So many favorites. So many upsets.
That's largely been the story of the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, particularly in the Eastern Conference. Supporters’ Shield winners and MLS point-record setters Inter Miami CF, defending MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew, and 2023 Shield winners FC Cincinnati all suffered shock Round One exits.
Now Orlando City SC and New York Red Bulls remain standing for Saturday’s Eastern Conference Final at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 ET | MLS Season Pass), vying for a spot in MLS Cup presented by Audi on Dec. 7.
The winner travels to face the Western Conference Final champion, either LA Galaxy or Seattle Sounders FC, in pursuit of their first-ever Philip F. Anschutz Trophy.
“We have tried during the week to stay concentrated on the responsibility and the opportunity that we have," said Orlando head coach Oscar Pareja.
"We're very proud to see that the group has achieved this for our club and our fans, but we're eager to go for much more than that."
Road to the Conference Finals
Orlando have posted three shutouts in four playoff games, defeating Charlotte FC in Round One before eliminating Atlanta United, 1-0, to reach their first-ever Conference Final.
“(We’re) a team that works hard defensively all over the field, and attacking too,” Orlando center back and captain Robin Jansson said on Extratime. “… Every game is living its own life, and you have to adjust to what the game is bringing.”
That same mindset fueled New York to a Round One sweep of Columbus, followed by a 2-0 victory at Hudson River Derby rivals New York City FC in the Conference Semifinals.
“We're not satisfied and we're the underdogs,” midfielder Daniel Edelman told Extratime. “They gave us the seventh seed, and it's like everyone’s counting us out, and we're just here to show everyone that we're a bunch of dogs on the field."
Finding their form
Despite limping into the playoffs with two wins in their last 14 regular-season games, RBNY are one win away from reaching MLS Cup for the second time in club history (previously in 2008).
“People might not like our play style, we might get outshot or anything like that, but we'll find a way to get the job done because we're so connected,” Edelman said. “And why can't we? I think that's been a great model for us, that we're just so hungry as a team.”
By contrast, Orlando were one of the league’s best teams from the second half of the season onward. They won six of their last eight games to claim the East's No. 4 seed after hovering near the bottom of the standings through June.
Star performers
The Lions' turnaround coincided with Martín Ojeda shifting into the No. 10 role and star attacker Facundo Torres putting up a career-best 14g/6a, while also adding two playoff goals.
“We have really gotten together the principles, the way that we normally do stuff, like we didn’t do at the beginning of the season,” Jansson said.
“… I feel that the solidness in the team and I feel that the work ethic in the team has been brilliant the last couple of months. So hopefully we can continue that.”
The Red Bulls have their own attacking spark in DP midfielder Emil Forsberg, whose return from an extended injury boosted the squad in time for the playoffs.
“He doesn’t just have an effect on the field, it’s off the field as well,” Edelman said of the Swedish international acquired this year from German Bundesliga sister side RB Leipzig. “The experience that he has from playing in Germany and everything, it definitely translates over to the locker room here with a bunch of young players that we have on the squad.
“… His leadership on the field, even his pre-game talks and speeches. He’s been through this before, and he’s a guy that we trust and we follow.”
History awaits
An epic battle awaits Saturday at Inter&Co Stadium, where Orlando and Red Bulls are both chasing a defining moment in club history.
"We had a very tough start to the season this year," said Orlando left back Rafael Santos. "A lot of people didn't have a lot of hope in us, but we made it where we did."
For Edelman, a homegrown midfielder who grew up following the Red Bulls, the chance to play for MLS Cup would fulfill a lifelong dream.
“It’s extra cool now for me to be in this position and super grateful for the year that we've had,” Edelman said. “Hoping that we can make some history.”
