The Union’s loss to Columbus was just the second in their past eight games, but it cost the club heavily. The Union will now have to beat Toronto’s result on Sunday when they host New England if they want to lift the coveted Supporters’ Shield that has essentially had their name on it over the past month.

It won’t be easy. The Union are without star goalkeeper Andre Blake who broke his hand last Wednesday vs Chicago.

The good news is that the game is at home. Subaru Park has been clutch for the Union this year and the Union have the best home record in Major League Soccer. Curtin has always expressed the importance of getting all three points at home and the Union have done just that by winning eight straight games at home.

A win Sunday will have them finish the season undefeated and give the Union the Supporters’ Shield. They will take the national spotlight on Sunday with ABC airing their game at 3:30 vs New England.

We all want the shield but for those of you who are superstitious, the regular-season champion has gone on to win MLS Cup just seven times in the league’s 25-year history, and four of those were in the first seven seasons. Is the shield cursed? I wouldn’t go that far but the history isn’t promising.

Take care of business on Sunday and we’ll figure out the rest later.