However long the Los Angeles Football Club’s MLS Cup playoff run lasts this year, one thing is guaranteed the rest of the way: When they step on the field, it’s do or die.
That would be reason to feel positive if you’re LAFC, which has excelled in knockout competitions the past three seasons.
Between 2018 and 2021, under head coach Bob Bradley, LAFC reached one final, finishing runner-up in the 2020 Champions League, and was 1-3 in playoff matches, losing twice at then-Banc of California Stadium. Falling to Seattle in the 2019 Western Conference final marks the last time LAFC dropped a postseason knockout match when the players slept in their own beds the night before.
With Steve Cherundolo leading the way, LAFC has produced better results in front of their supporters in the biggest spots, owning a 4-0 home record en route to claiming the MLS Cup in 2022 and the conference title last year.
To make the most of home-field advantage in the West and reach a third final this season – adding to a runner-up finish for the Leagues Cup in Columbus and the U.S. Open Cup triumph at home – LAFC must first advance beyond its best-of-3 opening-round series against Vancouver.
When the Whitecaps asserted themselves last weekend at BC Place, blanking LAFC for the first time in 14 playoff appearances, Cherundolo’s side had a stretch of seven consecutive playoff wins against conference foes come to an end.
The Canadians gained ground in their 3-0 win by improving how they defended the width of the field, “and that was enough to throw us off a little bit,” Cherundolo said. “It’s impossible to cover every single space in the field, so you prioritize certain spaces. They prioritized that defensively and it paid off for them.”
Giving the familiar foe credit – this marks their 12th meeting over the past two seasons – LAFC defender Sergi Palencia complimented the Whitecaps.
“They made us feel uncomfortable,” he said. “They had very clear ideas. Very clear concepts. And we couldn’t find our solutions.
“But now is our time to adjust. I think the main thing we have to adjust is the intensity, the fact that we play at home, the confidence, and this about who wants it more.”
To that end, Cherundolo said he witnessed more intensity, focus and impatience in training leading up to Game 3 than Game 2, “which I think are all great signs.”
By taking Game 1 in L.A. 2-1, LAFC could afford a loss.
But not again if it intends to fight another day.
“We won the first round. They won the second. This is going to be a final,” said forward Denis Bouanga, who prior to Sunday’s match had scored in three playoff contests in a row dating to last year’s MLS Cup final, giving him eight goals in 10 playoff appearances overall.
“It’s like other knockout playoff games we have to win. The good thing is we’re going to play at home.”
Accounting for all competitions in 2024, LAFC is 19-2-5 at BMO Stadium, including a pair of victories and a draw against the Whitecaps.
“We’re going to have to be offensive,” the French winger said. “We’re going to have to score goals. It’s our role to give the tempo of these games.”
Should the No. 1 seed in the West do that and advance beyond Round 1, LAFC will host the conference semifinal Nov. 23 or 24 against Seattle, which swept Houston. That would ensure at least 50 games played for LAFC during each of the past two seasons – the most by an MLS team.
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Success in knockout games has plenty to do with LAFC appearing in a record 102 games over that stretch.
“The players are very aware of the situation,” Cherundolo said. “We’re a very ambitious team and if you have ambitions to win something or go as far as you can in a tournament and play to your potential, then you should welcome those moments. And this team has always responded in those moments, and I fully expect that on Friday.”
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS AT LAFC
When: 7:40 p.m. Friday
Where: BMO Stadium, Los Angeles
TV/Radio: Apple TV (MLS Season Pass), FS1/710 AM, ESPN LA App, 980 AM