It was a whirlwind of emotions for Kei Kamara Sunday night.
First, he scored the opening goal, then later missed a penalty that could have potentially closed the curtain on Crew SC’s season.
And when he delivered the goal that would send them on to the Eastern Conference Finals, he wasn’t even sure it had stood.
“It went in, and I was running to the side to celebrate with the fans and didn’t see any of my teammates around me,” Kamara said. “I thought something went wrong, the ref called something.”
“Later on, I felt people jumping on me.”
It was Kamara’s header in the 111th minute that jumped Columbus past the Montreal Impact after a 3-3 aggregate led the second leg of the conference semifinals into extra time.
More involved than in the opening leg at Saputo Stadium, the evening began with Columbus rifling crosses into their target man, and it was a cross from substitute Cedrick Mabwati that found the striker, who rose above left back Danny Toia at the far post and directed it back toward the opposite end of the net.
“I pushed myself during the week and said, ‘it doesn’t matter what happens, it’s do-or-die this game if we don’t win it, and there’s no other chance I’m going to get,’” Kamara said. “No matter what’s happening in the game, I’ve got to keep pushing myself, that’s what I did today.”
With the situation calling for Crew SC to be better than standard facing a 2-1 deficit, the home side didn’t take long to to set the tempo. Federico Higuain caught Dilly Duka out of position with a ball behind him to Waylon Francis, who sent a cross in for Kamara to get Columbus ahead.
The better of the two sides in the opening 20 minutes, Columbus began ceding possession and opportunities to the visitors before the second-leg equalizer, which came when Dilly Duka took advantage of a loose ball following a corner kick in the 40th minute to move the aggregate back to Montreal’s advantage.
It took just the right combination of substitutes by Gregg Berhalter to kick start the attack back into gear, and Crew SC look revitalized with the introductions of Jack McInerney and Cedrick Mabwati in the 74th and 77th minute, respectively. Seconds after, Mabwati provided a service into the box, and an initial right-footed effort from McInerney was eschewed sideways by the left hand of Bush, but was cleaned up with a commanding finish sent upward into the net by Finlay to knot the aggregate and away goals for each side.
Columbus advances in the MLS Cup Playoffs to face the top-seeded New York Red Bulls to determine the East’s representative in the MLS Cup Finals. Crew SC host the first leg on Nov. 22 at MAPFRE Stadium before traveling to Red Bull Arena for the deciding leg.
