MLS Next Pro Champs to MLS Cup Final: Former Columbus Crew 2 players aim for second title
It was just one season ago that Patrick Schulte was lying down and making confetti angels as he celebrated winning the inaugural MLS Next Pro Cup with the Crew 2 team.
Flash forward over 12 months, the 22-year-old goalkeeper has the chance to replicate that same celebration on the same field, only this time the celebration would be for an MLS Cup.
Schulte is one of four players who have logged minutes for the Crew in the postseason this year who helped Crew 2 team dominate last season and win a championship. Sean Zawadzki, Mo Farsi and Jacen Russell-Rowe, along with Schulte, all played a part in the developmental team's playoff run and now are looking to repeat as champs, only this time at the league's highest level.
"Knowing the feeling of winning," Schulte said. "Your emotions that go in after, it has just really kind of fueled me to want to do that again on a bigger stage."
'Tremendous Confidence' in Columbus Crew's Patrick Schulte
To win a title again, Schulte will need to have a big performance on Saturday. Schulte has been in the net for the Crew all 510 minutes of this season's MLS Cup playoffs and in that time has recorded 13 saves with two clean sheets while allowing eight goals.
Going up against LAFC, the Crew's goalkeeper will have to be on his top game as across the field, the opposing goalie, Maxime Crepeau, has not given up a goal all postseason.
There is a lot of trust in Schulte from both his teammates and coaches, especially seeing the evolution he has had throughout the year. He went from giving up four goals in Philadelphia in his debut to making three huge saves in Orlando to advance the Crew to the Eastern Conference Final.
The guys who played with Schulte on Crew 2 last year know what he is capable of, seeing what he was able to do as the MLS Next Pro Goalkeeper of the Year under the lead of coach Laurent Courtois.
"Last year, Laurent asked him to do a lot of crazy things as a goalie," Zawadzki said. "So, while this year is kind of dialed back a little bit, you still have tremendous confidence in him because of what he went through last year in terms of the way Laurent wanted him to play. So, I think he's capable of doing a lot of different things and allows us to be who we are."
Letting the younger guys play
Crew coach Wilfried Nancy has entrusted more than just Schulte in big positions. A big proponent in the belief that player profile matters more than age or experience, Nancy has shown this philosophy in his coaching style, starting Farsi in multiple postseason matches over veteran Julian Gressel because he wanted Farsi's skill set at the right wingback position.
Leading a team that has a mix of players with years of experience and some playing on a first team for the first time, Nancy is able to see the value in the range.
"For me, this is a good mix because they're able to discuss among themselves," Nancy said.
Particularly when it comes to the less experienced players, Nancy says he likes, "the freshness when you don't know because when you don't know, you're going to ask yourself a lot of questions."
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Before becoming the coach for CF Montreal, Nancy spent several seasons as a coach for the team's academy. The younger players on his current team can feel the impact of that experience, whether it comes in the form of his communication style or how he allows them to play on the field, pushing them to take risks and make mistakes.
"When you know that your coach is just looking at you, your style of play and what you give on the field, I think that's fair," Farsi said. "That's the reason why you want to push harder and harder and become better and better. Because you know, at the end of the day, if you perform well, you're going to have the opportunity to play."
The trust that Nancy has given the younger players has helped lead them within one game of bringing home an MLS Cup in his first year as coach. And if Columbus was to bring home the trophy, it means the Crew 2 guys on the team would become back-to-back champions.
"Winning with MLS Next Pro last year, coming into this year, we want to give the club continued success. We want to win again," Zawadzki said. "We want to put our names down in the history books for the club and be a part of history."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former Columbus Crew 2 player aim to once again be crowned champions
