Columbus Crew Sigi Schmid has always believed that his squad had quality depth beyond the starting 11. After Tuesday night, he has some evidence to back that claim up.
Fielding a lineup that featured a number of usual Reserves and left several notable stars on the bench, the Columbus Crew opened their 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup season with a 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake at Crew Stadium. MLS rookie Steven Lenhart netted the lone first half goal and Robbie Rogers struck a boomer in the second to round out the scoring for the night. The win moves the Crew into the next round of play-in games against the Chicago Fire.
"It was their mixed line-up against our mixed line-up so it was comparable," Schmid said. "But that's the thing I've been saying -- I think we have some depth and we have people that come off the bench and can play, and I think that's shown tonight."
"I thought Steve [Lenhart] played well," said Schmid. "He got some good chances and he scored a decent goal. With a little more composure at certain times he may have had two or three goals."
The Crew's final selection of the 2008 SuperDraft, Lenhart had never lived far from his native California before joining the Crew - choosing to stay in-state and attend Azuza Pacific. Upon hearing that her son was making his first start with the senior club, his mother flew to Ohio for Tuesday's match.
"My mom actually ended up coming to the game. She flew out from California so I had to go up there to say Hi to her," said an obviously excited Lenhart, who did indeed make trips to the corner where his mother was sitting after both his goal and the end of the game.
Perhaps more impressive than Lenhart's night were the nights of reserve defensive backs Jed Zayner and Ryan Junge. With reserve goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum in goal, the Crew only fielded two normal starters in the back five.
"All the guys that filled in did a great job today keeping the zero and limiting their chances," said Chad Marshall of the mix-matched back line.
"Anytime you get a shutout and you have three out of five players in the back are guys that haven't played any minutes, I think it's great," said Danny O'Rourke who, along with Marshall, was the only regular in the back five. "I think Andy played well, apart from trying to take me out of the game."
While barely tested in the first half, Gruenebaum was called upon several times in the second half, most notably on a Kyle Beckerman header from closer range.
"It feels good just to be on the field in a big game, finally," said Gruenebaum. "Reserve games are fine as well, but that felt more like a bigger game so it was good."
After losing the man early in the second half, the field opened up a little bit for RSL, on both ends. While they were working the ball forward much more than the first half, they did not get enough guys back to cover the speedy Robbie Rogers, who netted the cushion goal in the 53rd minute. This time the Crew's leading scorer did not use his speed, but the strength of his right foot, firing a blast off the right post and past Salt Lake 'keeper Nick Rimando.
Rogers tagged his goal Tuesday night his favorite, so far, of the young year.
"Maybe that was my goal so far this season, for me at least," Rogers said. "I didn't score in the last two games in league, so it's nice to get back on track."
Coach Schmid spoke highly of his young winger, who is improving his chances of getting a ticket to the 2008 Olympic Games with every goal he scores.
"We talked about it after the last game and said, 'Everything was good in the last game but you didn't get any shots. You need to shoot,' and so tonight, especially after he scored the goal, I think he tried to shoot everything that came to him," Schmid said. "He's a player that every game, if he gets three or four shots, he's going to get goals. It's not just the goals, he's confident with the ball. He's confident taking people on."
Nathan Linton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
