The competition wasn’t to the level of the Crew, but that was never the intent when exhibitions were scheduled Friday against Marshall and Michigan State.
An open weekend from MLS play kept the Crew regulars fit and gave some reserves playing time against players other than their teammates they see every day in practice.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto went the distance in the first game and scored the third goal in a 5-0 win over Marshall. Also scoring for the Crew were Eddie Gaven, Sergio Herrera, French trialist Leandre Griffit and guest player Saidi Isaac.
Griffit had two assists to help break a scoreless tie at halftime.
Other Crew regulars who appeared in the opener included William Hesmer, Eric Brunner, Kevin Burns, Brian Carroll and Othaniel Yanez. The rest of the lineup was filled by guest players.
Brunner left midway through the first half after cracking heads with a Marshall player and later said he lost consciousness momentarily. He is expected to be held out of full training until the middle of next week.
In the second match, the Crew defeated Michigan State 5-0 behind a pair of goals from Steven Lenhart and Emmanuel Ekpo before the break and second-half tallies from Andy Iro and Emilio RenterÃa.
A full Crew lineup was used: Kenny Schoeni, Gino Padula, Duncan Oughton, Danny O’Rourke, Iro, Ekpo, Dilly Duka, Adam Moffat, Lenhart, Jason Garey and RenterÃa. Assistant coach Mike Lapper replaced O’Rourke late in the second half.
Injured Crew members Frankie Hejduk, Shaun Francis, Chad Marshall, Jed Zayner and Robbie Rogers.
The Crew plays at FC Dallas on April 10, followed by exhibitions against college teams Louisville and Duquesne during another bye week on April 17.
