COLUMBUS – Saturday evening at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus ended the same way as others have during Crew SC’s recent stretch of home games, with a Black & Gold victory and forward Ola Kamara celebrating with a raucous Nordecke that’s chanting his name.
There was extra cause for celebration this time around. Not only was Kamara’s goal in the 50th minute the opener in Crew SC’s 2-1 victory over FC Dallas, but it was also his 30th as a member of the Black & Gold in less than two seasons. Kamara reflected on that span of time and does not have plans of stopping, especially at the end of this regular season.
“It’s been a fun ride,” Kamara said. “Hopefully this time it ends in a playoff spot, but it’s gone quickly. Probably from May last year until August now, so it’s a year and two months. It’s been a fun ride and hopefully there are more goals to come.”
Crew SC Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter took some time to celebrate Kamara and his accomplishment while also placing his striker in the upper echelon of Major League Soccer scorers.
“Ola has an ability to move off the ball and with very clever movement. His finishing is excellent, his movement in the penalty box is excellent,” Berhalter said. “He, in my mind, falls into that category of very good strikers in this league.”
One can only speculate on how many more goals Kamara will score with Crew SC, but for now, the striker is sure of one thing. He is not tired of the post-game Nordecke celebrations.
“No,” Kamara said with a laugh. “I think they like it. I think they enjoy it.”
The rarest milestone of the night belonged to a man that is unlikely to take time to bask in the glow of his accomplishment. Berhalter bagged his 50th career regular-season victory as a head coach of Crew SC on Saturday against FC Dallas.
“You always want to win games,” Berhalter said. “I think that’s the most important thing. But, in the end, it’s about team accomplishments and about the way we play soccer and it’s about the type of individuals we have here, the type of players. So, it’s something nice but it’s more about the team.”
While Berhalter chose to credit the team rather than himself, a familiar face was around after the match to return the favor and heap praise onto his head coach.
“His work ethic is unbelievable. He watches so many details and he’s so prepared for every game,” Kamara said. “He’s a hard-working man and he has a lot of knowledge about how you play and advice too. So, of course he would hit a number like that and I think you can keep counting the victories too.”
The Black & Gold will have some down time before meeting Sporting Kansas City on Sunday, September 10 at 1 p.m. ET in Columbus
