Winning 58 percent of the vote, the Crew's 4-3 victory over the New England Revolution is the Black & Gold's Match of the Year for 2012.
Facing a 2-0 deficit after 23 minutes, defeat looked certain for the Crew against the New England Revolution in front of its loyal supporters at home. But just three minutes later, the Black & Gold received a gift when Stephen McCarthy fouled Eddie Gaven just outside the box to set up a Federico Higuaín free kick. With a stroke of magic from 25 yards out, the Argentine playmaker curled a laser over the the New England wall and into the top corner of Matt Reis' goal to gain one back for the Crew. Six minutes later, Milovan Mirosevic sent a well-placed ball to Jairo Arrieta who had snuck-in behind the Revolution backline. The Costa Rican smashed a left-footed shot into the roof of Reis' net from a tight angle to draw level after 32 mintues. In first half stoppage time, Gaven was taken down once again by McCarthy outside the area to set up another Higuaín set-piece. In a similar fashion to his first strike, Higuaín beautifully bent his free kick over the Revolution wall and past an outstretched Reis to mark the Crew's first three-goal game of 2012 right before half.
Later in the second half, New England equalized from the penalty spot after Julius James fouled forward Diego Fagundez inside the box. Substitute Lee Nguyen converted the penalty in the 81st minute past rookie Matt Lampson, who replaced an injured Andy Gruenebaum at halftime. Not to be outdone, Arrieta bagged his second tally of the night to put the Crew ahead five minutes later finishing off a perfectly-weighted Tony Tchani through ball into the box to put Columbus on top. Lampson withstood a late New England surge to secure the Black & Gold's fourth consecutive win and his first professional victory.
Nominee #1- May 23, 2012 - Seattle Sounders 0 - Columbus Crew 2RECAP 22.5%
Nominee #2- June 30, 2012 - Columbus Crew 2 - Real Salt Lake 0RECAP 2.45%
Nominee #3-July 24, 2012 - Columbus Crew 2 - Stoke City FC 1 RECAP 3.92%
Nominee#4-July 28, 2012 - Sporting Kansas City 1 - Columbus Crew 2RECAP 3.92%
Nominee#5-August 25, 2012 - Columbus Crew 4 - New England Revolution 3RECAP 58.33%
Nominee#6-August 29, 2012 - Philadelphia Union 1 - Columbus Crew 2RECAP 8.82%
