CARSON – The Columbus Crew captured their first MLS Cup after downing the New York Red Bulls 3-1 in front of 27,000 fans at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
A first-half strike from Alejandro Moreno and two second-half tallies from Chad Marshall and Frankie Hejduk propelled Columbus to their first league title in the franchise’s 13 year history.
John Wolyniec added a goal for New York who, like Columbus, were making their first-ever MLS Cup appearance. This marked the first time since the inaugural title game that the finals featured two teams making their championship game debuts.
It was also the first time in MLS Cup history that two teams from the Eastern Conference competed for the title. New York, the last team to qualify for the playoffs, made an improbable run in the Western Conference side of the bracket to reach the finals, knocking out two-time defending champion Houston along the way.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto brought home MVP honors after assisting on all three Columbus goals. The Argentine midfielder was also named the league’s Most Valuable Player during the regular season.
Scoring Summary:
CLB -- Alejandro Moreno 1 (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 4) 31
NY -- John Wolyniec 2 (Dane Richards 2) 51
CLB -- Chad Marshall 2 (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 5) 53
CLB -- Frankie Hejduk 1 (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 6, Eddie Gaven 1) 82
Misconduct Summary:
NY -- Chris Leitch (caution; Reckless Tackle) 4
CLB -- Gino Padula (caution; Reckless Tackle) 68
Lineups:
Columbus Crew -- William Hesmer, Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, Danny O'Rourke, Gino Padula, Brian Carroll, Brad Evans, Eddie Gaven (Steven Lenhart 93+), Robbie Rogers, Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Andy Iro 91+), Alejandro Moreno.
Substitutes Not Used: Andy Gruenebaum, Kenny Schoeni, Emmanuel Ekpo, Ezra Hendrickson, Stefani Miglioranzi, Pat Noonan.
New York Red Bulls -- Danny Cepero, Kevin Goldthwaite, Diego Jimenez, Chris Leitch, Carlos Mendes, Dane Richards, Luke Sassano (Jorge Rojas 78), Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Dave van den Bergh, Juan Pablo Angel, John Wolyniec (Macoumba Kandji 82).
Substitutes Not Used: Terry Boss, Jon Conway, Caleb Patterson-Sewell, Andrew Boyens, Gabriel Cichero, Mike Magee, Juan Pietravallo.
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Referee's Assistants: Greg Barkey, Kermit Quisenberry
4th Official: Mark Geiger
Weather: Cloudy, 68 degrees
Attendance: 27,000
