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The Crew make their first appearance in 2012 on national TV this Saturday on the new NBC Sports channel. The Black & Gold travel to Philadelphia to take on the Union Saturday at 3:30pm.

Click here to find NBC Sports on your local provider.

Official Crew Pub Tour stop this week at BBR in the Arena District. Learn More

Eric Gehrig reflects on his Man of the Match honors in Toronto:

The Crew's newest signing, forward Aaron Schoenfeld, sat down with TheCrew.com's Cody Sharrett to talk about his path to Columbus, his MLS debut, and more.

Cody Sharrett: Aaron, first of all, welcome to Columbus. Explain the process and emotions of leaving the Montreal Impact camp and getting a call from the Crew.

Aaron Schoenfeld: The day I got released from Montreal, I was pretty devasted-- as any player would be. It's been definitely my dream to become a professional soccer player. When that happened, it was kind of a whirlwind. You don't know if anything else is going to work out. At the same time, when I got released, the next day I was in camp with Orlando City SC, a USL side. I trained with them for three or four days, and then I got a call from (the Crew). It was just crazy, the turn of events. I was more than excited to have one more opportunity. I knew if I didn't make it here, I would have to end up playing in a lower division.

CS: You made your debut against the team that cut you, Montreal.  You had a couple of good touches, but never really got a chance at goal, was there any extra motivation to score against the Impact?

AS: I little bit, for sure. At the same time, I'm not saying I disagree with their decision... I was confident enough and I thought I should've made their roster, but since I'm not mad at them there's no hard feelings. Obviously, I wanted to go out there and not necessarily prove that they made a mistake, but at the same time those are my buds and it's always fun to score on your friends.

CS: You're from Knoxville, Tennessee. MLS-wise that's kind of a no-man's land. Were there any teams you followed growing up?

AS: To be honest, the Columbus Crew is the closest team to Knoxville.  If you do support MLS there, it's the Columbus Crew. Growing up, we played tournaments in Dayton. A lot of my teammates and I would drive to the Crew games.

CS: You're obviously a big guy at 6'3", providing a nice target forward for the Crew. What weapons do you bring to the field?

AS: I try to use my strength and my size the best that I can. If I utilize it, it can be an advantage: being big, trying to hold the play up and linking other people in. Pretty much, my game should be around the ball, getting a head to the end of balls, and getting tap-ins off the rebound.