COLUMBUS - The Columbus Crew overcame an anxious first half to display a much-improved second half against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night at Crew Stadium. However, the improved level of play after the break was not enough for the Crew take the full points as the two teams played to a scoreless draw to open the 2007 season.
"I thought the first half was a little choppy," said midfielder Ned Grabavoy. "Being the first game, neither team really wanted to make a mistake."
The opening-day nerves might have been enough to cause the Crew to open the match cautiously.
"I didn't think we had a good first half. I thought in the first half we were very tentative," said Crew coach Sigi Schmid. "We played too many balls short and played in front of their defense way too much."
In particular, goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum was nearly burned after he roamed far away from his net and was beaten to the ball by a Red Bulls attacker.
"I wanted to be aggressive. I wanted to establish that just because I am a young 'keeper that I can play a little bit. I think I was just a little too aggressive," said Gruenebaum. "It didn't help that the wind held it up a little bit. It was just a made judgment call. When I was running back, [defender] Rusty [Pierce] told me that was my one and I think he meant for the year."
Still, Gruenebaum rose to the occasion when needed as he came up with key saves to help earn the Crew a point.
"There were a couple times that I had to come up with some saves," said the netminder. "But for the most part, our defense was awesome. If we play like that defensively, we will win a lot of games."
While maybe not as complimentary as Gruenebaum, Schmid still offered praise of the defense.
"I thought the defense did all right. I thought Rusty had to contain a pretty fast guy in (Dane) Richards. I thought he did a pretty good job with it," Schmid said. "Ezra (Hendrickson) and Marcos Gonzalez were solid in the middle all night."
The most positive outcome of the night was the Crew's rapid improvement after halftime.
"It was better that we had a better second half than a worse second half," said Crew captain Frankie Hejduk. "It is something to build on."
Added Grabavoy: "I thought in the second half we settled down a little bit and we started to play. The finish was pretty good for the first game."
The Crew's improvement may have been linked to their change in attacking style.
"In the second half, one of the things that we wanted to do was hit the ball to our forwards quicker, which I thought we did. As a result, we got behind their midfield," said Schmid. "I thought in the second half we were the better team and clearly made more chances. But we didn't finish them."
While several of the chances were not goals because of good saves by Red Bulls goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus, the Crew were just a half-step or second late on connecting on several chances. And when things did align with only a couple of minutes to play, Grabavoy hit the post.
"He is the one that got the ball to our forwards in the second half once they started making harder runs through," said Schmid about Grabavoy. "He is a player that if he gets out there week in and week out, his confidence will grow. It would be a big plus for us."
Despite of not coming away with the win at home, the Crew were pleased to start off the season better than a year ago when they were defeated 3-1 in the first two matches of the season. The Black and Gold also find themselves out of the Eastern Conference basement for the first time since last July.
"I think the people that came out saw a good game, a game that had chances at both ends of the field," Schmid said. "I don't think it was a 0-0 game that was a boring game. I thought it was an exciting game."
John Kuhn is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
