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Columbus Crew SC

Crew hosts D.C. United Saturday in battle for Eastern Conference supremacy on ESPN2

June 30, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Columbus Crew SC News Release


COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew prepares for an important slate of matches this week as it travels to Rochester tonight to take on the Rochester Rhinos of USL-1 in the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16, before hosting D.C. United Saturday at Crew Stadium in a battle for first place in the Eastern Conference. Tonight's U.S. Open Cup match, which kicks off at 7 p.m. ET at Marina Auto Stadium in Rochester, will be the Crew's first match in the 2009 edition of the historic tournament. The Black & Gold was exempt from the qualification rounds and was automatically placed in the Open Cup Round of 16 thanks to its status as reigning MLS Cup champions. Rochester enters the match after defeating the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of USL-2, 4-2 on penalty kicks, on June 9 in the first round of the tournament, followed by a 2-1 victory over USL-1's Cleveland City Stars on June 16 in the tournament's second round. The winner of tonight's match will play the winner of the Chicago Fire (MLS) vs. Wilmington Hammerheads (USL2) match in the quarterfinals on July 7. The Crew enters the 2009 U.S. Open Cup looking for its second Open Cup title in club history. The first came in 2002 at Crew Stadium when Freddy Garcia provided the match's lone goal in the 30th minute to defeat the 2002 MLS Cup Champion L.A. Galaxy. Saturday's MLS match, which kicks off at 7 p.m. ET, will be televised live nationally on ESPN2 with JP Dellacamera and John Harkes on the call. The match can also be heard in English on News/Talk 610 WTVN and on-line at TheCrew.com and MLSNet.com, with Dwight Burgess and John Bluem behind the microphone and Neil Sika reporting from the sidelines, as well as in Spanish on La Que Buena 1550-AM with Carlos Cordova and Benny Pietrangelo on the call. The Crew and Crew Stadium will celebrate Independence Day in conjunction with Saturday's match, with festivities including hundreds of prize giveaways, face painters and balloon artists, stilt walkers, a photo booth and special postgame fireworks.  D.C. United, which currently sits in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 5-3-8 record (23 points), enters the match after enjoying a bye week during MLS Week 15 action. In its previous MLS match on June 20, United fell to the Colorado Rapids, 3-0, at Dick's Sporting Goods Park thanks to tallies by Omar Cummings in the 11th and 45th minutes, followed by a final score by Colin Clark just minutes after the halftime restart. D.C. will also participate in U.S. Open Cup play tonight as it hosts the Ocean City Barons at Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md. The Crew, which is tied for second place (with Toronto) in the Eastern Conference with a 5-3-7 record (22 points), enters Saturday's match after defeating the New York Red Bulls, 1-0, last Saturday (June 27) in a 2008 MLS Cup rematch at Crew Stadium. Championship rings were presented to the team before the game by owners Clark and Dan Hunt and, continuing the theme of a "Night of Champions," Columbus native James "Buster" Douglas, who defeated Mike Tyson in February 1990 to win the undisputed world heavyweight boxing title, performed the ceremonial coin toss. The match was scoreless until the 45th minute when Columbus converted the second of back-to back corner kicks. Defender Chad Marshall headed home his second of the goal of the season, while Guillermo Barros Schelotto secured his third assist. Goalkeeper William Hesmer and defender Frankie Hejduk each returned to the Crew's starting lineup in the match after missing extended time due to injury. Marshall, along with midfielder Robbie Rogers, were recently named to the U.S. Men's National Team Gold Cup roster and will be miss Saturday's match against D.C. while away on national team duty.COLUMBUS CREW vs. D.C. UnitedSaturday, July 4 - 7 p.m. (ET) - Crew StadiumNational Television: ESPN2; Regional Television: N/ACrew Radio: News/Talk 610 WTVN (English); La Que Buena 1550-AM (Spanish)Crew Webcasts: TheCrew.com and MLSNet.com (English) SCHELOTTO REMAINS IN FIRST PLACE ON MLS GOAL SCORING LISTDespite failing to record a goal last Saturday (June 27), reigning MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto remains at the top of Major League Soccer's goal scoring list. Schelotto, who leads the Crew with 10 goals this season, is followed on the list by Colorado's Conor Casey and Seattle's Fredy Montero, who each have eight scores to date, and Kenny Cooper, who has seven goals in 2009. Schelotto, who has totaled three more goals than during his entire MVP season of 2008, has continued to power the Crew's offensive attack in 2009, as he has scored or assisted on thirteen of the Crew's 21 goals so far this season. MARSHALL SCORES 10TH CAREER GOALCrew defender Chad Marshall scored his 10th career goal last Saturday (June 27), which proved to be the gamewinner in the Crew's 1-0 victory over New York in a rematch of MLS Cup 2008. The reigning MLS Defender of the Year, who was originally drafted by the Crew in the first round (No. 2 overall) of the 2004 MLS SuperDraft, now has two goals this season. His first of 2009 came on April 25 vs. Chicago. MARSHALL, ROGERS EARN GOLD CUP CALL-UPS FOR U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL TEAMCrew defender Chad Marshall and midfielder Robbie Rogers have been named to U.S. Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley's 23-man roster that will seek to defend its CONCACAF Gold Cup title in the 2009 edition of the tournament. Rogers will make his return to the Senior Team for the first time since earning his first career cap against Sweden on Jan. 24 of this year, while Marshall, who was forced to leave the U.S.'s January training camp due to injury, hopes to make his first international appearance since Oct. 12, 2005, a World Cup qualifier against Panama. Marshall has four career caps and one goal (3/9/05 vs. Colombia) in his time with the U.S. Men's National Team. The Gold Cup is the championship of the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean nations (CONCACAF). The U.S. is seeking to become the second team to win three consecutive Gold Cups. Mexico won three consecutive titles from 1993 to 1998 and also won in 2003. The United States has won four times since the tournament began in 1991, including three of the last four events. The U.S. has never lost a match in group play, holding a 21-0-1 lifetime record. The U.S. kicks off action on July 4 vs. Grenada at Qwest Field in Seattle at 9 p.m. ET. The team then crosses the country to face Honduras on July 8 at 9 p.m. ET at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., before rounding out group play against Haiti on July 11 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. ET. All of the U.S. matches in the CONCACAF Gold Cup will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel and the Univision networks, with all three group games airing on TeleFutura.  HESMER, HEJDUK RETURN TO STARTING LINEUPCrew goalkeeper William Hesmer and captain Frankie Hejduk each made their returns to the Crew's starting lineup in its 1-0 victory over New York last Saturday (June 27) at Crew Stadium. Hesmer, who missed eight games due to knee and back injuries, earned his first shutout of the season - the Crew's second of the year - in the match. Hejduk had also missed eight MLS matches due to hamstring and groin injuries. CREW TO DEFEND 16-GAME HOME UNBEATEN STREAK WHICH RANKS SECOND ALL-TIME IN MLSThe Crew will look to defend its current 16-game regular season home unbeaten streak (18 games including playoffs), on Saturday (July 4) against D.C. United at Crew Stadium. The streak dates back to a 2-0 loss to San Jose on June 28, 2008 (11-0-5), and only San Jose, who ran off an 18-game unbeaten streak from Sept. 25, 2004 to Oct. 15, 2005, has enjoyed a longer run of positive results at home. CONCACAF GOLD CUP TICKETS STILL AVAILABLETickets for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup™ doubleheader at Crew Stadium on July 7 are on sale now at the Crew Stadium Box Office and www.goldcup.com. The Group A doubleheader in Columbus will pit Jamaica vs. Costa Rica at 7 p.m. and Canada vs. El Salvador at 9 p.m. (all times Eastern). Individual prices for the doubleheader at Crew Stadium start at $27 and a Family Four Pack of four lower-sideline tickets will be available for $100. The USA is the two-time defending champion, after defeating archrival Mexico in a memorable, sold-out 2-1 final in Chicago's Soldier Field in 2007. The Gold Cup, which has seen record attendances and television ratings in each of the past two competitions (2005 and 2007), will feature CONCACAF's 12 best national teams for the region's biennial title, beginning July 3 in Los Angeles and finishing with the championship match at Giants Stadium on July 26. More information about the CONCACAF Gold Cup™ can be found on the confederation's official Web site: www.CONCACAF.com. Succesful Crew Soccer Academy seasons come to close at Academy PlayoffsThe Crew Soccer Academy 15/16 and 17/18 squads each participated in the U.S. Development Academy Playoffs at Bryan Park in Greensboro, N.C. last weekend, June 26-29. The action kicked off Friday (June 26) with the 15/16 squad played to a scoreless draw with BW Gottschee (NY) while the 17/18s fell to PDA (NJ), 3-0. On Saturday (June 27), the 15/16s earned a 4-1 win over Texas Rush AHFC (TX), thanks to two goals by Wil Trapp, and tallies from Rhodes Moore and Tyler Ranalli. Meanwhile, the 17/18 squad experienced a 1-0 setback to Albertson SC (NY). On the final day of play Monday (June 29), the 15/16s wrapped up the competition with a scoreless draw against Derby County Wolves (MI), while the 17/18s wrapped up the competition with a 2-1 loss to De Anza Force (CA), with their lone goal coming from Brandon Silva. Unfortunately, neither squad advanced past the Academy Playoffs group stage and have been eliminated for contention in the Academy Finals Week, to be held July 10-17 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.. 
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