The Columbus Crew began the defense of their Leagues Cup title Tuesday at Lower.com with a match against Liga MX’s Deportiva Toluca F.C. The Crew took a 2-0 lead into the latter stages of the match, but found themselves tied after Toluca scored the equalizer in the 80th minute. Penalty kicks went to Toluca, 4-2, for the win.

The Crew were looking to rebound from a home loss to Orlando last Friday, when they let a lead slip away in the second half. In Tuesday’s match, Columbus got on the board in the 11th minute. Diego Rossi converted on a penalty kick after Daniel Gazdag was knocked down inside the Toluca box.

The Black & Gold doubled their lead early in the second half. In the 48th minute, Max Arfsten outmaneuvered Toluca goalkeeper Luan Garcia who came out to challenge Arfsten in the left side of the box. Jacen Russell-Rowe assisted on the score battling to maintain possession at the top of the box before wheeling and passing to Arfsten.

Toluca found its footing after that with two goals from Paulinho. The first came in the 71st minute, followed by a score nine minutes later. Columbus had a golden opportunity before the end of the half when Rossi had another penalty kick after Ibrahim Aliyu was fouled in the box. This time, Garcia made the stop and the match went to PKs.

Toluca outscored the Crew, 4-2, on penalty kicks. Toluca made their first two PKs. When the Crew stepped up, Garcia stopped Rossi again, then Amar Sejdic. The clubs each converted on two more kicks with Toluca picking up two points for the win. The Crew earned a point for forcing PKs. Had they held on in regulation, Columbus would have earned three points.

The top four teams in each league move on to the knockout stage of the competition based on the points accumulated at the group stage. Next up in Leagues Cup play for the Crew is a match with Puebla this Friday at Lower.com Field beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Black & Gold host León next Tuesday.