The first-place Crew returns to action this Saturday (Sept. 10), following a bye week, when it plays host to Eastern Conference-rival Toronto FC in the deciding leg of the 2011 Trillium Cup at 7:30 p.m. at Crew Stadium. The match will be preceded by a moment of silence, as will all MLS games this weekend, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and honor the memory of those who lost their lives in them.
The match will be televised live regionally on ONN with Dwight Burgess and Duncan Oughton calling all the action and Katie Witham reporting from the sidelines. It will also be broadcast in high definition exclusively to Time Warner Cable Mid-Ohio customers in Columbus on Ch. 1311. The game can be heard in English on News/Talk 610 WTVN and on-line at TheCrew.com, with Neil Sika and John Bluem behind the microphone, and in Spanish on La Mega 103.1, with Carlos Cordova and Benny Pietrangelo on the call.
Toronto FC (4-12-12, 24 pts.) sits in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and is coming off a 1-1 draw at San Jose on Aug. 27. Brazilian forward Maicon Santos led the team in goals scored, with six, until he was traded to FC Dallas for Eric Avila on Aug. 2. Forward Joao Plata leads the Reds in assists, with four. The Black & Gold’s Canadian rival recently made headlines by adding German and Dutch internationals, Torsten Frings and Danny Koevermans, respectively, to its roster.
Fans could also see former Crew defender Andy Iro and midfielder Leandre Griffit, who were traded to Toronto on July 15, in exchange for midfielder Tony Tchani.
The Black & Gold is unbeaten all-time against TFC (5-0-7) and will look to bounce back from its last match at Seattle, in which forward Jeff Cunningham broke the MLS all-time goal-scoring record. The last time the two teams met, on April 23 at BMO Field, the Crew drew TFC 1-1 with Emilio Renteria responding to a Tchani goal with a well-placed header in the second half. In the last meeting at Crew Stadium, on March 27, 2010, the Crew bested Toronto 2-0.
The Trillium cup is an annual competition between the two teams, named after the trillium, which is both the official flower of the Canadian province of Ontario and the official wildflower of the State of Ohio. The rivalry draws on the teams’ similarities and proximity. Both teams are geographically near the Great Lakes that border the United States and Canada, and both teams also play in soccer-specific stadium that have been built in the central city, as opposed to other MLS clubs that have built their stadium mainly in the suburbs.
The Crew will then only have a four-day turnaround as it hosts the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in another Eastern Conference showdown that will see the return of the ever-popular Bob Evans Buck-a-Brat Night.
COLUMBUS CREW vs. Toronto FC
Saturday, Sept. 10 – 7:30 p.m. (ET) – Crew Stadium
Regional Television: ONN (in HD on TWC Ch. 1311)
Crew Radio: News/Talk 610 WTVN (English); La Mega 103.1 (Spanish)
Crew Webcast: TheCrew.com (English)
ROBBIE ROGERS EARNS TWO STARTS FOR U.S. NATIONAL TEAM
Crew midfielder Robbie Rogers was on national team duty during the Crew’s break. Rogers started both matches – against Costa Rica on Sept. 2, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., and at Belgium on Tuesday (Sept. 6), in Brussels. The U.S. lost both matches, 1-0.
JULIUS JAMES SHINES IN WC QUALIFIERS FOR TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Crew defender Julius James was instrumental in anchoring the back line for his native Trinidad & Tobago in World Cup qualifying victories over Bermuda, 1-0 on Sept. 2, and Barbados, 2-0 on Sept. 6. “We had a good mix of local and overseas players,” head coach Otto Pfister told Socawarriors.net following Tuesday’s game. “Today, [Seon] Power was the best player on the field and he is a local player. And I was also very happy with [Julius] James. Today he played a perfect game.”
EKPO EARNS FIRST CAP WITH NIGERIAN SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM
Crew midfielder Emmanuel Ekpo earned his first cap with the Nigeria’s senior national team on Tuesday, Sept. 6, as he featured in a friendly match against world-power Argentina that was played in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ekpo came on in the 70th minute of the 3-1 loss. The Crew midfielder was scheduled to play against Ghana in a friendly in Watford, England, last month but that match was canceled due to rioting in the area.
JEFF CUNNINGHAM IS NOW ALL-TIME MLS GOAL-SCORING LEADER
Crew forward Jeff Cunningham scored his record-breaking 134th career goal on Aug. 27, in a 6-2 loss at Seattle. Cunningham slotted a well-taken penalty kick to the right of Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller in the 59th minute, only two minutes after entering the match as a substitute. Cunningham now sits atop the league’s all-time goal-scoring list, one ahead of former D.C. United forward Jaime Moreno. He is also the Crew’s all-time leading goal-scorer, with 64 of his league-record total having come in Black & Gold.
CREW SOCCER FOUNDATION GOLF CLASSIC TO BE HELD ON SEPT. 19
The Crew Soccer Foundation will hold its Golf Classic at Heritage Golf Club on Sept. 19. Participants will have a chance to test their skills against Crew players on a challenging and beautiful course designed by famed architect P.B. Dye. A variety of single and foursome packages are available, including a VIP foursome package which will allow participants to play with a Crew player (subject to availability). To register for the Crew Soccer Foundation Golf Classic, visit www.thecrew.com/golf <http://www.thecrew.com/golf> .
CREW COACH ROBERT WARZYCHA ON CREWXTRA THIS WEDNESDAY
CrewXtra, the weekly show on ONN Wednesdays at 8, 8:30, 11 and 11:30 p.m., this week will feature head coach Robert Warzycha, alongside Crew TV analyst Duncan Oughton and host Beau Bishop, as they discuss Warzycha’s new contract, the season so far and Saturday’s match against Toronto FC.
