Metros down, not out

While several of his teammates quickly gathered their gear and headed out of the locker room with dejected faces, MetroStars defender Steve Jolley stood stoically and assessed the situation that now confronts his team after losing 2-0 to New England on Saturday night.

"This is as do-or-die as you can think of."

Do-or-die. That's what any final game of a playoff series is. One team moves on, while the other packs up its things and starts thinking about making tee times for a long off-season back home.

However, this isn't a regular playoff match. Not by usual American sports standards, at least.

Using the home-and-home, two-game playoff series, decided by aggregate goals, the first-round of the Major League Soccer playoffs essentially boils down to one 180-minute match played out over two weekends in different cities.

The fact that the Metros are down 2-0 going into Sunday's game at Gillette Stadium is much like being down two goals coming out of halftime. One goal will not be enough, which means Bob Bradley's squad can win the match this weekend, yet still be looking at a long winter ahead of them.

Even if the Metros score two goals and hold the Revs scoreless, they'll still have to outlast the defending Eastern Conference champions in an overtime period in front of their home crowd.

Not the easiest of situations, is it?

"We'll figure it out," says Jolley. "We have some pretty bright people in here."

"Bright" might be true, but the best word might be "young." With youth comes optimism. Especially in that MetroStars locker room, which has never seen the bubbly flow after any sort of championship over the eight-year history of the league.

At 19, rookie striker Mike Magee is too young to be jaded by his organization's lack of success in the past, or to look at Sunday's game as monumental hill to climb. Even after being snakebitten, in some respects, when his right-footed strike hit the crossbar in the 78th minute and bounced out of the goal, rather than neatly tucking over the line, he remained upbeat.

"We've been down worse than two before," said last year's No. 4 selection in the MLS Draft. "Now we have ninety minutes to make it up. It's not as bad as you think."

All one has to do is look back to July 12 to see what Magee is talking about.

The Revs came flying out of the gate and snared a 2-0 halftime lead, which they upped to 3-0 in the 50th minute. Somehow, the light finally switched on for the Metros with that third tally, as they came to life and rallied for three goals in the next 26 minutes to force overtime and eventually earn a hard-fought point on the road.

So this isn't an impossible challenge. A lot hinges on what transpires in the early goings, though.

Says assistant coach Mo Johnston: "If we can get an early goal in Boston, then anything can happen."

That first goal will mean everything. Should New England score first, the Metros might need a miracle. But if the away side comes in and knocks one by Adin Brown, it's anyone's game.

Easier said than done, though, as the MetroStars haven't been able to finish. That was their downfall last weekend in a match that was evenly played for the most part.

"They did one thing better," said Magee. "They put the ball in the goal twice. It sounds simple, but that was the only difference. Our two chances didn't go in, and there's did."

Both Bradley and Johnston hinted at possible changes for this match.

The biggest addition will surely come up front with John Wolyniec getting the nod over Andrzej Juskowiak as the strike partner for Clint Mathis. Bradley said he planned on using Wolyniec off the bench in Game One, but his hand was forced when Joey DiGiamarino had to be substituted out after inexplicably bull-rushing Jose Cancela in the 66th minute when the Revs midfielder was going for the ball.

"John's been an important guy," said Bradley of his 26-year-old striker who scored five goals in the regular season. "I believe he'll be an important guy next week."

Bradley is believed to be favoring a 4-4-2 formation over the 3-5-2 he started last weekend.

This change would get Edgar Bartolomeu into the match as the left back, where he will surely get up the flank and as attack-mined as possible, and move Jolley back into the middle with Eddie Pope. Chris Leitch, who will also look to get forward whenever possible, is likely to get the nod at right back. Amado Guevera could be joined by Eddie Gaven, who was strong off the bench in Game One, in attacking roles, with Ricardo Clark and Mark Lisi giving support from more holding positions.

That would leave Magee as the first option off the bench, likely to spell one of the outside backs for additional offense.

The Revs are in the catbird seat, but you won't see Nicol's side pack it in.

Word out of their camp is that they will play it straight in their usual 4-4-2 system, and play the match as though it's a 0-0 series. It's this sort of level-headed mentality that has allowed the Revolution to have so much success the past two seasons, and will definitely aid them on Sunday.

Since the MetroStars will surely be taking more chances than usual, the role of Shalrie Joseph in the center of the midfield will become more vital. The 25-year-old rookie did an excellent job against Guevara last weekend, and will need to be just as sharp this time around as the Metros will send as many players forward as possible when they gain possession. How he slows the point of attack will help dictate the match and set the tone for the Revolution.

It may not be Pedro-Clemens, but it's essentially New York-Boston, it's cold out, tensions are high, and one team's season will be coming to an end. Whether you call it do-or-die, as Jolley did, or now-or-never or any other term to illustrate what's at stake in Sunday's match, excitement is one thing you can count on for Game Two.

Marc Connolly covers soccer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at: shaketiller10@yahoo.com.