TONIGHT'S LINEUP
WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Saturday's road match against the Houston Dynamo begins at 8:00 p.m. ET and is set to be televised regionally on SportsTime Ohio and streamed on the FOX Sports GO App. Neil Sika, Jordan Angeli and Brett Hiltbrand are set to have the call in English, with pre-match and post-match coverage airing exclusively on FOX Sports Ohio. Locally, the contest is available in English on 97.1 The Fan, as well as via stream on 971TheFan.com, with Chris Doran on the call. A Spanish audio stream is available on ColumbusCrewSC.com, with Juan Valladares on the call.
CREW SC CLINCHES AUDI 2020 MLS CUP PLAYOFFS BERTH
Columbus Crew SC officially clinched a spot in the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs this past Sunday. With five regular-season contests remaining, Crew SC is assured of finishing no lower than 10th place in the Eastern Conference by virtue of its 3-1 win against New York City FC on Sunday night. 2020 marks the Club’s 16th all-time postseason berth, making the Crew one of only five clubs to achieve this feat in the League’s 25-year history. Of those 16 playoffs berths, the Black & Gold have reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals on 13 occasions, the Eastern Conference Championships on seven occasions and MLS Cup in 2008 and 2015, winning the title in 2008. Notably, Crew SC is tied with the Chicago Fire for third-most wins (20) in the MLS Cup Playoffs, behind only the LA Galaxy (43) and D.C. United (29).
CALEB PORTER EARNS 100TH PROFESSIONAL WIN IN DOMESTIC COMPETITIONS
With the 3-1 victory over New York City FC on Sunday, Head Coach Caleb Porter tallied his milestone 100th professional victory across all domestic competitions since joining MLS in 2013. Over that span, Porter has registered 88 wins in MLS regular-season action, five wins in MLS Playoffs action and seven wins in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup action. Notably, Porter has also won one MLS Cup (2015).
SANTOS TIED FOR MOST GAME-WINNING GOALS IN 2020 MLS REGULAR SEASON ACTION
Midfielder Pedro Santos has scored six goals in 17 regular-season appearances this season, with four of those tallies being game-winning goals. Santos' four game-winning strikes tie him with Philadelphia Union's Kacper Przybylko and Toronto FC's Alejandro Pozuelo for most game-winning goals in 2020 MLS regular-season action. Additionally, Santos has been directly involved in 10 goals (6 goals, 4 assists) since the beginning of September, more than any other MLS player in that span, per Opta.
GYASI ZARDES SCORES AGAINST NYCFC, MOVES UP CREW SC ALL-TIME SCORING RANKS
Forward Gyasi Zardes scored his 11th regular-season goal during Sunday’s home match against New York City FC. Zardes’ goal came in the third minute of second half stoppage time, when he scored off a rebounded penalty kick attempt. The strike was also the forward’s 43rd in regular-season action since joining Crew SC, moving him into sole possession of fifth place in the Crew SC all-time scoring rankings. Zardes is now behind only Jeff Cunningham (64 goals), Brian McBride (62 goals), Federico Higuain (55 goals) and Stern John (44 goals) in all-time scoring for the Crew.
GYASI ZARDES AMONG MLS GOLDEN BOOT RACE LEADERS
With 11 goals through 18 regular-season appearances in 2020, Gyasi Zardes is currently in second place in this year's MLS Golden Boot standings. The forward - who is scoring at a rate of 0.68 goals per 90 minutes - sits behind only Los Angeles FC’s Diego Rossi (12 goals).
MENSAH SIGNS MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION
Crew SC announced on Thursday that it had signed defender Jonathan Mensah to a multi-year contract extension. Mensah, 30, is in his fourth season with Crew SC and was named captain of the Club ahead of the 2020 campaign. Mensah has made 95 regular-season appearances (92 starts) for Crew SC and has been the recipient of two Crew SC Defender of the Year awards (2018, 2019) and one OhioHealth Humanitarian of the Year award (2017).
