Mullan and Larentowicz have been here before
Commerce City, Colo. – Brian Mullan and Jeff Larentowicz have been here before. Each midfielder has come back to win a playoff series after losing the first leg, and each has been on the losing end after winning game one.
So as the veterans lead the Rapids to Kansas to face Sporting KC down 2-0, they know firsthand how possible it is to overcome the deficit.
“It’s a 180 minute series, and we’ve only played 90 of it,” Larentowicz told ColoradoRapids.com. “(KC) came here and beat us two nothing, so it’s possible for the road team to win. That’s just what we have to do – we have to think that way, we have to know that it’s possible.”
The MLS Cup Playoffs switched to an aggregate goal home-and-home series in 2003 and saw one of the most remarkable comebacks that same year. The LA Galaxy defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 in the first leg and then scored two early goals in game two to go up 4-0 on aggregate. However Mullan’s San Jose team scored five unanswered goals - including the tying goal in the 90' and winning goal in overtime - to win the series 5-4.
The next year, Mullan’s Earthquakes took a 2-0 lead on Kansas City but lost game two 3-0 to lose the series.
“You have to stay positive, and you’ve got to believe,” Mullan said of the situation facing Colorado. “Nobody’s out until that final whistle is blown. We’ve got to go down there with a lot of heart and work our (butts) off.”
Larentowicz’ New England teams were part of three comebacks. In his rookie year, 2005, New York defeated his Revolution 1-0 in game one, and scored the first goal in the second game to go up 2-0 on aggregate. However the Revs scored three goals in the final 22 minutes to win the series 3-2.
It happened in similar fashion the following year, this time with Chicago defeating New England 1-0 and then scoring early in the second game. Once against Larentowicz’s Revs scored twice to tie the series and then won it on penalty kicks.
The tables turned on his Revs in 2009, when they defeated Chicago 2-1 in the first leg but lost game two 2-0.
“We’ve been in this situation before, whether it was last year in the playoffs or this year with our backs against the wall down in El Salvador,” Larentowicz said. “It’s a squad, it’s a team, and everyone needs to play a part.”
Mullan and Larentowicz are the two most playoff-experienced players on the roster, their teams having reached six and four MLS Cup title games, respectively.
“We have confidence in every player here,” Mullan said. “All it takes is one goal to start things in motion. We’ve got nothing to lose now; we can get after them and if that goal comes then there’s no telling what will happen.”