Crew News & Notes

As the Crew returned to a typical training schedule this week at the Crew Training Center at Obetz, it has also learned that it will host a third-round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match on Tuesday, June 29, against the winner of a second-round match-up between the Rochester Rhinos of U.S. Soccer-Division 2 and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of USL-2.

Tickets for the match, which is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m., will mirror prices for regular season Crew matches. Information regarding the on-sale date for U.S. Open Cup tickets will be released in the very near future.

Should Rochester successfully advance past Pittsburgh (June 22 in Rochester), it would mark the second consecutive season that the Crew and Rhinos would meet in U.S. Open Cup competition. In 2009 U.S. Open Cup play, the Crew traveled to Marina Auto Stadium in Rochester on June 30 and fell to the Rhinos on penalty kicks 5-3, after regulation ended in a 1-1 draw. Ty Harden tallied for the Rhinos in regulation, while Duncan Oughton registered the Crew’s lone strike.

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, which is recognized as U.S. Soccer’s National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. The tournament has crowned a champion for 95 consecutive years dating back to 1914. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor long-time soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
The Crew enters the 2010 U.S. Open Cup looking for its second Open Cup title in club history. The first came in 2002 at Crew Stadium when Freddy Garcia provided the match’s lone goal in the 30th minute to defeat the 2002 MLS Cup Champion L.A. Galaxy.

This year’s tournament quarterfinals will be played July 6-7, the semifinals will be played Aug. 31-Sept. 1, and the final will be played Oct. 5.

CREW TO PLAY EXHIBITION MATCH AT DAYTON DUTCH LIONS FC JUNE 19
The Columbus Crew will play an exhibition match against recently-founded Dayton Dutch Lions FC of the USL Premier Development League this Saturday, June 19, at 6:30 p.m. at Baujan Sports Field on the campus of the University of Dayton. Ticket information can be found at dutchlionsfc.com and a live audio webcast of the match is also scheduled to be available via the same site. The Dutch Lions, who are affiliated with reigning Dutch champion FC Twente, currently sit in second place in the Great Lakes Division of the PDL’s Central Conference with a 3-0-3 record (12 pts.). The Lions recently bowed out of the 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 2-0 loss at the Rochester Rhinos on June 15.

WORLD CUP VIEWING PARTIES CONTINUE AT CREW STADIUM
World Cup Viewing Parties continue at Crew Stadium as the first week of group play draws to a close. Thousands of fans have already visited Cup Headquarters and games will continue to be shown in high definition on Panasonic HD televisions provided by Best Buy in the Stadium Club tent, located just west of the stadium. The U.S. takes on Slovenia Friday morning, June 18, at 10, then closes out group play vs. Algeria on July 23, also at 10 a.m. Parking and admission to Cup Headquarters is free, and complimentary snacks and Pepsi products are available to fans in attendance, as is a cash bar and $1 Sugardale hot dogs throughout the tournament. Wireless internet access is available in the Time Warner Cable Business Center for those who wish to bring their work to Crew Stadium while they watch the games, and elements of the Crew Soccer Tour will be set up just north of the Stadium Club tent. State Farm Insurance, Claddagh Irish Pub and Montgomery Inn are also supporting the events and will be on-site at each of the 64 games. Fans can also enter into daily drawings for the chance to win prizes from the Viewing Parties’ various sponsors. By entering into the daily drawing, fans also enter themselves into a pair of Grand Prize drawings, to be held at halftime of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final on July 11. The two Grand Prizes are for a 42-inch flat-screen HD television, courtesy of Best Buy, and one year of Bundled Home Services including digital cable, internet and home phone service, courtesy of Time Warner Cable.

CREW JUNIORS SUPER-20s TOP CINCINNATI UNITED PREMIER ON WEDNESDAY
The Crew Juniors Super-20s squad faced off against the Cincinnati United Premier Super-20s last night (June 16) at Ohio Dominican University and came away with a 4-0 victory behind goals from Brandon Silva, Eric Stevenson, Kofi Agyapong and Tanner Petrick. The CJ Super-20s are now undefeated on the season with a 4-0-0 record and currently sit atop the Midwest division. Coached by Crew technical director Brian Bliss, the CJ Super 20s are in their first season of competition in the USL Super-20 League, which features over 60 teams in nine divisions.

BOTH CREW SOCCER ACADEMY SQUADS ADVANCE TO 2010 DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY PLAYOFFS
The Crew Soccer Academy (CSA) recently completed its 2009-10 schedule in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy regular season. The CSA 15/16 squad finished the regular season in second place in the Great Lakes Division with a 6-2-2 record (11-8-3 overall), securing an automatic berth in the Development Academy Playoffs, while the 17/18s finished just shy of an automatic playoff berth, finishing third in the Great Lakes with a 5-4-1 record (13-6-3 overall), but qualified for one of 12 wild card spots, thanks to having one of the best overall points per game averages across the full season. The 2009-10 Development Playoffs will feature 64 teams (32 each from the 15/16 and 17/18 divisions), playing in 96 games slated for the extended weekend of June 25-29 at in Greensboro, N.C. It will be the second consecutive year that the event will be held at Bryan Park, where Academy teams will play on eight of the facility’s Bermuda grass fields. The 32 teams were placed into four pots for each age group, based on seeding, and were randomly drawn into eight groups of four. The top finisher in each group will move on to the third annual Development Academy Finals Week at The Home Depot Center from July 10-17.

ALL REMAINING HOME GAME BROADCASTS ON ONN-TV WILL BE AVAILABLE IN HD ON TW CABLE
Each of the remaining nine Crew home games being televised by ONN-TV this season will be available in high definition on Time Warner Cable in Columbus. Six of those games will air on HD channel 1310, with three moving to Ch. 1311, which is an add-in HD channel that is used as a sports alternate and only appears on game days as needed. It will become active on the days listed below and the on-screen guide should be updated with the game.

Saturday, June 26         vs. D.C. United, 7:30 p.m. (Ch. 1310)
Wednesday, July 14      vs. Kansas City, 7:30 p.m. (Ch. 1310)
Saturday, July 17          vs. New York, 7:30 p.m. (Ch. 1311)
Saturday, July 24          vs. Houston, 7:30 p.m. (Ch. 1310)
Saturday, Aug. 21         vs. Colorado, 7:30 p.m. (Ch. 1311)
Saturday, Aug. 28         vs. FC Dallas, 4 p.m. (Ch. 1310)
Saturday, Sept. 18        vs. Seattle, 7:30 p.m. (Ch. 1311)     
Saturday, Oct. 2            vs. San Jose, 7:30 p.m. (Ch. 1310)     
Sunday, Oct. 24            vs. Philadelphia, 4 p.m. (Ch. 1310)