HARRISON, N.J. — Yet another promising season ended badly Sunday for the Red Bulls, on a night when they awakened too late and when a ball bounced the wrong way off the post in the waning seconds.
The Red Bulls were eliminated by Columbus in the Eastern Conference finals despite a 1-0 victory, dropping the home-and-home series, 2-1, on aggregate score. Having posted the best regular-season record for the second time in three seasons — a feat that would trump all others in most professional leagues abroad — the Red Bulls failed to recover from a disastrous start last week at Columbus in this very American playoff system.