
STREAMING: ESPN App in US