"If we had a big hill to climb before, we've got a mountain now," Head Coach Jesse Marsch said after the New York Red Bulls 2-1 loss to Toronto FC on Monday night.
The Red Bulls head to Toronto on Sunday for Leg Two needed any two-goal victory to advance.
"But so what?" Marsch said. "That's what the playoffs are. It's not supposed to be easy. It won't ever be easy. Obviously we've made it even more difficult on ourselves, but whatever.
"We're going to go there with -- we wanted to have a little bit more of a nothing-to-lose mentality tonight, and I felt we played very tight, and for sure, now we're going there, we've got nothing to lose."
New York converted a penalty kick, with Bradley Wright-Phillips drawing a penalty and Daniel Royer converting, just before halftime to draw even at the break. The Red Bulls went in a hole early when Victor Vazquez opened the scoring in the 8th minute. Sebastian Giovinco put away a free kick in the 72nd minute for the game-winner.
"I know they're very good at home. I know it's a very tough place to play. I know the stadium will be sold out," Marsch said. "I know they're the best team in the league, but so what? So what? Let's go there and go fight for it."
