Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatchwrites that Gregg Berhalter’s first priority as boss of the Black & Gold will be to reach out to his players in some capacity as he travels to Columbus this week. “I see good pieces,” said Berhalter. “I think that the team can be relatively successful in a short period of time, because the pieces are there.”
Yesterday, the U.S. Women’s National team defeated Brazil 4-1 in Orlando in their first appearance since traveling tying New Zealand 1-1 on October 30 at Crew Stadium. Forward Sydney Leroux found pay dirt twice and Abby Wambach chipped in another score – her world-record 163rd goal – in the rout of Brazil. The Washington Post’s Steven Goff has the complete game recap as USWNT finishes their international 2013 campaign without a loss ahead of World Cup Qualifying to take place next year.
Over the weekend, Columbus Crew Stadium hosted the 2013 Ohio High School Athletic Association Soccer Championships for all three divisions of high school boys and girls soccer. The action kicked off Friday as the Hamilton Badin girls claimed the Division III State Title and concluded Saturday with Summit Country Day taking home the Boys Division III honors. In between those two contests, four other state titles were decided as Walsh Jesuit and Rocky River took home the Division I and Division II titles respectively for the girls and for the boys, Mason claimed the Division I title and Richfield Revere took home D II State Champion honors. The Northeast Ohio Media Group has additional coverage on the Gates Mills Hawken and Summit Coutry Day wins.
For just the second time in League history, MLS attendance eclipsed the 18,000 mark for average fan attendance in 2013 play. The Black & Gold led MLS in percentage increase of fan attendance overall. Christopher Botta & Austin Karp highlight the attendance growth in The Sports Business Journal and analyze television ratings as well.
