(I'm just curious, trying to understand if my way of thinking is flawed)
Last season I was faced with a dilemna for our last U21 game. I TIEd all previous games (which cost us an important victory, but that's another story), but we needed a win (+ a few points) in the last one to make it to the semis. The opposing team had the edge skill-wise, so on equal effort it was pretty much a guaranteed loss.
In the same situation, would you tie that last game, to save enth for the semis/finals, and possibly go home empty handed with a sky-high enthusiasm, or do you crunch that game to ensure a place in the semis and live to see another day?