Last weekend, the Columbus Crew tried every trick in the book to escape from Rio Tinto Stadium with a scoreless draw. They dropped nine to 10 players behind the ball frequently; they didn't show any urgency the entire match; and they embellished numerous injuries — all in the spirit of wasting time.

They were two minutes away from everything working out stupendously, but instead Real Salt Lake scored in the 88th minute and won 1-0.

In the return leg of the home-and-home playoff series in Columbus this Thursday, expect RSL to employ the exact same tactics.

"Different games call for different tactics, and the playoffs being the way that they're set up, you are forced to take a little bit more of a defensive mentality on the road," said RSL coach Jason Kreis.

With such a slim lead going into Game 2 of the total goals series, RSL's defensive mentality might even surpass Columbus' in the first game.

"We're going to go into Columbus and defend like crazy. Hopefully, we don't give up a goal and they don't put pressure on us to have to score," said midfielder Clint Mathis. "It's important that we keep that clean sheet."

With a 1-0 lead already in the series, Real Salt Lake knows a tie will be good enough to advance to the conference final. Columbus, meanwhile, knows it needs to win Game 2 by one goal to force a 30-minute overtime, or win Game 2 by multiple goals to win the series and advance to the conference final.

The Crew will mostly come out and put pressure on RSL from the opening minute, a scenario the visitors are ready for.

"I'm sure they're going to come out and really try and take it to us as best they can. They're at home, they've had a great record there all year, so there's no reason for them to play any differently on Thursday," said Chris Wingert. "Our mentality is going to be hard to play against, which is what I think they were kind of aiming for."

Ultimately, Real Salt Lake's hopes for advancing might hinge on its counter-attacking ability.

Columbus must win Thursday to keep its playoff hopes alive, and it inevitably will push more numbers into the attack than it did in Utah. That could leave the Crew vulnerable to the counter attack, which is a scary proposition assuming RSL speedsters Yura Movsisyan and Robbie Findley are on the field.

"We have to really be careful what we do and when we take our chances. That's one of the things to be really focused at. Whenever chances come up, we have to be smart about it and take it," said Movsisyan. "If it opens up, then great for us, and if we finish our chances, that's an even bigger hill for them to climb."

RSL must capitalize on whatever scoring opportunities present themselves, because even though the goal is a shutout, it might be a longshot. Salt Lake was outscored 24-9 on the road this year and finished with a 2-11-2 record away from home.

e-mail: jedward@desnews.com