From the beginning of the MLS Next Pro season in March, Columbus Crew 2 was a dominant force.
They rolled through the regular season with the best record in the league at 16-3-5, clinching the No. 1 overall seed for the playoffs and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. Crew 2 downed Rochester NY FC 4-0 in the first round of the playoffs and pulled off a 4-3 win over Toronto FC II in the Eastern Conference final, setting themselves up to host the inaugural MLS Next Pro Cup.
Saturday afternoon at Lower.com Field, in front of a crowd of 7,446, Crew 2 capped their dominant season with a 4-1 defeat of St. Louis CITY2 to win MLS Next Pro Cup.
In one sense, the win wasn't surprising, given the quality Crew 2 displayed throughout the year. But as a first-year team in a brand-new league, few expected Crew 2 to turn in this kind of wire-to-wire performance. Before the playoffs began, Crew 2 coach Laurent Courtois admitted they'd held a private belief that the team would find success on the field, but winning a trophy in their first season outstripped even Courtois' highest hopes.
"It was just a dream come true," Courtois said. "We never expected such a happy ending initiating the season. As the season goes, (we thought), 'We're going to be able to match the individual goals with the collective. Let's go for it.' It was never the plan, but it turned out pretty well. Amazing. So happy for this group."
Columbus broke the game open late in the first half, with goals from Isaiah Parente and Marco Micaletto in the final five minutes of the half. Jacen Russell-Rowe, who was named MLS Next Pro's first MVP on Friday , put the game on ice with a goal from the penalty spot in the 58th minute. When St. Louis broke up goalkeeper Patrick Schulte's clean sheet in the 80th minute, Ryan Telfer answered with a goal of his own three minutes later to reaffirm Crew 2's dominance.
Courtois felt assured throughout the game, but it wasn't until he started making substitutes in the 70th minute that his confidence grew to surety. For Micaletto, the team's first captain and the MVP of the game, there was never a doubt — at any point.
"We won that game before we even started it," Micaletto said. "Our mentality was, this was our opportunity, we're going to go grab it. It's easy to say after the fact, but I genuinely did have no doubt in my mind we were going to be the champions today, because I know how prepared we were."
On paper, Crew 2's season began on a low note with a 2-0 loss to Inter Miami CF II. But for Courtois, the first game was a test of his concept. In the first game of the first-year league, no one knew how it would look on the field, and despite the result, Courtois came away believing that the way he wanted his team to play was going to work.
From there, Crew 2 didn't deviate in their approach. Even in the game's final season, with a trophy on the line, they maintained the style that Courtois described as risky and taxing. It had taken to the championship game, and he believed it would lead them to win the Cup.
"The only thing we didn't want to do was doubt," Courtois said. "Yes, it's going to be risky. Yes, it's going to be taxing. But we know what we want to do with and without the ball, so (we wanted to) play with no fear."
When the final whistle blew, cementing both the win and Crew 2's place as the first-ever champion of MLS Next Pro, every member of Crew 2 erupted in joy. Players and coaches rushed from the sideline onto the field, some heading toward Schulte at one end of the field and some heading toward Russell-Rowe on the other side of midfield.
The only thing they hadn't practiced, in the end, was what they were going to do when they won. Even after over an hour of on-field celebrations, Micaletto still couldn't put his feelings into words.
There was joy, there was validation and there was certainty. Ten months and two days after Crew 2 was announced as an inaugural member of Next Pro , they were crowned the league's first champion.
"It's hard to put into words," Micaletto said. "It's the work of a whole year. I can't even begin to describe to you what's gone into this trophy. There's kids that leave their families to come here to do these opportunities. Honestly, when you win it, then it's like, 'OK, the price I'm paying for this, I'm making it worth it.'
"... When the whistle blows or the ball goes across the line, it's just like your brain blows up. You don't think about anything anymore. It's just pure joy. That's what it was. Pure joy."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew 2 beats St. Louis City 2 4-1 to win MLS Next Pro Cup
