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So there were hugs all around and a roar from the crowd after City SC snapped a five-game winless streak and a three-game losing streak on Sunday night with a 2-1 win over Portland at a sold-out — but not full — Energizer Park. As much jubilation as there was when the team snapped its 11-game winless streak in David Critchley’s first game as interim coach, this one resonated at a whole other level.

“I think it’s because the performances have been so good,” Critchley said, “but we couldn’t quite get across the line with the result. But I asked these guys to be emotionally connected with the game. That’s what I think helps winning teams: be emotionally connected with the game while also applying the discipline and the tactics and all of these things. My message to them was get 1% better last week, which we’ve done, and now the message is go be consistent. So now we have to pick up consistent results now moving forward.”

The way City SC got the win was significant too. It won for the first time after falling behind — City SC came into the game 0-9 when allowing the first goal — and did it with two goals by Marcel Hartel, who scored two goals in the team’s first 21 games before getting two in 13 minutes in Game 22. And it did it with Eduard Lowen back on the field for the first time since May 31, coming off the bench in the 66th minute to a huge ovation from the crowd and making a pretty much immediate impact, taking a free kick that required a diving save but which put in motion the events that led to the go-ahead goal.

“It was very emotional,” Hartel said. “It was very important for us as a team. We put so much energy every week in training, in the games. You can see the turnover was there. We played good games, but we never get the result. And today was an amazing game. From the beginning, we played a very, very good first half, but we don’t show the goal, then we concede a goal.

“We go into halftime, Critch had a good halftime talk to us, and we come out, continue playing forward. And we turn the game in our direction. And in the end, was just like defending with our heart to get these three points. And after the whistle from the ref, you can feel this emotion from the whole team and also from the crowd.”

“Everybody knows what situation we were in,” said goalkeeper Roman Burki, who made two big saves, one in the first half, one in the second half, to keep it a one-goal game, “and it feels good to win at home. To give something back to the fans and also to reward ourselves for the hard work we put in. So we’re very happy about that.”

Of course, this one win makes only a slight impact in the big picture. City SC came into the game tied with the Los Angeles Galaxy and Montreal for the worst record in the league at 15 points, so the team needed some kind of result to move out of that designation. City SC remains in 14th place in the Western Conference and is three points behind 13th-place Dallas, which it conveniently plays Saturday to put catching Dallas solely within its grasp. City SC is nine points behind the last playoff team in the West and is looking at winning eight to 10 of its final 12 games to have a shot at a playoff spot.

And as improbable as that may sounds, the only possible path to it would seem to require a healthy Lowen and a productive Hartel, both of whom appeared on Sunday.

Hartel had two goals in MLS play, plus one in the U.S. Open Cup, coming into the game, with his most recent MLS goal coming on May 3. Hartel had three goals in nine MLS games when he joined the team from Germany a year ago, plus two goals in four Leagues Cup games. The scoring was not as plentiful this season as Hartel was called on to fill multiple roles this season, some of which moved him far away from the opposing goal.

“It was important for me to get confidence,” he said. “But the goals were especially (important) for the team.”

“Super-important,” said Critchley. “He’s been super-impactful for this team in all spaces on the field. So to finalize his game, he needs to build off this now and continue to score goals. I was super-, super-happy for him. He comes in every single day. He covers so much ground in his intensity in the way he runs and the way he trains. So to see him get two today, I was very, very happy for Marcel.”

“He’s the type of player that is a game changer,” said Wallem. “So in our moments, for example, the moments today, we are playing a game changer, a game changer that steps up and helps the team and wins the game. So that’s massive.”

The first goal came in the 54th minute after Tomas Ostrak broke away from the Portland defense to start the play, Hartel got the ball to Celio Pompeu, who got the ball into the box and back to Hartel, who almost collided with Klauss before roofing the ball from about 5 yards out.

And then in the 67th minute, he headed in a pinpoint ball into the box from Wallem to put City SC in the lead for the first time in a month.

That play began with a free kick by Lowen that required a diving save by goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau. It was the first appearance for Lowen since May 31 because of a hamstring injury. Coincidence or otherwise, City SC is 4-2-2 in games Lowen has played in this season.

“Edu’s presence is contagious,” Critchley said.

“He came onto the field because he’s supposed to help us, and he did,” Burki said. “Edu is an extraordinary player.”

And the other big takeaway was that for one of the few times this season, City SC outplayed a team and won, though at halftime, it looked like business as usual. City SC led in almost every stat category except the most important one: the score.

“Today was, in my opinion, so far our best game in every way,” Hartel said.

Maybe so, but Burki didn’t see it as a complete game.

“No, we missed some chances,” he said. “We conceded the goal. So it’s far from the game that we want to have, but I think we did a really good job mentality wise and not giving up and keep staying true to our plan.

“To be honest, the atmosphere wasn’t the best in the locker room, with 1-0 down again. After we invested so much, the reaction afterwards was very good. We didn’t panic. We didn’t just throw everything overboard just because we were 1-0 down. We stayed true to the plan and we executed it very well.”

Pompeu left the game in the 67th minute after being hit hard by Portland’s Kevin Kelsy, who was trying to stop a charge upfield. Pompeu was holding his right shoulder, and when he returned to the field after the game, his arm was in a sling.

“It’s almost a perfect picture that we come off injury-free from that game with the result,” Critchley said. “He’s got it in a sling right now, but I assume it’s just precautionary for him. ... Hopefully it’s not too bad and just a mild strain or something.”