who was 8-for-8 on penalty kicks in MLS to that point -- pulled his effort wide. It was the first MLS loss for Columbus at Crew Stadium since losing to San Jose on June 7, 2008.
• Crew head coach Robert Warzycha made four changes to the team that defeated the LA Galaxy 2-0 at Crew Stadium the Saturday before. Gino Padula came back into the back four for the suspended Frankie Hejduk and Robbie Rogers took the place of Emmanuel Ekpo. Up top, the first-choice pair of Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Alejandro Moreno came in for Emilio Renteria and Steven Lenhart.
• Here's Warzycha's team (4-4-2): William Hesmer - Jed Zayner (Steven Lenhart 64), Danny O'Rourke, Eric Brunner, Gino Padula - Eddie Gaven, Kevin Burns (Emmanuel Ekpo 71), Brian Carroll, Robbie Rogers - Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Alejandro Moreno (Emilio Renteria 77). Substitutes Not Used: Andy Iro, Adam Moffat, Duncan Oughton, Kenny Schoeni
• "We attacked for 90 minutes so I didn't see anybody tired. We pushed for a goal until the last minute," Warzycha said. "It was a fluky goal we gave up. We had the momentum at the time. The guys kept pushing for the goal. It wasn't our night."
TEAM NEWS
• For the Crew, it was their first loss in MLS league and cup competition in 24 matches. They were unbeaten in 22 regular-season games (18-0-6), since a 2-0 defeat to San Jose on June 7, 2008, and had also won two games in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
• "It's something we take a lot of pride in," William Hesmer said. "I'm really disappointed for the fans because ever since they put together that Nordecke section we've made this place a fortress. We've fought hard for them and as you can tell at the end of the game they make everybody play with heart whether you want to or not. You feel their passion. It's infectious. You can't help but feel it on the field.
• Schelotto had converted his three penalty kick opportunities this season, with Eddie Gaven also scoring on one when Schelotto was briefly off the field injured.
• "I was surprised then I thought, 'It's just the how the night is going,' " Robbie Rogers said. "We had a lot of chances -posts and maybe some fouls that should have been called. He's made a lot of PKs. He's saved our team a lot of times. It's better to happen now than in the playoffs. I thought we played well. It stinks when you lose when you play well."
• While the Crew cannot clinch the Eastern Conference regular-season title and home-field advantage throughout the MLS Cup Playoffs this weekend, they are still guaranteed of finishing no lower than second in the East and having the second leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series at Crew Stadium.
• "It's better to lose now than the playoffs. We have to look forward to the games left. We have to try to win the Supporters' Shield," Gino Padula said.
• The Crew will be without five first-choice performers for the first match of the extended home-and-home series against New England. Frankie Hejduk and Rogers (U.S.) and forward Alejandro Moreno (Venezuela) will be out because of World Cup qualifiers, defender Chad Marshall is injured and defender Danny O'Rourke suspended.
• "We'll bounce back from it, we always do, it's what we've been doing for the past two years, so I'm not really worried. It's nice that we're still in first place and we have that cushion because of what we've done this season; we've worked hard to get to that point," Rogers said. "Now we go to New England, a place where we won last year, and the year before that we got two ties out of there, so we've been pretty good there."
