Win-or-go-home, tiebreaker, rubber match – call it whatever you'd like.
After a grueling 34-game regular season and two inseparable Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs matches, it all comes down to Friday night when Charlotte FC host New York City FC in Game 3 of their Round One Best-of-3 Series (7 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV).
A defeat ends the loser's season, while the victor advances to the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Supporters' Shield winners Philadelphia Union.
“It’s a do-or-die," said NYCFC head coach Pascal Jansen.
Tight margins
Defensive strength has been on display in the opening two games of the series. Alonso Martínez's lone goal gave NYCFC a 1-0 triumph in Game 1, followed by Charlotte claiming Game 2 in penalty kicks after a scoreless draw.
For both sides, returning to their clinical best is crucial to advancing.
"Big chances. We didn’t create enough big chances during the games," said Charlotte head coach Dean Smith. "I think we’ve only had one in the two games.
" … We know we’ve got the players who are capable of that. We just haven’t quite done that in the previous games."
Similar critiques apply to NYCFC.
“The quality for us in possession has to be at a higher level, higher standard, which my boys are perfectly capable of doing," said Jansen.
"But in order to beat a team like Charlotte, which is a very good team, well organized, you have to be very, very clinical on the ball, and you have to make sure that the moments that you get in order to open up the game, that you put those moments away."
It all sets the stage for a Game 3 with margins tight enough for a photo finish.
"I’ve said it all the way through: I think we’re two really evenly-matched teams. Only two or three points between us after 34 games. So it was never gonna be a case of one team beating the other three or four-nil," said Smith. "You’ve got to work extremely hard, and the players know that."
Home-field advantage?
Crucially, Charlotte's extra three points from the regular season (59) clinched the No. 4 seed over NYCFC (No. 5), giving them home-field advantage for Game 3.
But is hosting actually an advantage in a series where both teams won away?
"It gives us a lot of confidence, but no arrogance, because it's a very strong team, Charlotte," Jansen said of winning Game 1 at Bank of America Stadium. "They're a hard team to beat, especially at home.
"I remember somebody telling me going into game number one, there was like a 32% or 30% chance that we would win that game. We beat the odds. We won there. If you look at all four games that we've played so far, three clean sheets, a 2-0 loss in Charlotte, which was a game, first half we were quite dominant as well in their stadium.
"So those are ingredients that give us a lot of confidence going into this game that it's possible, and now we have to make it happen.”
Of course, that's easier said than done after Charlotte won more games at home (13) than any other team in MLS this season.
"We’ve worked hard to get that home game if it comes to a third game. Now we’ve got it, we’ve got to make use of it because both us and New York haven’t made use of home advantage so far," said Smith.
Added the English manager: "The Bank will be rocking. I know there’s a lot of people really enthused about the game. We can all make this a special night for Charlotte."
