Crew’s Parkhurst has unfinished MLS business

COLOMBUS: Columbus Crew captain Michael Parkhurst, who reached the Major League Soccer championship match three years in a row but never managed to hoist the trophy, has another chance for glory.
The 31-year-old defender leads the Crew into the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2008 on Sunday when Columbus entertains the New York Red Bulls in the first leg of their series to decide an MLS Cup berth.
The aggregate winner after next week’s second leg will face the Western Conference winner, either the Portland Timbers or FC Dallas, in the championship match on December 6.
Parkhurst made his MLS debut in 2005 with the New England Revolution and made three trips in a row to the title game only to fall short each time, 1-0 to the Los Angeles Galaxy in extra time in 2005, in a penalty shootout to Houston in 2006 and again to Houston, 2-1 after extra time in 2007.
“It’s super disappointing, first off,” Parkhurst said in a posting on the MLS website. “To be that close and to be denied on multiple occasions, it’s frustrating. You think if you could just get another chance, to win it would be nice.”
To earn that chance, the Crew must defeat the Red Bulls, who have never won the MLS crown.
New York boasts the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in Luis Robles, who had a league-best 18 wins, nine by shutout. The Red Bulls boasted the best goal difference in the league and allowed only 43 goals, fewest of any team in the East.
Parkhurst, who has 25 caps for the US squad but also carries an Irish passport, has a title hunger based on near misses that he has imparted to younger teammates, none of whom were with the Crew during its lone MLS title run in 2008, one that ended with a 3-1 win over the Red Bulls.