ORLANDO - The Columbus Crew fell 1-0 to the Montreal Impact in the Final of the Disney Pro Soccer Classic Saturday night. Veteran midifelder Justin Mapp provided the match's lone tally in the 54th minute to lead the Impact to victory.
As both teams prepared for their first regular season matches next weekend, chances were few-and-far-between in the first half as the sides went into the break tied at zero.
Montreal broke the deadlock early in the second half when Mapp's attempt through traffic pinged off the post and in the net past Crew 'keeper Andy Gruenebaum to give the Impact a 1-0 lead after 54 minutes. Just after, the Black & Gold nearly equalized, but Dominic Oduro's shot was off the mark.
The Crew tested Montreal netminder Troy Perkins in the 84th minute as Matías Sánchez's free kick service found the head of Ryan Finley, but Perkins' diving save denied Columbus the equalizer.
Finley created another chance for a Crew leveler in stoppage time, drawing a foul from Matteo Ferrari just outside the box. The Black & Gold were unable to draw even as Eddie Gaven's free kick missed just inches over the crossbar.
The defeat moves Columbus to a 5-2-0 record in the 2013 preseason between trips to Bradenton and Orlando, Fla.
Crew players who featured in Saturday night's match will meet the rest of the team in Greensboro, NC for the first annual Kirk Urso Memorial Match against the University of North Carolina at 1:00 p.m. ET. All proceeds from the match will benefit the Kirk Urso Memorial Fund.
The Black & Gold kick off the 2013 Major League Soccer schedule March 2 in Carson, Calif. against Chivas USA (10:30 p.m./FOX Sports Ohio).
SCORING SUMMARY
MTL - Mapp 54'
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
MTL - Pisanu 16'
CLB - Viana 26'
CLB - Gláuber 73'
MTL - Ferrari 90+'
LINEUPS
Columbus Crew: Andy Gruenebaum; JoshWilliams, Chad Marshall, Gláuber, Wahl; Dominic Oduro (Ethan Finlay, 65'), Danny O'Rourke (Tony Tchani, 46'), Agustín Viana (Matías Sánchez, 46'; Drew Beckie, 88'), Eddie Gaven; Federico Higuaín (Ben Speas, 69'), Jairo Arrieta (Ryan Finley, 70').
Substitutes not used: Matt Lampson.
Montreal Impact: Troy Perkins, Jeb Brovsky, Alessandro Nesta, Matteo Ferrari, Hassoun Camara; Patrice Bernier, Justin Mapp (Collen Warner, 80'), Felipe (Calum Mallace, 80'), Davy Arnaud (Sanna Nyassi, 80'), Andrea Pisanu (Andrés Romero, 70'); Marco Di Vaio (Andrew Wenger, 76').
Substitutes not used : Evan Bush, Zarek Valentin, Dennis Iapichino, Karl W. Ouimette, Wandrille Lefèvre, Blake Smith.
