Columbus, Ohio » When the final whistle sounded on its improbable comeback playoff victory, nobody from Real Salt Lake leaped into anybody's arms in celebration. Nobody dog-piled in the middle of the field, or ripped off a jersey to emphasize the achievement.

No, just regular handshakes and a few calm backslaps, as if one of the biggest victories in franchise history came as a surprise to absolutely nobody.

"We're a great team," midfielder Andy Williams insisted.

Who knew?

RSL had been one of the worst teams in Major League Soccer on the road during the regular season, and had lost all 11 games when it allowed the first goal away from home. Never in its history had it come back from two goals down to win on the road.

Yet that's exactly what it did against the defending champion Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium on Thursday night, fighting off a virtuoso performance by reigning league most valuable player Guillermo Barros Schelotto and scoring three straight goals for a 3-2 victory that vaulted them into the MLS Eastern Conference final against either Chicago or New England.

"For me the game ... was a little bit of a microcosm of two years for us," coach Jason Kreis said. "We've had a lot of challenges and had to work extremely hard, and certainly seen a lot of adversity. But the way we responded to it ... was fantastic."

Kreis and his players seemed plenty motivated

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-- if not downright annoyed -- by skeptics who doubted they could repeat last season's playoff surprise, even though RSL was the last team to squeak into the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. Kreis mockingly wondered "if all those people who were saying 'they got no chance' are starting to say 'they've got a chance.' "

Goalkeeper Nick Rimando agreed that RSL had something to prove "100 percent."

"But all that really matters is what's in this locker room," he said. "And the people in this locker room believe, and that's something that everybody holds onto, going onto that field -- to shut some people up, maybe turn some heads and get some more fans for us as we go on."

The team must wait until Chicago and New England meet in the second leg of their first-round playoff series today to learn which opponent it will face next weekend for the right to advance to the MLS Cup championship game Nov. 22 in Seattle.

"By no means are we favorites," defender Nat Borchers said. "I know we in this locker room believe in each other, and we have all season. There's been a lot of doubters out there, but by no means are we favorites. We know that whoever we play, the next round will be away and we know that's going to present a very difficult challenge for us."

Not that the team isn't ready.

Asked what he felt after such a dramatic and unprecedented victory, Kreis looked up from the podium at his postgame press conference and answered simply: "Ready."

"I wouldn't say relieved," he added. "I certainly wouldn't say lucky. ... I feel like we deserve it."

mcl@sltrib.com