COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew had come knocking at the door of the Colorado Rapids all afternoon on a hot and humid day at Columbus Crew Stadium, but couldn't find their way past the woodwork until Cornell Glen put away a penalty midway through the second half to give the home side a 1-0 victory.
Earlier, the Black-and-Gold twice beat Rapids 'keeper Joe Cannon only to have their efforts stopped by the posts. In the first half, Kyle Martino had a shot deflect off Cannon's right post and Glen had a header glance off the post just after the break. But just when the Crew's scoreless run reached the five-hour mark, Glen scored.
"[Glen] is a good player. He does make a difference out there," said Crew coach Greg Andrulis. "His explosive pace and speed is hard to contain. He had a great chance off the bar."
Glen would get another chance 20 minutes later. Mario Rodriguez was fouled in the box by Ritchie Kotschau and the Trinidad & Tobago international calmly gave the Crew the lead with a successfully taken spot kick.
"Cornell wanted it and there was no doubt that it was going to be his. You have to believe in that," said Andrulis. "You like the attitude and determination. It was a well-taken penalty kick."
The Crew faithful were happy to see Glen convert as they ended a streak of three missed attempts including a Martino miss in their last home match.
Said Glen: "I stepped up and did what I had to do."
In order to answer the Crew's recent inability to score, Andrulis revamped the Crew's frontline for the match. Edson Buddle was on the substitute's bench and Martino moved back the midfield. Glen, who had not started in his two previous matches with the Crew, was paired with Knox Cameron, and the rookie from the University of Michigan put in a decent performance in his first MLS start. Despite some areas for improvement, the coaching staff sees a big upside for Cameron.
"Knox holds the ball real well. We need to work on his movement. He doesn't [move] a whole lot when he doesn't have the ball," said Andrulis. "He is a big physical force and it was great to get a meaningful game with the first team."
Additionally, John Wolyniec made his first Crew appearance as a second half substitute.
"John is a very smart player," said Andrulis. "He was finding gaps and seams. Obviously, fresh legs in this kind of weather made a difference."
The hot and humid weather, which followed some early rain, also affected Rodriguez and Frankie Hejduk, who both returned from international duty on Friday.
"I played three games in a week. It takes it toll," said Hejduk. "It isn't so much the running; I can do that all day. It is the travel and the mugginess."
Still, the two Crew members put in a workmanlike effort on the flanks. "Frankie and Mario did a great job on the wings," said Glen.
The Crew's front line wasn't the only area on the team experiencing changes. With Chad Marshall out with a ligament tear on one of his fingers, Stephen Herdsman paired with Robin Fraser in the central defense. Herdsman's speed was able to keep Jeff Cunningham off the score sheet.
"Jeff is an incredibly dangerous person. He has good pace and good speed. We put a guy on him that's as fast if not faster than him in Stephen Herdsman," said Hejduk. "He didn't [get] behind us that much. We met his match with pace and it disrupted his game a bit. I still thought he was their most dangerous person."
Said Andrulis: "Jeff is a very good and dangerous player. He had a couple of chances that the defenders, I think because they know him, were able to stop him early. I thought Stephen did a decent job on him and Robin did as well when he was picking him up in the second half."
Through the great defensive efforts of the players in front of him, Bill Gaudette earned his first career win and shutout.
"The guys in front of me played great tonight. They gave 90 minutes of killing themselves. It made my job very easy. I can't say enough about them," said the rookie netminder. "The most important part is the shutout and the team winning. The shutout is fantastic, but it doesn't matter as long as the team is successful."
The Crew hope this match is a sign of better things to come. The Ohio outfit, at least until D.C. United play tomorrow, moved out of the Eastern Conference cellar with the win.
"We had some good moments and created some good chances," said Chris Henderson after his first win with the Crew. "I think it is important to build on these three points."
John Kuhn is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
