In the sports world, the road trip is synonymous with adversity. Playing away from a team’s home stadium comes with it the difficulty of traveling, tired legs and competing in a stadium full of people that are there hoping that you lose. These difficulties are made worse when it’s a streak of matches.
The 2022 groundbreaking of the MLS NEXT Pro development league put Columbus Crew 2 in the throes of this kind of adversity right away. In the team’s first three matches, the Black & Gold played on the road against Inter Miami II, Chicago Fire II and Philadelphia Union II.