The Union aim for another historic night in Mexico, this time against Pachuca

Last year, the Union went to Mexico for a Concacaf Champions Cup game knowing that a tie or better would advance them in the tournament.

They got what they wanted, a 2-2 tie at Atlas that gave the club its first series win over a Liga MX opponent on the continent’s biggest stage.

History doesn’t exactly repeat itself in soccer, but it often echoes. It will again on Tuesday when the Union visit Pachuca. After last week’s scoreless tie at Subaru Park, anything better than a scoreless tie in this game will win the series.

A 0-0 score after 90 minutes would take the series to extra time, then penalty kicks. A scoring tie would end the series in regulation, winning it for the Union on away goals.

» READ MORE: Shorthanded Union battle Mexico’s Pachuca to scoreless tie in Concacaf Champions Cup

“We recognize we have to score a goal, that’s number one,” Union manager Jim Curtin said in a news conference Monday in Pachuca. “That has to happen for us to move on — outside of penalty kicks, obviously. But we want to try to score a goal, and from there, obviously, defend well as a team and be hard to play against.”

This Pachuca team is better than last year’s Atlas. In fact, if you were to rank the best teams the Union have ever hosted in any official competition, Pachuca would be near the top. So it will undoubtedly be an upset if the Union get a result.

Tuesday’s setting will also be a factor. The Estadio Hidalgo sits 7,843 feet above sea level, the second-highest altitude of any stadium in Mexico. That’s even higher than Mexico City’s legendary Estadio Azteca (7,218 feet). Atlas’ Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara, by contrast, sits at 5,138 feet above sea level — about the same as Denver.

“The ball travels an extra 5-10 yards in the air at that altitude,” Curtin said. “The difficulty of a team like Pachuca that high presses and makes it hard on you ... We don’t want to play end-to-end, because that’s a very dangerous thing.”

» READ MORE: Nathan Harriel leads a noble defensive effort in Union’s scoreless draw with Pachuca

But some of the lessons learned from last year, and from winning at Costa Rica’s Saprissa earlier this year, can undoubtedly help. All 15 players who played in the game at Atlas are still with the Union, creating a vital intangible.

“I think last year at Atlas was a huge experience for all of us,” said defender Nathan Harriel, who played the second half in that game. “Learning from last year and trying to apply that to tomorrow will be a huge thing.”

It should be a pretty serious home-field advantage in the 30,000-seat stadium. But Los Tuzos haven’t always benefited from it. Though they have the highest goals-scored total in Liga MX’s spring half-season so far with 25, they haven’t pitched a shutout in their last 10 league games.

That’s something the Union can try to exploit. Curtin’s club arrived in Mexico on Sunday with more rest than it expected, thanks to the postponement of Saturday’s game vs. Seattle a few minutes after it kicked off because of a waterlogged field.

» READ MORE: Union game vs. Seattle postponed because of waterlogged field at Subaru Park

Though the teams could have played after the rain stopped later at night, Sounders manager Brian Schmetzer knew postponing was in the Union’s interest, and he didn’t mind saying so aloud because he’s been there, too. The Sounders have played in Concacaf tournaments many times, so they know the benefits of an extra night off before traveling.

The Union will also benefit from Julián Carranza’s return after missing the last three games with a thigh injury. He trained in full on Sunday, and Curtin declared him ready to go.

“Julián will be back available for selection,” Curtin said. “We’ll certainly utilize Julián, but don’t want to reveal whether that’s yet as a starter or off the bench — but great to have him back.”

Carranza was the hero of the Atlas game, scoring both of his team’s goals. It would be quite a dramatic turn if he’s the hero this time, too.

It might even be a bit of history repeating.

» READ MORE: Markus Anderson is quickly making a name for himself with the Union

The game, which kicks off at 8:15 p.m., will be televised on FS1 and streamed on Univision’s ViX platform. If you tune in on FS1, you’ll hear one voice you know well, and one you might not. Former Union captain Maurice Edu will be on the call with Luis Omar Tapia, who for decades was a leading Spanish-language play-by-play voice of the Champions League and World Cup on ESPN, Fox, and Univision.

It will be Tapia’s first time calling a game in English since 1996, when he called European Championship games for ESPN.

Fox hired him for what a spokesperson called “a few matches.” If they go well, you might hear Tapia calling Fox’s broadcasts of the Copa América this summer.