BACK ON THE ROAD
After a three-game homestand, the Black & Gold return to the road for a test at Montreal this weekend ... since June 7, the Crew has secured at least one point on the road in four of its last five away tilts, including a two-match road unbeaten streak that began with a win at New England on July 26 ... after this weekend, the Crew plays just one road match in the month of September -- a clash at Houston on the 13th -- before a three-match road swing to open the month of October.
SECOND AND FINAL TRIP NORTH OF THE BORDER IN 2014
After five trips to Canada in 2013, the Crew makes just its second -- and final -- trip to Canada in 2014 this Saturday ... the upcoming trip to Montreal is the Crew’s 16th overall regular-season match north of the border ... although the Black & Gold fell to Toronto on May 31, 2014, the Crew has secured points in 11 of the 15 previous meetings up North and is 5-4-6 in those Canadian-hosted matches ... Columbus is 3-2-5 in 10 matches at Toronto FC, has a 1-1-0 record at Vancouver and is 1-1-1 in Montreal ... additional Ohio ties to Canada include Assistant Coach Pat Onstad ... Onstad’s extensive Canadian ties are available on his bio at TheCrew.com.
OFFENSIVE OPTIONS
Entering the week, 23 players in MLS have recorded four goals and four assists for their clubs in 2014 ... thanks to the recent offensive outburst from Ethan Finlay and Justin Meram, Finlay (6 goals, 4 assists) and Meram (5 goals, 4 assists) join Federico Higuain (9 goals, 6 assists) on the Crew as the only club within this group to have three players with at least four tallies and four helpers ... LA, Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago, Real Salt Lake and Houston each have two players within that group while New York, Vancouver, Portland, FC Dallas, Toronto FC and Colorado have just one player with at least four strikes and four assists.
