not just the starting 11 players, but the other seven players on game day and the younger lads on the roster. All of those boys have been raring to go for chances if they're called upon when players go away. There will be four or five [gone] at a certain time, so it's crucial for them to stay ready for when they get the chance."
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew just keep rolling along, down a goal on the road to the San Jose Earthquakes with 20 minutes to play last Saturday, yet coming back to win 3-2, their fifth win in a row. The Crew lead the Eastern Conference and all of Major League Soccer with 18 points from seven matches, two ahead of the Chicago Fire and nine more than the Western Conference co-leaders, Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas.
LAST MATCH
• The Crew came into the game with four consecutive victories, longest in the league this year, while the Earthquakes were aiming for their first home victory on the season and second of the season.
• The Earthquakes had scored just two goals in five games in their return to Major League Soccer, but took the lead just two minutes before halftime. Ronnie O'Brien swung in a corner from the left and Ramiro Corrales dove to flash a header into the roof of the net.
• But the Crew blew the game open with three goals in an 11-minute span -- all scored in nearly identical fashion. Substitute Emmanuel Ekpo split the Quakes defense with a terrific pass, finding Robbie Rogers streaking down the left, and two days short of celebrating his 21st birthday, Rogers lashed a low shot inside the far post for the 73rd-minute equalizer.
• But Rogers wasn't done yet. Alejandro Moreno played a ball in behind the Earthquakes back line and Rogers again latched onto it and strolled in alone on goal, rounding Joe Cannon before sliding the ball home for his fifth goal on the campaign (81).
• Then two minutes later, the Crew doubled their lead. This time Guillermo Barros Schelotto played provider, sliding a ball for Brad Evans to burst through the heart of the San Jose back four, and Evans hammered the ball high into the goal for his first professional goal.
• The Earthquakes pulled a goal back a minute from the end, also from a corner as Ryan Johnson powered home a header from a Ned Grabavoy service that took a deflection off Columbus defender Frankie Hejduk, but it wasn't enough to overcome to Crew onslaught.
• Crew head coach Sigi Schmid made one change to the team that defeated the Kansas City Wizards 2-1 the previous weekend at home. With Adam Moffat out to a knee injury, Stefani Miglioranzi made his return to the starting lineup, this time coming into the midfield.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-4-1-1): William Hesmer - Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, Danny O'Rourke, Ezra Hendrickson (Andy Iro 93+) - Eddie Gaven (Emmanuel Ekpo 69), Brian Carroll, Stefani Miglioranzi (Brad Evans 31), Robbie Rogers - Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Andy Gruenebaum, Nicolas Hernandez, Steven Lenhart, Jed Zayner
• "We talked during halftime on getting Robbie Rogers back into the game because the first 20 minutes we were very effective attacking on the left-hand side," Schmid said. " I thought the substitution with Emmanuel Ekpo on the right side was good. We felt he could get some space to play in and he was able to make a difference for us tonight."
TEAM NEWS
• The two goals gave Rogers five on the season, a tally that few could have predicted after he was one of the last cuts from the U.S. under-23 team that qualified for the Olympics. But Schmid said the Crew midfielder has reacted in the best possible way.
• "I think [Olympic head coach] Peter Nowak did me a little bit of a favor by dropping him from the Olympic team," said Schmid. "I said to Robbie, 'You've got a chance to go out there and prove [yourself].' There are a couple of young, wide players in this league who everyone is saying are making it. But at the end of the day, it's all about numbers. He scored three goals last year in limited games, and he's got five goals now in six games. That's what you've got to do. You've got to stick the ball in the back of the net."
• The Crew have been able to avoid injury for the most part in the early going. When Adam Moffat went down with a knee injury before the San Jose, he became really only the second starter to miss games through injury (after Gino Padula). But Schmid had Stefani Miglioranzi - who started at left back at the beginning of the year while Padula's visa was being finalized - available to slot into central midfield.
• However, after just 31 minutes in San Jose, Miglioranzi went down with a thigh injury. Brad Evans came into the game - and scored the Crew's final goal.
• "Brad's had a tough go of it early in the season because he was hoping for more playing time," said Schmid. "But he's a player who is very versatile, he can play a number of positions, and I thought he did great with his finish. His first touch off the pass was tremendous, and he obviously finished it very well."
• The Crew became the first team in the league this season to concede the first goal and come back and win. A big change for a team that in 2007 saw their opponents score late goals to gain a result on eight occasions, whether pulling back into a tie or breaking a tie with a late winner.
• "We're a little harder, winning the tackles, the balls in the air, as well as the second balls," said Rogers. "And I think we learned from last season. There were games where we played better than the other team, but didn't come away with any points. This season, it doesn't really matter what it looks like. We're just trying to get the points."
