COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew defeated the Blackburn Rovers Reserves, 1-0, Thursday at Rovers' training facility in Blackburn, England. Adam Moffat scored the lone goal for the Crew, when his left-footed strike from 25 yards out beat the Blackburn goalkeeper in the 23rd minute.
The Crew has been in England since March 2 an will remain through Sunday. It is training at Rovers' training facility, where former Crew and U.S. national team goalkeeper Brad Friedel now plies his trade. The Crew returns to action Friday for its second and final match of the trip, against Everton at 9 a.m. (ET) in Liverpool.
The squad is also taking in three matches while in England, including two EPL matches and one UEFA Cup battle. On Wednesday, the team traveled to Liverpool to watch The Reds defeat West Ham, 4-0. Tonight, it heads to Bolton to watch Wanderers square off against Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of its UEFA Cup match-up. And on Saturday, it will close out the trip by attending the Fulham vs. Blackburn match at Rovers' Ewood Park.
The Crew then flies back to Columbus on Sunday, where it will resume training, likely for the balance of the preseason. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the club will not be going to New Orleans from March 11-17, as originally planned.
Columbus Crew at Blackburn Rovers Reserves (Exhibition) - March 6, 2008
Scoring Summary: CLB - Adam Moffat 23'
Crew Lineup: Andy Gruenebaum, Ryan Miller, Leonard Griffin, Andy Iro, Ryan Junge, Guilherme Só (George Josten 45), Duncan Oughton, Adam Moffat (Brian Carroll 45), Andrew Peterson, Nicolas Hernandez (Jason Garey 45), Michael Ricketts (Steven Lenhart 45)
FAN FORUM SET FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, AT CREW STADIUM'S HUNTINGTON CLUB
The Crew will host its preseason Fan Forum on Wednesday, March 19, in Crew Stadium's Huntington Club, at 6 p.m. The panel will be made up of Crew General Manager Mark McCullers, Technical Director Brian Bliss, Head Coach Sigi Schmid and select Crew players. McCullers will kick off the interactive discussion with a brief outline of the club's current priorities and state of affairs, after which the entire panel will be available for questions.
TICKETS FOR MARCH 22 CREW vs. METAPAN GAME AT CREW STADIUM GO ON SALE FRIDAY
The Crew will take on Asociación Deportiva Isidro Metapan of El Salvador's Premier Division on Saturday, March 22, at 4 p.m., at Crew Stadium in its final preseason match before kicking off the 2008 MLS regular season. An exclusive pre-sale offer is being made available to Crew Soccer Nation members and tickets go on sale to the general public Friday (March 7) at Noon. Tickets will be available in advance of the game for $18 and for $20 on the day of the match. Metapan, as the club is commonly known, is one of El Salvador's most popular and successful clubs. It is the country's reigning champion, having won the 2007 Clausura (Closing) title after finishing third in the 2007 Apertura (Opening) campaign. The municipality of Metapan is located in the metropolitan area of Santa Ana.
GAVEN AND ROGERS CONTINUE TRAINING CAMP WITH U.S. UNDER-23 NATIONAL TEAM
Crew midfielders Eddie Gaven and Robbie Rogers remain at the U.S. Under-23 National Team's final training camp before 2008 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying. The camp is being held in Bradenton, Fla., through Sunday (March 9), before the final 20-player roster travels to Tampa, the location of the first-round games in the qualifying tournament for Group A. The final 20-player roster may include players not in the Bradenton training camp and will be announced prior to the team's arrival in Tampa on Sunday, two days before the U.S. opens the qualifying tournament against Cuba on March 11 at Raymond James Stadium. The U.S. will then face Panama on March 13 at 8 p.m. ET and Honduras on March 13 at 7 p.m. ET. Group B features Canada, Guatemala, Haiti and Mexico facing off on March 12, 14 and 16 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. LP Field in Nashville will host the semifinals on Thursday, March 20, and the championship match and third-place game on Sunday, March 23. The tournament will send its two finalists to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
CREW SOCCER ACADEMY SPLITS WITH OHIO ELITE ON THE ROAD
The Crew Soccer Academy continued its inaugural season in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy last weekend as both teams traveled to Wilder, Ky., to take on teams from the Ohio Elite Soccer Academy at the Town & Country Sports & Health Club. The Under-16 squad dispatched its counterparts from Ohio Elite by a score of 4-0, thanks to goals by Giakumis Kodogiannis, William Phiri, Ross Friedman and Andy Lubahn. The Under-18s, meanwhile, fell to Ohio Elite, 2-1, with CSA's lone goal coming from Nick Blevins.
CREW'S HESMER BLOGS FROM CREW TRAINING CAMP
Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer is currently keeping a blog updating fans about the squad's preseason training camp in Bradenton, Fla. Hesmer will share anecdotes and offer insight at TheCrew.com (here) on his and his teammates' activities throughout the preseason.
CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES AS STAGE TAKES SHAPE AT CREW STADIUM
The new permanent stage being constructed in Crew Stadium's north end is taking shape. Work began on Sept. 10 and the project is scheduled to be completed on April 15. The stage will measure 60 feet deep by 120 feet wide. Click here to view a fact sheet detailing more features of the stage and here to view a photo gallery chronicling the project's progress so far.
