After another draw on the road, Gregg Berhalter is a happy man.
The Columbus Crew SC boss said after a hard-fought 2-2 draw Saturday night against Real Salt Lake that the point at Rio Tinto Stadium was a good result for his club, even after a red card gave Columbus 13 minutes to play up a man.
"I'm proud of the guys," he said. "I think in these conditions, with the heat and the altitude and going down twice, the guys put forth a very good effort."
Crew SC gave up the first goal in their fifth straight game, but they were able to earn at least a draw in the third straight. Berhalter said that fight is what he's focusing on.
"What's positive is that we've come back in the last three games," he said. "Even though we were down a goal, we got back in the game. In two of those games we got a point and in one we got three. So that's what we choose to focus on. ... Overall, I thought we were fine in the game. I thought we would score the first goal."
And in the long MLS season, Berhalter said these points will be important to remember in the future, especially after they failed to make a comeback several times early in 2015.
"I think over the course of the season you need to have this stored in your memory bank of what the team can achieve even after going down a goal," he said. "That's important. I think the guys certainly believe they can get back in it."
Though Berhalter was happy with the outcome, winger Ethan Finlay – who netted his third goal of the season, a 62nd-minute strike that would be the deciding tally – said it wasn't quite enough.
"I think we're disappointed, maybe, with the result," he said. "Obviously, with them getting the red card, we thought we could have nicked one late. But we'll take the point and go home."
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And like Berhalter, Finlay was able to see positives. The team's performance, he said, was good enough.
"It was kind of a crazy first half," he said. "I think once we settled in, we were able to play our style and find our identity. Credit to them – they were really good on the counter tonight. They play direct, and they do a really good job at it."
Crew SC have a short turnaround, as they travel to play Orlando City SC on Tuesday for their next US Open Cup match. Berhalter admitted his players were fatigued toward the end of the game and said there will be many changes for the midweek matchup.
Andrew King covers Columbus Crew SC for MLSsoccer.com.
