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MLS Columbus Crew SC

Crew Concludes Homestand with Eastern Conference Battle against Houston

August 22, 2014 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Columbus Crew SC News Release


COLUMBUS - The Columbus Crew (7-8-9, 30 points) concludes a three-match homestand by hosting the Houston Dynamo (7-12-4, 25 points) on Saturday, August 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel is televising the game, with Dwight Burgess, Chris Doran and Ashleigh Ignelzi on the call. Neil Sika and John Bluem are set to describe the action via a live audio stream on TheCrew.com, with the match set to be re-broadcast on 95.5 The Game on Sunday, August 24 at 10:00 a.m. ET. Carlos Cordova and Juan Valladares are behind the microphone for La Mega 103.1 FM.

Saturday's match is 614 Night at Crew Stadium with the first 10,000 fans set to receive a team poster, presented by the night's sponsor, White Castle. A celebration of Columbus, local food and drink is available to fans throughout the evening with area artists performing as well.

Houston arrives in Columbus for its 10th trip to Columbus Crew Stadium since 2006, a place it has had difficulty playing. Since a June 10, 2007 victory for Houston in Columbus, the Crew is unbeaten (4-0-3) against Houston at home. In that span, the Crew has outscored Houston, 13-6 and has shut-out the Texas side four times. All-time, the Crew is 5-4-9 against the Dynamo, including the clubs' first meeting this season, a 1-0 loss for the Black & Gold in Houston on May 7. The Crew returns to BBVA Compass Stadium on September 13 to close-out the three-match season series against the Dynamo.

The Black & Gold are looking to build off of th eir home attendance success in recent weeks. In the last two home tilts, the Crew has averaged 19,275 fans per game. Last Saturday's attendance of 20,729 marked the Crew's third sellout of the season and the 30th largest all-time crowd in Crew Stadium history dating back to 1999, which includes MLS regular-season, MLS Cup Playoffs, an MLS Cup and U.S. Soccer matches.

Last weekend's scoring was capped by Federico Higuain's assist on Giancarlo Gonzalez's goal against LA. With the assist, Higuain has now recorded a goal or an assist in four consecutive matches. Since scoring a beautiful goal off of a free kick in New England on July 26, the Argentine playmaker has been on an offensive tear, as the club's Designated Player tallied in three straight games after finding a goal on August 2 and again on August 9 against Toronto. Higuain leads the Crew this year in goals (nine) and assists (six) and is one of three players in MLS entering this week with an active streak of four or more games with a goal or an assist, joining Real Salt Lake's Joao Plata (five games) and FC Dallas' Fabian Castillo (six games).

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