Crew Opens Season With 2-0 Win Over Toronto
By Dave Weissman, Columbus Wired
Photos by Tom Theodore, Columbus Wired

The Crew, looking to make the playoffs for the first time in three years, got goals from Adam Moffat (26th minute) and Alejandro Moreno (76th minute) to give the Crew a 2-0 win over Toronto FC in front of 13,843 fans, including 2,300 who traveled from Toronto.

Goalkeeper Will Hesmer earned the shutout, only needing to stop three shots, including a penalty kick to give the Crew its first opening day win since 2004.

Columbus, in its 13th season, has missed the playoffs the past three seasons and head coach Sigi Schmidt is under fire to produce a winner.

A large contingent of Toronto fans covering the south end and north east corner made the trip to root on their team and at the beginning of the match looked as though they would be more vocal and boisterous than the home team’s fans, including the Hudson Street Hooligans.

The two teams battled back and forth until Crew midfielder Brian Carroll found Moffat open running past his defender down the middle. Moffat took the pass and pounded the shot past goalkeeper Brian Edwards to give the Crew a 1-0 lead.

“As soon as I hit it, I thought that this is a good strike and sometimes when you have a shot, you know that it is going straight into the goal.” Moffat said.

Right before halftime, Toronto’s Jeff Cunningham, a former Crew player, looked as if he took a dive inside the offensive box. Referee Baldomero Toledo called a penalty kick, which was taken by forward Collin Samuel. Hesmer stymied Samuel’s initial shot and Moffat was there to kick the ball out of the goal area.

“Will came up with a big save on the penalty kick,” said Crew Forward Alejandro Moreno.

Hesmer was very thankful that his teammates were there to get the ball out of the zone after his initial save.

“I honestly thought that (Collin) Samuel was going to tap it right back in,” Hesmer said. “But Adam came out of nowhere and banged it out of there."

Toronto pressed and pressured the Crew beginning in the second half, but could not turn the few opportunities into goals.

One rally included the ball squirting through Hesmer’s initial stop, but a defender was there to kick the ball away, just as it was going to cross the goal line.

Cunningham raised his arms to signify the goal, but he referee let play continue.

"I think that the result doesn't justify our performance today,” Cunningham said. “We worked hard. We played well, created chances.”

In the 76th minute, Alejandro Moreno was the recipient of a fantastic pass from Eddie Gavin . Moreno beat his defender before gathering the ball and flicking it into the net past a diving Edwards.

From there, the Crew put up a wall and waited out the final minutes before collecting their first victory of the season and hopefully the beginning of a deep playoff run.

“Well it was disappointing. I talked in my pre-match notes about wanting to come away with something,” said Toronto head coach John Carver.

Crew head coach Sigi Schmidt was pleased with the win, but knows confidence is gained over time.

"I thought our play was good in the first half,” he said. “In the second half, I thought they took it to us a little bit. As your confidence grows, everything else falls into place and play follows."