Columbus Crew Archive

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Whitecaps steal three points at Crew Stadium

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/29/2012

Lee Young-Pyo

Call it a smash-and-grab. Call it larceny. But there was definitely a sense that the Vancouver Whitecaps left the Ohio capital Saturday night with three points that they had simply stolen from the Columbus Crew.

Lee Young-Pyo’s free kick was the deciding factor, as the Whitecaps beat the Crew 1-0, their second road win in franchise history.

The Korean struck one of the most gorgeous mishits you will ever see. Lining up a free kick from the right side, the defender hesitated over the ball, then stroked what was meant to be a cross. But, the ball sliced and curved towards goal, leaving Columbus keeper Andy Gruenebaum helpless to stop the shot. Grunenbaum leaped, but couldn’t stop the ball from floating in.

And this is what makes the sport of soccer so engaging; one team can dominate a match for long periods, but if it doesn’t convert its chances, all it takes is one slip or moment of genius to turn the game.
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Henry makes MLS history with third POTW award in a row

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/09/2012

Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry has done something that no other player in MLS history has accomplished.

The star striker of the New York Red Bulls has been named the MLS Player of the Week for the third consecutive time. Never before has anyone been named POTW three times. But, in a league where many of the Designated Players have disappointed, Henry has staked his claim as the league’s most exciting, electric figure — and Commissioner Don Garber should be writing Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer a thank-you note.

Henry got the most votes from the North American Soccer Reporters.

He’s also the reigning Player of the Month.

He has seven goals in five matches. Is it too early to start the Roy Lassiter goal watch? Lassiter holds the MLS record with 27 goals in a season, done in an era of mini-games and shootouts.
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Single mistake costs TFC dearly against the Crew

By
Mark Polishuk
– 03/31/2012

Bernardo Anor

Toronto FC has very little margin for error.  For a team that’s struggling to both consistently defend and, increasingly, struggling to score goals, one mistake is all it takes to waste a strong performance.  Such was the case on Saturday, when TFC largely outplayed the Columbus Crew but came up on the wrong end of a 1-0 result at BMO Field.

The key moment of the game occurred in the 56th minute, when a Toronto surge quickly became a counter-attack after a Julian de Guzman turnover at midfield.  Columbus midfielder Bernardo Anor was the point man for a give-and-go series of passes and was in position in front of TFC’s net for a cross.  Reds centre back Logan Emory was in position to cut the ball off but his clearance attempt went right to Anor, who fired it in for the goal.

It was a tough error for Emory, made doubly worse since he had delivered a strong performance up to that moment.  Toronto’s back line has already been thinned by injuries and international absences so, with Miguel Aceval nursing a bad hamstring, Emory — who played with the NASL’s Puerto Rico Islanders in 2011 — got the opportunity for his second start.

Emory left before speaking to reporters, but his teammates were quick to point the finger at the team’s overall failure to capitalize as the reason for the defeat.
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10-man Impact beaten in Columbus

By
Mike Wyman
– 03/25/2012

Jeb Brovsky: Sent off

It is generally considered that an official has done his job if, at the end of the game, spectators are still in the dark as to his identity. Mark Geiger refereed today’s tilt between the Impact and Crew, one the Columbus XI took 2-0 to open the home portion of its schedule with its first victory of the 2012 schedule.

Last season’s MLS Referee of the Year showed the red card in the 19th minute, sending off Jeb Brovsky following an airborne contest that saw the Impact defender’s elbow make contact with Crew forward Milovan Mirosevic’s ear, a turn of events that normally might (maybe, possibly) draw a yellow.

Ten minutes later Geiger awarded Columbus a penalty after a tackle attempt by Impact midfielder, Felipe, that saw the young Brazilian get his foot on the ball before his trailing leg got tangled with that of Crew attacker Emilio Renteria, who led his club with five shots on the afternoon.
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The 11′s super-duper MLS 2012 season preview

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/07/2012

The 11’s Steven Sandor, Mark Polishuk and Aman Dhanoa held a virtual round table, discussing how they foresaw the 2012 MLS season.

Will the Galaxy repeat? Will any of the three Canadian teams make the playoffs? Who will be the MVP?

We tallied up our votes, and came up with our list of how the teams will finish, who will win MLS Cup and who will be the league’s MVP. No need to play the season, now. We have it all figured out.
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TFC says Iro, Marosevic rejected contract offers

By
Steven Sandor
– 01/20/2012

Peri Marosevic

Toronto FC didn’t release forward Peri Marosevic and defender Andy Iro; according the MLS club, the two players rejected its contract offers.

The team announced Friday that both Iro and Marosevic won’t be back this season.

“Both Andy and Peri declined our contract extension offers and now the club is ready to move on,” said Toronto FC Head Coach and Technical Director Aron Winter in a release issued by the club. “We met with both players at the conclusion of the season and presented them with fair offers that they have declined. I’d like to thank them for their contributions to our club and wish them well in the future endeavours.”
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Whitecaps make six available, deal Salinas: Jazic top Canadian available in re-entry draft

By
Steven Sandor
– 11/30/2011

Ante Jazic: Regular starter for Canada, but made available by Chivas USA.

Wednesday, all MLS teams submitted their lists of the players who will be made available for the second-ever re-entry draft, to be held Monday.

The Whitecaps had six on the list; Toronto FC had defender Danleigh Borman; and the Impact had two, despite having yet to play an MLS game (more on that later).

But, the reality for most of the players put on the waiver draft list is that they won’t be playing in MLS next season. Many need to start thinking about rebuilding themselves in NASL or another comparable league.

Last year, only two players were selected in the first round of the re-entry draft. Aaron Hohlbein didn’t play an MLS game this season; he went back to NASL. And Joseph Ngwenya played 16 games for D.C. United. Ironically, Ngwenya is back in the re-entry draft process this year, as the option year on his contract was declined. In the first round, players can’t take pay cuts, so teams have to accept the options of the players’ old deals or come up with comparable salary numbers. Players chosen in the second round have to give the clubs that select them exclusive negotiating windows, but bets are off in terms of how deals must be structured.
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Expansion Draft: Impact ignores Ching’s retirement threat

By
Steven Sandor
– 11/23/2011

Brian Ching vowed to retire if the Impact chose him in the expansion draft.

Montreal Impact coach Jesse Marsch showed the entire league that he doesn’t respond well to threats.

Brian Ching, scorer of 77 career regular-season goals, made it public that he would rather retire than be plucked off Houston’s roster and go to the Impact. What did Marsch do? He made Ching the first pick of expansion draft.

Now, the questions are: Will Ching back down? Will he retire? Or will the Impact make a deal that sends him back to Houston?

“We’d be delighted to have him,” Marsch said after the team had announced its 10 picks and a couple of subsequent trades.

“When you see the list, Brian’s name sticks out.”
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Colorado goes from Western underdogs to Eastern favourites

By
Steven Sandor
– 10/28/2011

Gary Smith

Could the Colorado Rapids do it again?

With a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew in Thursday’s wild-card playoff game the Colorado Rapids now cross over to the Eastern Conference and face Sporting Kansas City Sunday in the first leg of their two-game series.

Does this script sound familiar? Last year, Colorado scraped into the playoffs as a low seed, crossed over to the East, and then went on to the MLS Cup — which it won.
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MLS playoff system makes Wednesday sudden-death game a tough sell

By
Steven Sandor
– 10/27/2011

Major League Soccer launched its new playoff format on Wednesday with the first of its two wild-card play-in games. Thanks to goals from Joel Lindpere and Thierry Henry, the New York Red Bulls beat FC Dallas 2-0 — eliminating the Hoops from the post-season just a week after Toronto FC went into Texas and knocked Dallas out of the CONCACAF Champions League.

The review of the playoff game itself? Meh.

The fact that just 10,017 people showed up at Pizza Hut Park to cheer on FC Dallas is troubling. And, it’s a sign MLS can learn some lessons on how much time is actually needed to generate interest in a one-and-done playoff game between lower seeds.
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