Team
Black & Gold veteran defender Chad Marshall has been a part of every Crew Fest the Black & Gold have hosted since 2005. Marshall again signed autographs and took pictures with fans and he enjoyed the opportunity to give back to the fans this year.
“It’s great. They are spending their hard-earned money to come and support us so anything we can give back to them, whether it be our time or anything, is cool,” said Marshall.
“It’s always great to interact with the fans, you couldn’t pick a better day than this, 75 and sunny, and it’s awesome to be out here.”
Every member of the team joined Marshall on the field at Columbus Crew Stadium, some of whom participated in the individual events. Midfielders Tony Tchani and Kevan George showed their gamer skills in the EA Sports’ FIFA 13 tournament, Matias Sanchez competed in a two-on-two tournament, and defenders Eric Gehrig and Drew Beckie were repeatedly submerged in water at the Crew Fest Dunk Tank.
CREW UNBEATEN IN LAST THREE
The Crew enters Wednesday’s match at Philadelphia riding a modest three-match unbeaten streak (1-0-2) dating back to May 18 at Toronto ... a win at Toronto followed by the pair of draws has allowed for crucial Eastern Conference points as the Black & Gold play their next four matches against foes within their conference.
BUSY STRETCH CONTINUES
The Crew completes a stretch of four matches in 11 days when the Black & Gold travel to Philadelphia to take on the Union on Wednesday ... previously in this stretch, the Crew is unbeaten (0-0-2) in two MLS matches and also secured a Third Round victory over the Dayton Dutch Lions in U.S. Open Cup action ... the 11-day test began with the 2-2 draw on May 26 at New York before the May 29 Open Cup clash ... back in action after a 1-1 draw against Houston on June 1, Wednesday’s meeting at Philadelphia is followed by rest for the team ahead with bye weekend on June 8.
ALL EYES ON US...
The Crew and Union will have all eyes of Major League Soccer on the two clubs as Wednesday’s match is the only mid-week contest scheduled in League play ... this is the Crew’s first mid-week match in 2013 League play, but it is the second straight week of Wednesday action following the 2-1 win against the Dayton Dutch Lions on May 29 in U.S. Open Cup play ... the Black & Gold will get set for another mid-week match on Thursday, July 4 when the team travels to face the LA Galaxy, but the next Wednesday match for Columbus is not until Wednesday, September 4 against Houston at Crew Stadium.
PLENTY OF BROTHERLY LOVE FOR UNION MATCHES
The Crew plays its second and final match in the regular-season series against Philadelphia, looking to build off of its three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) against the Union dating back to 2012 ... the Crew defeated the Union 2-1 in its first-ever trip to PPL Park on August 5, 2010 and after the Union shut-out the Crew 1-0 in an April 14, 2012 clash back at PPL Park, the Crew responded with the beginning of the three-game unbeaten streak with a 2-1 win over the home side Union on August 29, 2012.
ANOTHER ROAD TEST FOR CREW...
The Crew returns to the road for Wednesday’s match at Philadelphia before a pair of home matches on June 15 (against Montreal) and June 22 (against Chicago) ... on the road this season, the Black & Gold have secured points in five of their first seven matches (3-2-2) ... the Crew’s winning percentage of .571 on the road is currently tied with Sporting KC for third-best in MLS behind only Montreal (.583) and League- leading Portland (.643).
... AND ANDY’S ONE OF THE BEST ON THE ROAD
Andy Gruenebaum has been the Crew’s starting ‘keeper in the first 13 matches of 2013 ... the Crew has seen success on the road (3-2-2) with plenty of thanks to Gruenebaum’s road performances in the first seven tilts away from Crew Stadium ... of the nine MLS goalkeepers in 2013 that have started at least seven road contests, Gruenebaum’s 1.00 road goals against average is second in the League behind only KC’s Jimmy Nielsen (0.86 GAA, 7 games played) ... two of Gruenebaum’s three shutouts this season have been on the road.
BUSY STRETCH CONTINUES
Following the May 26 test against New York and Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup clash, the Crew continues a stretch of four matches in 11 days as the club resumes MLS action at Crew Stadium when the Black & Gold host the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, June 1 (7:30 p.m. ET / FOX Sports Ohio) ... that stretch continues through June 5 when the Black & Gold travel to Philadelphia to face the Union before a bye weekend on June 8.
HOUSTON, WE HAVE VERY FEW PROBLEMS
The Crew resumes MLS action this weekend with an Eastern Conference test from the visiting Houston Dynamo ... the Crew has had Houston’s number since 2009 as the Black & Gold are unbeaten (3-0-5) in their last eight contests against the Dynamo ... the last three matches between the two clubs dating back to 2011 have resulted in a draw ... the Crew is unbeaten (3-0-2) in five previous meetings against the Dynamo in Columbus dating back to April 26, 2008.
GLAUBER AND ARRIETA AVAILABLE...
Crew centerback Glauber is available on Saturday after serving a mandatory one- match suspension following his fifth caution of the season that he picked-up on May 18 in Toronto ... Glauber made the start on Wednesday in U.S. Open Cup action ... following an MLS Disciplinary Committee suspension of two matches, Crew striker Jairo Arrieta is also available for selection, as the Costa Rican was away on National Team duty earlier this week and missed the 2-1 win against the Dayton Dutch Lions.
... AND JAIRO FOUND A SCORING TOUCH WITH COSTA RICA
Jairo Arrieta has missed the last two League matches while serving a two-game suspension handed down by the MLS Disciplinary Committee, but the Crew forward remained sharp during his international call-up for Costa Rica against Canada in a friendly in Edmonton on Tuesday ... Arrieta converted a 16th-minute penalty kick to give the Ticos a 1-0 win ... Tuesday’s match was Arrieta’s 10th cap with Costa Rica and third goal after scoring twice during the 2013 Copa Centroamericana.
ODURO GETS HIS SIXTH
The Crew was held scoreless in the first two matches of the month but Dominic Oduro still managed to score in the final two May contests to lead the Black & Gold in scoring with two strikes on the month ... his game-winning goal at Toronto on May 18 was followed by his second-minute goal against the Eastern Conference-leading Red Bulls on May 26, accounting for 66% of the team’s scoring on the month ... Oduro has scored in each month of the season in his first year with the Crew ... the Crew remains unbeaten (3-0-3) in 2013 when Oduro finds the back of the net.
FIRST GOAL IS KEY FOR CREW
The Crew struck first on May 26 at New York and managed to secure a point on the road ... it was the sixth time this season the Black & Gold have gotten on the scoreboard first and in those matches, Columbus is 4-0-2 ... the Crew went 10-4-2 last season when scoring the first goal and went 5-8-3 in 2012 when the club’s opponent got on the board first .
BLACK & GOLD LOVE BMO FIELD
The Crew is 2-0-5 in its first seven visits to BMO Field in Toronto dating back to 2007 ... although the Black & Gold have only won twice there, the venue has quickly be- come the destination for the fewest Crew blemishes (losses) on the road ... of all MLS venues past and present in which the Crew has played a minimum of five matches, BMO Field is the only stadium in which the Crew is unbeaten ... other venues in
Columbus Crew record: 8-1-7 Home games: 6-1-2 (18 GF, 11 GA) Road games: 2-0-5 (8 GF, 6 GA)
CREW TO TAKE ON TFC, DUNCAN OUGHTON
Saturday’s match at BMO Field is the first of three regular-season meetings between the two teams in their quest for the Trillum Cup ... the Crew swept Toronto by going 3-0-0 against TFC in 2012 ... this is the 17th regular-season meeting in the all-time season series between the two teams dating back to 2007 ... Columbus holds an 8-1-7 overall advantage .... the Crew is unbeaten (2-0-5) at BMO Field against the Reds ... this will also be Duncan Oughton’s first match as a member of the TFC coaching staff since departing the Black & Gold last week.
LAST MEETING
Federico Higuain recorded a brace with goals on either side of halftime as the Crew finished the 2012 campaign on October 28 with a 2-1 win against Toronto at Crew Stadium ... with his 62nd-minute penalty kick, Higuain finished the 2012 campaign with five goals and seven assists in just 13 matches with the Crew after joining the Black & Gold mid-season.
CREW HELD SCORELESS, BUT NOT TIME TO PANIC...
After scoring three goals in the first half of the April 27 match against D.C., the Black & Gold have not scored a goal in the two and a half matches since the 2-0 shutout loss to Colorado last Saturday ... the 225-minute scoreless streak is the 10th-longest in MLS this season ... as a point of comparison, three teams with winning records in 2013 -- New York (309 minutes) LA (253 minutes) and Montreal (234 minutes) have all witnessed scoring droughts at some point this season longer than the Crew’s current stretch.
... AND GOAL RELIEF COULD BE ON THE WAY SATURDAY
The Crew enters Saturday with a 225-minute scoreless streak but the Black & Gold have history on their side with an upcoming tilt at BMO Field ... in seven previous meetings at BMO Field, the Crew has scored in every match, totalling eight goals and five assists as a team.
A NEW CENTRAL MIDFIELD DUO
Tony Tchani has made three consecutive starts in the central midfield for the Black & Gold ... joining him last Saturday against Colorado was central midfielder Matias Sanchez, who made his first MLS start after making four appearances in the first nine mathces of 2013 ... The Tchani-Sanchez duo is the third central midfield pairing Head Coach Robert Warzycha has used in 2013 ... the primary duo of Agustin Viana and Danny O’Rourke started the first seven matches of 2013 while Tchani has made three straight starts with Viana out with a hamstring injury ... Sanchez made his starting lineup debut with O’Rourke nursing an ankle injury last weekend.
GAVEN SUFFERING PLENTY OF FOULS...
Eddie Gaven suffered three fouls last Saturday against Colorado ... Gaven is the second-most fouled player in MLS this year and has been fouled 27 times in eight matches, trailing only FC Dallas’ David Ferreira who has been fouled 35 times in 10 games played ... Gaven has been fouled five times in a match three times this season including the May 4 contest against New York -- adding to identical amounts from the March 2 match at Chivas USA and the April 20 clash at Chicago.
... AND GAVEN’S ABOUT TO BECOME THE MOST-FOULED CREW PLAYER
With 407 fouls suffered in a Crew uniform in 207 games played for the Black & Gold, Eddie Gaven is one foul suffered away from becoming the most-fouled Crew player in club history ... Gaven enters Saturday tied with Brian McBride (407 fouls suffered, 161 games played) ... the Crew midfielder is the only active member on the club’s all-time list for fouls suffered.
MLSsoccer.com's Greg Lalas and Matt Doyle preview the Trillium Cup presented by Scotts match coming up this weekend as Toronto host the Columbus Crew, kicking off at 5pm ET on Saturday.
It will surely be a bittersweet moment for new Toronto FC Assistant Coach Duncan Oughton as he prepares to face the club he spent 12 years with in his first match on Ryan Nelsen's staff. But Oughton isn't the first former Crew player to venture into coaching. After all, the Black & Gold's technical staff boasts four former Crew players.
Other former players have even earned some silverware as coaches. Todd Yeagley and Brian Maisonneuve recently won their first NCAA Championship while coaching at Indiana University, while Ezra Hendrickson has claimed three Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups while on Sigi Schmid's staff in Seattle. In his second season as Head Coach of Lanús in Argentina, Guillermo Barros Schelotto could be on his way to hardware as his club currently sits in second place of the Argentine Primera División.
Here's a full list of former Crew players in the coaching ranks:
Columbus Crew
Robert Warzycha, Head Coach
Brian Bliss, Technical Director/U.S. U-20 Assistant Coach
Mike Lapper, Assistant Coach
Ricardo Iribarren, Assistant Coach
Billy Thompson, Crew Soccer Academy Director of Coaching
Toronto FC
Duncan Oughton, Assistant Coach
Seattle Sounders FC
Ezra Hendrickson, Assistant Coach
New York Red Bulls
Robin Fraser, Assistant Coach
John Wolyniec, Reserve Team Coach/Player Development Coordinator
LA Galaxy
Pat Noonan, Assistant Coach
Real Salt Lake
Andy Williams, Head Scout
Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Head Coach
Kaizer Chiefs (South African Premier League)
Doctor Khumalo, Youth Development Coach
Indiana University
Todd Yeagley, Head Coach
Brian Maisonneuve, Assistant Coach
Penn State University
Bo Oshoniyi, Assistant Coach
University of New Mexico
Brandon Moss, Assistant Coach
Cornerstone University
Steven Herdsman, Assistant Coach
ANOTHER HOME UNBEATEN STREAK ON THE LINE, THOUGH
The Crew may be starting over on a regular-season home unbeaten streak overall, but the Black & Gold do hold another home unbeaten streak that will be tested this weekend against Colorado ... the Crew is unbeaten (5-0-2) in its last seven home matches against the Rapids dating back to a 1-0 Crew win on June 11, 2005 ... the match that began the Crew’s home unbeaten streak against the Rapids featured many Crew-Rapids ties ... for the Rapids, Pablo Mastroeni (still active) made the start and Jeff Cunningham suited up at forward for the Rapids, while current Colorado forward Edson Buddle made an appearance for the Crew ... in that match, the Crew’s Cornell Glen buried a penalty kick before later joining the Rapids in 2006.
GAVEN AND MARSHALL NAVIGATE THE RAPIDS
Eddie Gaven and Chad Marshall may be without a goal through nine games in 2013, but the two Crew veterans have seen plenty of success in their regular-season careers against Colorado ... Gaven has scored three goals and recorded one assist in 14 starts while Marshall has two goals and two assists in 14 starts against the Rapids.
THREE-MATCH HOMESTAND WRAPS-UP
After playing five of its first seven matches of 2013 on the road, the Crew completes a three-match homestand on Saturday against Colorado -- the Crew’s longest regular- season homestand of the year ... the last time the Black & Gold played three consecu- tive regular-season matches at home was back in July of 2010 ... during that span, the Crew went 2-1-0 which featured two shutouts and one attacking shutout ... in the current homestand, the Crew has shut-out D.C. 3-0 on April 27 and was held scoreless against New York 1-0 on May 4.
GAVEN SUFFERING PLENTY OF FOULS...
Eddie Gaven suffered five fouls last Saturday against New York -- a match in which the Black & Gold were fouled 18 times ... Gaven is the second-most fouled player in MLS this year and has been fouled 24 times in seven matches, trailing only FC Dallas’ David Ferreira who has been fouled 33 times in nine games played ... Gaven has been fouled five times in a match three times this season including last Saturday’s contest -- adding to identical amounts from the March 2 match at Chivas USA and the April 20 clash at Chicago.
... AND GAVEN’S ABOUT TO BECOME THE MOST-FOULED CREW PLAYER
With 404 fouls suffered in a Crew uniform in 206 games played for the Black & Gold, Eddie Gaven is just four fouls suffered away from becoming the most-fouled Crew player in club history ... Gaven enters Saturday three fouls behind Brian McBride (407 fouls suffered, 161 games played) ... the Crew midfielder is the only active member on the club’s all-time list for fouls suffered and after suffering an average of 3.4 fouls per- game thus far in 2013, he may capture the lead on Saturday.
A PAIR OF STARTS FOR TCHANI
Tony Tchani has made consecutive starts in the central midfield for the Black & Gold, the first time Tchani has seen back-to-back starts in 2013 ... Tchani’s 90 minutes in both matches thus far on the homestand is the first time since June 16, 2012 (at New England) and June 23, 2012 (at Chicago) in which Tchani made consecutive starts and played a full 90 for Robert Warzycha.
DEFENDING CREW STADIUM
The Black & Gold enter Saturday riding a 11-game unbeaten streak at Crew Stadium dating back to July 21, 2012 ... in that span, the Crew is 7-0-4 in front of its home fans ... the Crew opened its home schedule with a 1-1 draw against San Jose on March 16, 2013 and later played to a 1-1 draw against Philadelphia on April 6.
A LOOK AT THE GOALS IN THE FIRST 4,999 MINUTES
In the previous 55 regular-season meetings between the Crew and United, the two teams have battled for 4,999 minutes or 83.3 hours ... just short of the 5K minute-mark in the regular-season series, the Crew has led for 1575 of those minutes, trailed for 1291 of them and haS clashed at level scorelines for 2133 minutes.
A CREW UNITED AT HOME AGAINST D.C.
When the two teams last met in the Nation’s Capital on March 23, the Black & Gold were happy to disrupt a recent trend in the regular-season series between the two teams ... prior to the Crew’s win at RFK Stadium on March 23, all five of the previous meetings between the two teams resulted in wins for the home team ... the Crew wouldn’t mind keeping up the home success in Columbus, however, as the team is unbeaten against United (4-0-1) in the last five tilts at Crew Stadium dating back to October 26, 2008.
LAST OF THE BLACK-AND-RED
Saturday’s match ends play in the month of April for the Crew, but it also ends regular- season action against D.C. United ... the Black & Gold only play United twice this sea- son, so the two teams will not partake in their (of late) annual end-of-season playoff implication match ... two seasons ago, a regular-season win for the Crew knocked D.C. out of playoff contention while last season it was United that kept Columbus from a playoff berth.