MLS Columbus Crew SC

Crew Notes/vs. D.C. United Preview

Published on April 22, 2002 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Columbus Crew SC News Release


McBRIDE EXPECTED TO BE NAMED TO U.S. WORLD CUP TEAM TODAY

Crew forward Brian McBride is expected to be named to the 23-man U.S. World Cup Team, when it is announced tonight live on the 6 p.m. edition of ESPN SportsCenter. McBride, who scored the only U.S. goal at the 1998 World Cup in France, was among the 18 players named by U.S. National Team head coach Bruce Arena to the American squad that fell to Ireland, 2-1, in Dublin on Wednesday (April 17). McBride, 29, started and played the first half, his first game action since The Crew's season opener vs. Chicago, on March 23, when he suffered a sprained right ankle. He ranks fourth on the U.S.'s all-time scoring list with 18 goals in 58 career appearances. Following last Wednesday's setback, the U.S. is now 7-3-1 in 2002.

McBRIDE TO MISS AT LEAST SEVEN GAMES, AFTER SATURDAY

Assuming that he is named to the U.S. World Cup Team, as expected, this evening, Brian McBride will play his last match for The Crew for at least seven weeks on Saturday. The World Cup squad will convene in Cary, N.C., on May 1 and remain together through the tournament. The U.S. will finish no earlier than April 14, the date of its third and final first-round match. The earliest McBride could return to the lineup is Wednesday, June 19, vs. K.C., meaning that he will miss at least seven Crew games.

X-RAYS OF PRESTHUS' RIGHT ANKLE INJURY ARE NEGATIVE

Crew goalkeeper Tom Presthus, who limped off the field in the 59th minute of Saturday's (April 20) game with an ankle injury, has been diagnosed with a right ankle sprain. It was initially feared that the ankle might have been fractured in a first-half collision, but X-rays came back negative.

KEEPER BUSCH MAKES MLS DEBUT

The Crew's backup goalkeeper, Jon Busch, was thrust into action on Saturday, by starter Tom Presthus' ankle injury, and the appearance marked Busch's MLS debut. The 2001 A-League goalkeeper of the year, in his sixth pro season, played the final 31 minutes of the 2-0 loss to New England. He did not allow a goal and made one save.

SHOOTING GALLERY

The Crew launched a season-high 16 shots in Saturday's (April 20) 2-0 loss to New England - twice as many as the Revs' eight - but none of them found the back of the net. Five of the shots were on goal, but Revolution keeper Juergen Sommer stymied his former team by stopping all of them.

CREW LOSES IN OT FOR FIRST TIME EVER

The Crew suffered its first-ever overtime loss on April 6, in dropping a 2-1 decision to the MetroStars following Daniel Torres' 73rd-minute red-card ejection. Columbus did not fall in extra time in either of the first two seasons it was used in MLS (2000-01) and it now stands 2-1-11 all-time.

WASHINGTON INCHES CLOSER TO 50-GOAL PLATEAU

Forward Dante Washington inched closer to the 50-goal plateau for his MLS career by scoring The Crew's lone goal on April 6 vs. the MetroStars. It was Washington's 47th career goal and 23rd with The Crew.

HARKES INCHES CLOSER TO 75-POINT PLATEAU

Veteran Crew midfielder John Harkes inched closer to the 75-point plateau for his MLS career with an assist on Dante Washington's goal vs. the MetroStars on April 6. It was Harkes' fourth point with The Crew (0g-4a) and his 73rd career MLS point (16g-41a).

CLARK NOW HAS 208 APPEARANCES IN ALL COMPETITIONS

The Crew's 'Iron Man,' Mike Clark became the first Columbus player to make his 200th appearance in Black & Gold, covering all competitive competitions, on Aug. 29, 2001 at Chicago. Clark is the club's all-time games played leader in regular-season league matches (175), and has also played in all 19 playoff games and all 13 U.S. Open Cup matches The Crew has contested. Add to that one game in the inaugural FC Giants Cup in April 2001 and Clark's total now stands at 208.

CLARK IS LESS THAN ONE HALF OF SOCCER FROM REACHING MINUTE 15k

Clark is also on the verge of becoming the first Crew player to reach the 15,000-minute plateau. The seven-year vet has 14,958 minutes played under his belt, after playing the full 90 on April 20, meaning he needs just 42 more to achieve that milestone and that it could happen late in the first half of this Saturday's (April 27) match vs. D.C. United.

CREW CAPTAINS

The Crew's three captains this season are forward Brian McBride, midfielder Brian Maisonneuve and goalkeeper Tom Presthus. McBride wears the captain's armband when he is playing, while Maisonneuve wore it in each of the two games McBride missed.

CUNNINGHAM TIES McBRIDE ATOP CLUB GAME-WINNING GOAL LIST

Jeff Cunningham's sixth-minute goal in the 1-0 win at NY/NJ on March 27 was the 13th game-winning goal of his career, which ties him with Brian McBride for most in Crew history. The goal also gives him 93 points (33g-27a) to move him within two points of third-place Stern John on the club's all-time career scoring list.

FIVE CREW DEBUTANTES

Defender Brian Dunseth became the fifth Columbus player to make his Crew debut this season, in the 1-0 win at NY/NJ on March 27. Dunseth, who was picked up in January's dispersal draft from Miami, came on in the 75th minute for Dante Washington. Four players made their regular-season Crew debuts in the March 23 opener vs. Chicago. Eric Denton, who was also picked up in January's dispersal draft, Chad McCarty, who was acquired in January's waiver draft, and Daniel Torres, who was signed last September, but did not appear in a regular-season match, were starters on the back line. Torres did make one appearance, as a substitute, in a playoff game last September. Rookie midfielder Kyle Martino, The Crew's top pick in February's MLS SuperDraft (No. 8 overall), made his Crew debut off the bench late in that game, coming on for Jeff Cunningham in the 87th minute.

11 CREW GAMES ON TV IN 2002 - 8 LOCALLY, 3 NATIONALLY

The Crew's 2002 television schedule features a total of 11 telecasts, including the March 23 season opener, which aired nationally on ABC. Nine of The Crew's 14 road games will be shown in 2002, eight of them locally. The Crew's local TV broadcast partners are Columbus' NewsCenter - WSYX, Ch. 6 (ABC) and WTTE, Ch. 28 (FOX) - and SPORT! TV (Insight Ch. 36, Time Warner Ch. 24), while Major League Soccer's national broadcast partners are ABC and ESPN2. Locally, The Crew will appear on Sport! TV a total of five times, and on WSYX and WTTE three times combined. Columbus will appear on ESPN2 twice, once at home (April 20 vs. New England at 4 p.m.) and once on the road (May 4 at defending MLS Cup champ San Jose at 4 p.m.). The Crew's opener vs. Chicago aired on ABC.

EAGLE 103.9 ENTERS YEAR 2 AS RADIO HOME OF THE CREW

Eagle 103.9 (WEGE-FM) of Columbus once again serves as the Flagship Station of the statewide Columbus Crew Radio Network, which feature 10 stations throughout Ohio and into West Virginia. All 28 regular-season Crew games, as well as every Crew playoff match will be broadcast live on Eagle 103.9, with Dwight Burgess, "The Voice of the Crew," calling all the action for the seventh successive season. Former Tampa Bay Mutiny broadcaster Jim Henderson will also call some games, when Burgess works TV games. Additionally, the "Crew Minute" airs four times daily (Monday-Saturday) on Eagle 103.9. Pepsi, Huntington Banks, Frisch's Restaurants, OhioHealth and Columbus State Community College are all presenting sponsors of the "Crew Minute." Webcasts of all Crew games can also be heard on both www.eagle1039.com and www.TheCrew.com.

CREW AIRS HOME GAMES IN SPANISH ON 1580-AM WVKO

WVKO is the Spanish Radio Home of the Columbus Crew for the 2002 and 2003 Major League Soccer seasons, when all Crew home games will air live in Spanish on AM 1580. The first-ever Spanish broadcast for The Crew was Saturday (March 23), when the season opener vs. the Chicago Fire was transmitted live. Local Hispanic media member Alejandro Flores calls the play-by-play duties while former Crew midfielder Marcelo "The Maestro" Carrera is his game analyst. WVKO already has 13 hours of Hispanic programming in place each week. Flores and Alex Goya co-host the radio show "La Exterminadora" Monday-Friday from 9-11 p.m. and Saturday from 9-Midnight. Flores and Goya are also in charge of Columbus' only Hispanic print media, the bi-monthly paper La Voz Hispana.

CREW'S "EXCELLENCE IN OHIO" SERIES CONTINUES THIS SATURDAY

The Crew's "Excellence in Ohio" series continues this Saturday (April 27), when the Ohio Wesleyan University women's soccer team will be recognized at halftime of The Crew's game vs. D.C. United. OWU. located in nearby Delaware, Ohio, won the NCAA Division III national championship in 2001. On opening-day, Olympic skeleton silver-medalist Lea Ann Parsley, of Grandville, was honored; On April 6, AAU Youth Excel Award winner Randi Leppla, of Germantown, and Ohio State wrestling All-Americans Tommy Rowlands, Nick Preston and Rob Sessley - all of whom hail from greater Columbus - were recognized; and on April 20, the Otterbein College men's basketball team was honored for winning the 2002 NCAA Division III national title.

Match Preview and Review - Columbus Crew vs. D.C. United, April 27, 2002

Back together in the Eastern Conference together, traditional rivals Columbus and D.C. United return to a four-game season series this year, the first of which is tonight. United won the last match between the two, 2-1 on Aug. 25, 2001 at RFK Stadium, but The Crew is 2-1-1 in the last four contests between the two. The last time the two teams met at Crew Stadium, May 19, 2001, was a classic. Jeff Cunningham scored a golden goal with less than a minute left in overtime to give Columbus an improbable 2-1 win after playing two men down for 32 minutes. On June 3, 2000 at Crew Stadium, the longtime rivals played to the only draw (1-1) in the all-time series, and in the first game of 2000 season series, May 3 in Washington, The Crew ended the RFK Jinx, which had seen it go winless in 13 previous trips to the nation's capital (eight regular-season and five playoff games). The Crew had also lost seven-straight regular-season meetings to United, all by one goal, before that 2-1 triumph. Robert Warzycha scored the first Columbus goal on a 52nd-minute free kick and a late own goal (Richie Williams in the 88th minute) proved to be the game-winner. The two teams have had an eventful postseason history, as well, having met in the Eastern Conference Finals in three successive seasons (1997-99), with D.C. United advancing to MLS Cup on all three occasions.

SERIES NOTES

* Each of the last 12 games, and 15 of 20 matches all-time, have been decided by one goal or less (including five shootouts).

* D.C. leads the all-time regular-season series 13-6-1, but has only outscored The Crew 35-33 in those 20 games and Columbus is 2-1-1 in the last four matches between the longtime rivals.

* No player on either team has played in all 20 regular-season matches. The Crew's Mike Clark has appeared in 19 of them.

* The Crew won at RFK Stadium for the first time ever on May 3, 2000 (2-1) following 13-straight setbacks there (8 reg. season, 5 playoff). That win also snapped United's seven-game regular-season winning streak vs. Columbus.

CREW

* Brian McBride has six goals and four assists (16 pts.) in 13 games vs. D.C.

* Jeff Cunningham has five goals (10 pts.) in nine games against United.

* Robert Warzycha has one goals and six assists (8 pts.) in 14 games vs. United.

* Brian Maisonneuve has seven assists (7 pts.) in 16 lifetime games vs. D.C.

UNITED

* Jaime Moreno has 10 goals and five assists (25 pts.) in 14 games vs. The Crew.

* Marco Etcheverry has one goal and nine assists (11 pts.) in 14 games vs. Columbus.

* Nick Rimando went 0-2-1, with a 1.93 GAA in three games vs. The Crew while with Miami; He has not yet faced Columbus with D.C.

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Major League Soccer Stories from April 22, 2002


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