The Crew travels to Portland this Saturday, May 5, to face the Timbers at JELD-WEN Field in the club’s 500th regular season match. The Black & Gold is looking to bounce back from the 1-0 setback suffered at the hands of Vancouver Whitecaps FC, last Saturday (April 28), despite largely controlling the match.
Saturday’s game will kick off at 10:30 p.m. (ET) and be televised live regionally on FOX Sports Ohio, with Dwight Burgess and Duncan Oughton calling all the action. The game can be heard in English on News/Talk 610 WTVN and on-line at TheCrew.com, and in Spanish on La Mega 103.1, with Neil Sika and Carlos Cordova handling play-by-play responsibilities, respectively.
It will be the lone meeting this season between the Crew (2-4-1, 7 pts.) and Timbers (2-5-1, 7 pts.). Last season the teams split two matches, with the Timbers winning their home contest 1-0 on May 21, behind a goal from former Crew defender and Dublin, Ohio, native Eric Brunner. The Black & Gold responded with a 1-0 win of its own on July 23 behind an Eddie Gaven goal.
Now in its second season, Portland had a solid inaugural season, barely missing the playoffs and finishing sixth in the Western Conference with an 11-14-9 record. The Timbers are led by Scottish international Kris Boyd and 2011 MLS SuperDraft first-round selection Darlington Nagbe, whose combined six goals (three each) represent two-thirds of the club’s total for the season.
Several Timbers have ties to Ohio and the Crew, in addition to Brunner who graduated from Dublin Scioto and Ohio State and spent two seasons with the Black & Gold. Nagbe is a native of Liberia who grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, and was a teammate of Crew defender Josh Williams with the Cleveland Internationals, as well as a standout at the University of Akron. Timbers goalkeeper Troy Perkins is a native of Worthington, but he might not be available on Saturday after suffering face lacerations during a collision with Sanna Nyassi in Portland’s 2-0 loss at Montreal last Saturday (April 28).
The Crew enters its 500th match with an all-time record of 208-197-94. The Black & Gold returns home next weekend, on Saturday, May 12, to host FC Dallas in the Pioneer Cup at Crew Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
COLUMBUS CREW at Portland Timbers
Saturday, May 5 – 10:30 p.m. (ET) – JELD-WEN Field
Regional Television: Fox Sports Ohio
Crew Radio: News/Talk 610 WTVN (English); La Mega 103.1 (Spanish)
Crew Webcast: TheCrew.com (English)
CREW PUB TOUR CONTINUES AT 4th STREET BAR AND GRILL
The Crew continues its 2012 Pub Tour with a viewing party at 4th Street Bar and Grill (1810 North 4th Street, Columbus, 43201) the home of Crew supporters group Crew Union, this Saturday, May 5. The Black & Gold’s match at Portland kicks off at 10:30 p.m. (ET) and there will be prizes and giveaways, including autographed memorabilia.
TUESDAY’S CONNOR SENN MATCH SHORTENED BY LIGHTNING, SYMPOSIUM ON MAY 8
A crowd of 1,072 gathered at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, May 1, to see the Crew take on Ohio State, honor the memory of late Buckeyes defender Connor Senn, and support sudden cardiac-arrest awareness. The match was called in the 31th minute due to heavy rain and lightning in the area, but not before the Crew took an early 4-0 lead. Senn collapsed during Ohio State’s match at Akron Sept. 26, 2001, and died that night from a congenital heart defect. A native of Granville, Ohio, Senn was a freshman walk-on defender who had earned a starting position for the 2001 season. This Tuesday, May 8, Crew President & General Manager Mark McCullers and defender Danny O’Rourke, a childhood friend of Connor’s, will speak at the inaugural Connor Senn Memorial Symposium on Sudden Cardiac Arrest, a new program devoted to the topic of sudden cardiac death, educating the medical community and the general public on the scope of the problem, sharing the latest advancements in diagnostic imaging and testing and promoting proper training in the interpretation of young adult electrocardiograms. The symposium will take place from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Ohio Union (1739 N. High St.) and there is no fee for members of the community to attend.
CREW SOCCER ACADEMY WINS BOTH MATCHES AGAINST CLEVELAND INTERNATIONALS
Both the Crew Soccer Academy U-15/16s and U-17/18s earned victories on Sunday (April 29), defeating the Cleveland Internationals at the Pinnacle Sports Complex in Medina, Ohio. Both matches ended 1-0, with William Bayemi scoring the lone goal for the 15/16s and David Witkoff tallying the game-winner for the 17/18s. The CSA teams host Indiana United Fire Academy this Saturday, May 5, at the Crew Training Center at Obetz, with the 17/18s kicking off at 1 p.m., followed by the 15/16s at 3:30 p.m.
