Penalty kicks move Crew SC past Atlanta

Over the last two ATLANTA — weeks, Crew SC has endured plenty of talk about endings.

The Crew entered a knockout-round game Thursday night against Atlanta United riding a 10-game unbeaten streak and carrying the burden of a team that might move to Austin, Texas, after the 2018 season.

In front of an announced crowd of 67,221 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Crew endured 22 shots, a few mistakes, wave after wave of Atlanta offense, 30 minutes of extra time and an extra minute of stoppage time, just for good measure.

The Crew’s season lasted into penalty kicks with a scoreless tie. It will continue for at least another week.

The Crew made three penalties to United’s one, as Adam Jahn’s make in the fourth round punched the team’s ticket to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where it will face New York City FC.

The two-game, total-goal series will begin at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Mapfre Stadium and conclude Nov. 5 in New York.

“The best part, for me, was the determination by the guys, the will to win, the will to keep going,” coach Gregg Berhalter said.

One of the messages Berhalter passed along to his team before the game was simple: Stay in the moment.

Zack Steffen, the Crew’s 22-year-old rookie goalkeeper, had several big moments.

He read Julian Gressel’s hips to make a save in the first round of the shootout, stood upright to stop a second from Leandro Gonzalez Pirez and made eight additional saves over 120 minutes of regulation and stoppage time.

“The guys did it in front of me for 120 minutes. It was my time to step up,” Steffen said.

Federico Higuain made the Crew’s first penalty kick. After Kekuta Manneh’s attempt was saved by Atlanta’s Brad Guzan, rookie Niko Hansen converted his. Jahn buried the Crew’s fourth penalty kick to the right side of the net to end it.

“It was just amazing,” Jahn said. “I can’t explain it.”

Jahn’s knockout punch came after a wild 30 minutes of extra time in which right back Harrison Afful nearly put the Crew ahead in the final minute of the first 15-minute period with a long shot that hit the crossbar. He missed by inches again 13 minutes later as his header was cleared off the line by former Crew captain Michael Parkhurst.

The second half played out with flurry after flurry of attacks and a few wobbles from both teams, but no knockout blow.