The Crew Reserves welcomed the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to Crew Stadium on Monday morning for an exhibition in preparation for the upcoming MLS Reserve League. The Crew backline played cohesively for the majority of the 90 minutes, but two lapses led to Irish tallies to result in a 2-2 draw.
"You can say all you want about how (Notre Dame's goals) were unfortunate or lucky, but a goal is a goal," Center back Eric Gehrig said post-match. "There were some good things, but there are also things we're going to have to fix."
Olman Vargas opened the scoring for the Black-and-Gold in the 26th minute, placing a header past Irish keeper Will Walsh. Right-back Korey Veeder set up the tally when his cross to trialist Aaron Schoenfeld was headed off the crossbar and onto the forehead of Vargas.
Vargas made it a brace in the 63rd minutes when a cross from Aubrey Perry on the right flank found the Costa Rican forward on the far-post to take a 2-0 advantage.
Notre Dame drew blood in the 80th minute as a Dillon Powers free kick deflected multiple times to find the Irish's Luke Mishu with close range strike to beat Columbus keeper Matt Lampson.
The Black-and-Gold nearly answered on a set-piece delivery from trialist Nemanja Vukovic to Eric Gehrig, but the center-back's header smashed off the far-post keeping the match at 2-1.
Gehrig noted after the match the importance of exhibition matches such as Monday's, "Anytime you step out on the field, it's a chance to show the coaching staff that you're able to contribute."
The Irish leveled in the 84th minute, when a missed clearance left a sitter for former Crew Junior Alex Priede to pound past Lampson.
Columbus had multiple attacking chances in the closing moments created by midfielders Cole Grossman, Bernardo Anor, and Justin Meram, but couldn't find the back of the net.
The Crew will be back in action on Saturday with exhibition matches against Michigan State and West Virginia at 11 AM and 1:30 PM, respectively. Both matches are free and open to the public.
