It wasn't quite an Al Michaels moment, but it was in the vicinity

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The MLS Eastern Conference playoff picture changed in a matter of minutes Saturday, the last day of the regular season, Decision Day. One of the nexuses was SeatGeek Stadium, where the Columbus Crew continued an historic, late-season turnaround with a 4-3 victory over Gregg Berhalter's Chicago Fire.

The Crew came from behind three times, twice after penalty kicks converted by Chicago's ageless superstar, Robert Lewandowski. For the Crew, striker Gonzalo Tapia had a brace, midfielder Taha Habroune had two assists, and DP Brais Mendez scored the game-winning goal – oh, what a finish – in the 93rd minute. A zombified crowd of 19,419 filed out into the night, searching for Malört.

The Crew fans who made the trek stayed right where they were and sang "Wise Men."

Mendez's goal:

The singers of "Wise Men:"

The Crew won nine of their final 12 league games and flew down the stretch with eight victories in their last nine. They went from 15th and last place in the East on Sept. 1 to the No. 7 seed in the playoffs on Nov. 7.

The second before Mendez scored, the Crew were facing a play-in game on the road in Cincinnati. After Mendez scored, the Crew jumped from No. 9 to No. 7 and into the first round of the playoffs.

“Maybe it's not the proper way to do it, but before minute 65, I didn't want to know anything about the (playoff) scenarios – (but) everybody else knew," said Laurent Courtois, the interim-not-interim coach of the Crew.

"I was the only one who didn't want to know," he said. "Then we tried to make a couple of adjustments. We tried to focus on what was on the field first, and then we thought there was something to push (for), and the guys delivered.”

The Crew (14-15-5) will face No. 2 seed Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami (16-6-12). It'll be a best-of-three series that'll open in Miami. We'll know more about times and dates when the league releases the official postseason schedule Sunday evening.

Avoiding the No. 8 vs. No. 9 play-in game "is huge," said Crew GM Issa Tall.

"Because we feel like we're in the playoffs, actually," Tall said. "It gives us more time as well. And also, it's a position we were in last year. Doesn't mean that it's what we target. We want to be higher. It shows that we still have high standards. In the end, it took time for us to click. But it's promising for the future. We're very excited."

Anyone out there still calling for Tall's head?

It was a crazy game

Crew center midfielder Sekou Bangoura committed two fouls in the penalty area early in the first half. Each time, Lewandowski put the ball down on the dot and shot eye-lasers at Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.

"I was so confused," Schulte said, joining a legion of his brethren who for two decades have had to face Lewandowski mano-a-mano and try to read his hips.

Each of Lewandowski's PKs was answered immediately, the first one by Tapia and the second one by Anass Zaroury. In Zaroury's case, the answer came less than minute later, on the ensuing kickoff, off a set play drawn up by assistant Josh Williams.

Maren Haile-Selassie staked the Fire to a 3-2 lead with a goal in first-half stoppage time. It could've, and probably should've, been totally deflating to the Crew.

Yet, nothing seems to faze them. Nothing dents their confidence. Nothing compromises their ... what's the word? Intestinal fortitude?

"I think the word is 'balls.'" Habroune said.

OK.

Tapia scored his second in the 62nd minute to tie the game, 3-3.

The second Tapia goal (above) looked an awful lot like the game-winning goal in the 2023 MLS Cup final, also set up by a long through ball sent by Malte Amundsen. Did it not?

Beginning in the 78th minute, Courtois trotted out his second, third, fourth and fifth subs of the game. There would be no sitting back. They were going for the win, and for the No. 7 seed.

“I had no idea until probably five, six minutes left in our game," captain Sean Zawadzki said. "I think those games (that impacted seeding) went final a little bit before ours, and when we kind of looked over to the bench, they kind of motioned that we had to go. So obviously late to find that out, but obviously for us at the same time, it's maybe a little bit better. We're not pushing forward, and we concede a goal, whatever it may be.

"But I think to be able to have five minutes to push and to score the goal to put us in seventh is fantastic from the guys. And I think that goes back to what I was saying earlier. No matter what the score is, no matter where you're at, this team is going to find a way.” 

The Crew won the season series against Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami. There was the gritty, 1-1 draw down there on August 1, when Mendez made his Crew debut. And there was the equally gritty 2-1 victory in Columbus on Sept. 27, when all of the CIDFMs yelled at the referee and Lionel Messi spiked Santi Rodriguez in the foot.

The Fire (16-11-7) finished fourth in the East and will have home-field advantage in their first-round, best-of-three series against Charlotte.

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Michael Arace covers pro sports in flyover country. Welcome to Columbus, the Blue Jackets and the Crew.

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