SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Columbus Crew continued its impressive preseason on Thursday night as it defeated defending NCAA champion UC-Santa Barbara, 4-1, in an exhibition match at the Gauchos' Harder Stadium. The Crew again displayed considerable offensive spark in scoring four goals, raising its goal total for the last four games to 14.
The Gauchos experienced a rough start to the match, as they found themselves a man down just 14 minutes into the match after a UCSB player was issued two early yellow cards for rough tackles. The Crew would capitalize on the advantage, with the first goal coming on a free kick from Duncan Oughton in the 30th minute. Joseph Ngwenya would notch the Crew's second goal of the day in the 35th minute, taking a pass from Ned Grabavoy and rifling a shot past the Gaucho goalkeeper from 23 yards out for the final goal of the first half.
The second half would see several subs from the Crew bench get in on the action, including Jason Garey who kicked off the second-half scoring in the 67th minute, taking a feed from Jacob Thomas and depositing it into the back of the net. Robbie Rogers followed three minutes later with his first of the preseason and first in black and gold. UC-Santa Barbara continued to fight and would tack on a late goal in the 82nd minute.
Tonight the Crew take on the UC-Irvine Anteaters at Anteater Stadium at 10 p.m. (ET). The exhibition will take on added significance for at least one Crew player, as rookie forward Brad Evans returns to his old stomping grounds. Evans, who finished his career at UCI as the school's all-time leading scorer in goals (31) and tied for the all-time lead in points with 73 in his career, earned numerous accolades in his four years with the Anteaters, including back to back Big West Offensive Player of the Year Awards in 2005 and 2006. The Crew selected Evans in the second round (No. 15 overall) of the 2007 MLS SuperDraft.
Columbus Crew vs. UC-Santa Barbara (Exhibition)
Thursday, March 15, 2007 - Harder Stadium, Santa Barbara, CA
Scoring Summary:
CLB - Duncan Oughton 2, 30th minute
CLB - Joseph Ngwenya 3 (Ned Grabavoy), 35th minute
CLB - Jason Garey 2 (Jacob Thomas), 67th minute
CLB - Robbie Rogers 1, 70th minute
UCSB - 82nd minute
Crew lineup - Bill Gaudette, Tim Ward, Rusty Pierce (Marc Burch 45), Chad Marshall, Frankie Hejduk, Joseph Ngwenya (Robbie Rogers 60), Danny O'Rourke (Danny Szetela 60), Duncan Oughton (Brad Evans 60), Eddie Gaven (Jacob Thomas 65), Ned Grabavoy, Kei Kamara (Jason Garey 65)
