In Columbus Crew SC's first match of the 2015 MLS season, things nearly went as planned.
They dominated on the stat sheet, out-shooting and out-possessing the Houston Dynamo by wide margins on Saturday night. But they couldn't find a goal, and ultimately lost 1-0.
"We lost the game," Crew SC Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter said flatly. "Having said that, I think our performance was pretty good. I give the Houston Dynamo a lot of credit for winning the game. We had a lot of chances, and I think we did everything but score."
Crew SC outpossessed the Dynamo 60% to 40%, and outshot them 18 to 8. They created plenty of chances to find the back of the net.
But a blinding performance from Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric, who notched 6 saves in the win, kept Columbus off the scoresheet.
"He had a great game; he had an outstanding game," Berhalter said. "That's why he's their goalkeeper. That's why he's at this level, because he's capable of doing what he did tonight."
But Crew SC midfielder Tony Tchani didn't give Deric all the credit, and he and Berhalter both felt there were goals left on the field.
"I think we were kind of unlucky," Tchani said after the match. "We didn't take our chances. We had a few chances on goal. They had two or three chances, and they took one."
Crew SC's new target man Kei Kamara had plenty of opportunities himself, taking six shots on his own, a stat that Berhalter feels is a sign of good things to come.
"We need to give (Kamara) more opportunity to score, because when we did you could see that he was dangerous," Berhalter said. "There were times I wanted to find him behind the defensive line. And then the service: We could have looked to serve some earlier balls. . . . He's a threat in the air, so we want to take advantage of that."
But the second-year Crew SC coach isn't making excuses. He said every team is on a "level playing field" in Week 1, and refused to credit rustiness for the team's failure to score.
"Ultimately, we know we did some good things," he said. "We know that we did everything but score a goal. But there's no room to be satisfied. It's still not acceptable to lose that game."
