The Red Bulls were not trying to survive and advance in Wednesday night’s Major League Soccer playoff game against the Houston Dynamo at Red Bull Arena as much as they were trying to build a winning culture that has been missing in the franchise’s 20 years of existence.
There had not been a moment so ripe in their history for the Red Bulls to seize the opportunity to strengthen their support base, to galvanize themselves among the league’s elite and to make state-of-the-art Red Bull Arena a destination place to be.
They had not lost a game since August (6-0-3) and were the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs with home-field advantage throughout.
Alas, throughout arrived and ended in an evil flash Wednesday night when the Red Bulls’ maddening playoff form took hold in a 2-1 overtime loss, putting a devastating end to their promising season with the 4-3 aggregate defeat in the two-match series.
The crushing blow came when Houston’s Omar Cummings squirted a shot in between Red Bulls defensemen Ibrahim Sekagya and Markus Holgersson that just got over the goal line before goalkeeper Luis Robles could save it in the 104th minute.
“I’m so disappointed,’’ Holgersson said, “I feel empty.’’
In the end, the Red Bulls’ curiously horrible home playoff history again strangled their season, ending what had the potential to be a massive momentum surge in terms of long-term fan interest, a chance to fill up that beautiful stadium of theirs.
On a night with 22,264 in the house and buzzing, when the Red Bulls were trying to recapture and recreate the magical, sold-out atmosphere they experienced the last time they played at home — on Oct. 27 when they clinched the Supporters’ Shield for the league’s best regular-season record — the match devolved into their third consecutive one-and-done exit from the postseason.
This significantly dulls the shine on that coveted Supporters’ Shield (for the league’s top record) — the first piece of hardware the club has won in franchise history.
“This year felt special,’’ Robles said. “It was an amazing feeling to win the Supporters’ Shield, but it’s not going to take the bitter taste of this away for crashing out of the playoffs.’’
That electric Sunday at Red Bull Arena two weeks ago represented the standard for the team to chase, an atmosphere the team craves to have at every home match. A win over Houston could have set the table for more of that to come — perhaps ending with the Dec. 7 MLS Cup final, which would have been played in Harrison, N.J., had the Red Bulls been able to advance that far.
“I guess you can’t exorcise every demon in one year,’’ first-year coach Mike Petke said. “We did it to ourselves these last two games.’’
Making it all hurt more is the fact the Red Bulls dominated the match, outshooting Houston 23-9 only to give up both goals on defensive breakdowns.
“We gave them a gift, a Christmas present,’’ midfielder Tim Cahill said. “This stings because we’re the better team.’’
This was a huge opportunity lost for the Red Bulls, who blew a 2-0 lead in Houston in Sunday’s first leg of the series, settling for a 2-2 draw that felt more like a loss. In that match, they lost the rock of their back line for Wednesday’s game when defenseman Jamison Olave was given a red card in Houston and suspended. The Red Bulls failed to win a match this season with Olave out of the lineup (0-4-2).
It all left them vulnerable for what occurred Wednesday night, with no margin for error.
The Red Bulls, who have played so well at Red Bull Arena since it opened in 2010, inexplicably are now 0-4 there playoff games. They are 0-5-2 since their last home playoff victory, a 1-0 win over New England in 2005 at Giants Stadium when they were called the MetroStars.
Once again, they teased … and in the end, disappointed.
“If making the playoffs is considered a success, then the last three years have been successful,’’ midfielder Dax McCarty said. “But that’s not good enough. You want to end the season off the right way — with a championship. MLS Cup is the ultimate prize and we haven’t done that in the history of this franchise.’’