FC Cincinnati will play Columbus Crew in a best-of-three series in the first round of the Major League Soccer playoffs
Major League Soccer announced the playoff schedule for FC Cincinnati's first-round matchup with the Columbus Crew.
The teams will play a best-of-three series. Game 1 is 6:45 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27 at TQL Stadium. Game 2 is 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2 at Lower.com Field in Columbus. Game 3, if necessary, will be back in Cincinnati Saturday, Nov. 8, with a kickoff time to be determined.
Each game will be separate and finish with a winner. If the teams are tied after 90 minutes, they will go directly to a penalty-kick shootout with no extra time.
Game 1 will air on Fox Sports 1, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and Fox Deportes. Radio will be carried locally on iHeart Fox Sports 1360 in English and in Spanish locally on La Mega 101.5 FM.
Tickets for both home games are available through the club's website. The club will host a playoff launch party at MadTree Parks & Rec in Blue Ash on Wednesday, Oct. 22. The public program begins at 6:30 p.m. featuring special guests, DJs, activities, giveaways and more.
Cincinnati (20-9-5, 65 points) earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference after beating CF Montreal 3-0 Oct. 18. Columbus is the No. 7 seed and enters the playoffs with a 14-8-12 record (54 points).
"It's great," said FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan after the game Oct. 18. "What a great opportunity. You get to play a rival in the playoffs and (have) meaningful games. If you don't get excited about that, those opportunities on top of being a playoff team, and you're playing in front of your fans the first game, there’s something missing there. We’ll take a night to enjoy this, and then we turn our focus to Columbus."
Cincinnati lost 4-2 to Columbus at home July 12 and drew 1-1 with the Crew May 17 at Lower.com Field.
They have met once before in the MLS playoffs, when Columbus won 3-2 in the 2023 Eastern Conference final at TQL Stadium.
The winner of this series faces the winner of No. 3 Miami vs. No. 6 Nashville, either Nov. 22 or Nov. 23. No. 4 seed Charlotte faces No. 5 New York City, and No. 1 seed Philadelphia faces the winner between No. 8 seed Chicago and No. 9 seed Orlando, who play one single-elimination match Oct. 22 in Chicago.
As the No. 2 seed, Cincinnati earned home-field advantage in the rest of the Eastern Conference playoffs against everyone but Philadelphia, which they could meet in the conference final. Cincy also won home field in the MLS Cup Final against every team in the Western Conference, hosting the league championship game if they get there.
The conference semifinals are Nov. 29 and 30, and the MLS Cup final is Dec. 6.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: MLS sets schedule for FC Cincinnati's playoff series with Columbus
Category: General Sports
