Heavy rain and lightning shortened the 11th Annual Connor Senn Match, on Tuesday evening at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on Ohio State’s campus where the Crew faced Buckeyes. The Black & Gold was leading 4-0 behind goals by Cole Grossman (2), Bernardo Anor and Emilio Renteria before the referee stopped the match in the 31st minute.
One of the most important aspects of the evening was the turnout of over 1,000 fans who joined Senn’s family and friends in support of the event and sudden cardiac arrest research. Senn, a longtime friend of Crew midfielder Danny O’Rourke, collapsed during Ohio State’s match at Akron Sept. 26, 2001, and died that night from a congenital heart defect. A native of Granville, Ohio, Connor was a freshman walk-on defender who had earned a starting position for the 2001 season. All proceeds from the match benefited the Dorothy M. Davis Heart & Lung Research Institute
The Crew controlled most of the 30 minutes played, getting on the board in the second minute with a tap in by Grossman who received a low cross by defender Aubrey Perry. In the 5th minute Anor put away a well placed strike and a minute later he assisted on Renteria’s diving header.
Crew goalkeeper Matt Lampson was called upon in the 10th minute, when OSU defender Zach Dobey shot a cross by Brady Wahl barely above the cross bar. As the half wore on the rain started coming on heavier turning the game into a slippery affair. The match was ultimately called in the 31st minute, due to strong lightning in the area, but not before an unassisted laser strike by Grossman from about 35 yards out in the 27th minute.
Senn’s memory will continue to be honored next Tuesday, May 8, with the Connor Senn Memorial Symposium on Sudden Cardiac Arrest, a new program devoted to the topic of sudden cardiac death, educating the medical community and the general public on the scope of the problem, sharing the latest advancements in diagnostic imaging and testing and promoting proper training in the interpretation of young adult electrocardiograms. O’Rourke and Crew President and General Manager Mark McCullers are scheduled to speak at the event which will take place from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Ohio Union (1739 N. High St.) and is free for members of the community to attend.
The Crew returns to league play on Saturday, May 5, as it travels to Portland, Ore., to face the Timbers at JELD-WEN Field. The match will kick off at 10:30 p.m. ET and will be televised live regionally on Fox Sports Ohio.
Ohio State Buckeyes 0, Columbus Crew 4
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 – Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Scoring Summary:
CLB – Cole Grossman (Aubrey Perry) 1
CLB – Bernardo Anor (Emilio Renteria) 5
CLB – Emilio Renteria (Bernardo Anor) 6
CLB – Cole Grossman (unassisted) 27
Misconduct Summary:
None
Lineups:
Columbus Crew – Matt Lampson, Aubrey Perry, Eric Gehrig, Kevan George, Shaun Francis, Ethan Finlay, Kirk Urso, Cole Grossman, Bernardo Anor, Justin Meram, Emilio Renteria
Substitutes not used: Joel Helmick, Korey Veeder, Brett Elder^, Rhodes Moore^
denotes guest player
^denotes Crew Soccer Academy players
Ohio State Buckeyes – Alex Wimmer, Zach Dobey, Sage Gardner (Jonathan Rerucha, 20), Alex Bechtol, Brady Wahl, Austin McAnena, Sebastian Rivas, Chris Hegngi, Omar Vallejo, Joshua Breto (Trey Saunders, 25), Kenny Cunningham
Attendance: 1,072
