Crew’s playoff hopes come to an end
By Ashleigh Ignelzi, Columbus Wired, Photos by Dave Liggett and Joel Torres

Columbus, OH- The Crew was in the hunt to remain in the playoffs as they attempted to win their second MLS Cup Championship Thursday evening in Crew stadium. The hunt came to a bitter and quick end to the 2009 season when Real Salt Lake came into Crew Stadium looking to prove their prior 1-0 victory last Saturday over the Crew was no fluke. RSL traded goals with the Crew throughout the match and the 3-2 Salt Lake win came as a shock to players and the Crew faithful.

Resorting back to a more veteran line up Head Coach Robert Warzycha had Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, Eric Brunner and Gino Padula starting on the back line. Eddie Gaven, Brian Carroll, Danny O’Rourke and Emmanuel Ekpo were in at midfield. At Forward were the veteran duo Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Alejandro Moreno.

Judging by the start of the game, one would have though the Columbus Crew could have easily locked up a victory as last year's MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored twice for the Crew in the first half.

In the 19th minute Schelotto unassisted drilled one right past RSL’s goalkeeper Nick Rimando to start things off for the Crew. Then in the 35th minute the 2008 MVP did it again with the assist from Ekpo giving the Crew what they thought would be the upper hand.

"That was the Guillermo I remember from the beginning of the season and the playoff games last season," Crew head coach Robert Warzycha said.

Real Salt Lake showed perseverance and why they indeed deserved to be in the post-season when Javier Morales scored in the 37th minute. In stoppage time during the 47th minute on a penalty, Robbie Findley got the equalizer for Salt Lake. Findley’s penalty kick soared right past William Hesmer who had little to no chance to foil the ball.

"We lost momentum there," Hesmer said.  

The penalty came when Crew captain Frankie Hejduk tried to stop Fabian Espindola from receiving a high ball close to the edge of the box, when Espindola rotated away, Hejduk grabbed him and the referee was fast to blow the whistle. Going into the half tied 2 - 2 fueled the fire for both teams.

This Major League soccer playoff match was a tale of two halves. One could see the emotional passion on the player’s faces, but in the second half the winners of the 2009 Supporters Shield couldn’t create scoring opportunities.

Steven Lenhart entered in the 74th minute for Hejduk to try to make something happen and put more points on the board. However, Real Salt Lake got the job done when Andy Williams stepped up his tempo and dribbled the ball right past Hesmer.

RSL had something the Crew didn’t have the second half; they played with a sense of urgency and kept a focus.

This goal sealed up the Eastern Conference Semifinal for RSL and sent the club to the conference final for a second consecutive season.

"It's disappointing. We had a dream start to the game," said Hesmer.

The Crew believed they could get the job done. "The attitude was right. The energy was right then all of a sudden we lose focus. Our team defending on the first goal was poor." Said Hesmer, he went on to say, " It's the one I came closest to. After that they got some momentum."

This match was a display that the overall better team doesn’t always win. But, the team that plays in the moment and for that moment comes out on top.

ashleigh.ignelzi@columbuswired.tv