CHAPTER 1 GUNNING FOR THE CUP Excitement was high in Columbus when the Crew arrived in 1996 Major League Soccer MLS was beginning a new era for the sport in the United States And for the first time Ohio’s capital city was home to a major professional sports team More than a decade later however that excitement had started to wane The Crew had enjoyed some success Their high-water mark came in 2004 when they won the Supporters Shield That trophy goes to the team that finishes the year with the best regular-season record in MLS But after 12 seasons they had yet to win the MLS championship Mike Clark 3 and his Crew teammates celebrate after winning the 2002 US Open Cup 4
CLOSE BUT NOT QUITE Columbus had been fairly successful in its early years The Crew had qualified for the playoffs in seven of their first nine seasons In 2002 Columbus won the US Open Cup That tournament features soccer teams from all levels of competition in the country The team also advanced to the MLS Eastern Conference finals for the fourth time Unfortunately the Crew fell just short of reaching the MLS Cup just as they had the previous three times After missing the playoffs in 2003 Columbus bounced back to go 12 5 13 to win its first Supporters Shield But as the top seed in the playoffs the Crew fell to New England in the conference semifinals It was four long years before the Crew qualified for the playoffs again But they did it in style in 2008 Behind a strong defense led by Chad Marshall Columbus allowed just 36 goals that season Only two teams gave up fewer goals Meanwhile Venezuelan forward Alejandro Moreno scored nine of the Crew’s 50 goals Only one MLS team scored more that year What brought it all together though was attacking midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto The veteran Argentinian playmaker scored seven goals No MLS player had more than his 16 assists 6
Alejandro Moreno right fights for the ball against the Chicago Fire in the 2008 Eastern Conference finals That led to him winning the league’s Most Valuable Player MVP award Altogether these players led the Crew to their second Supporters Shield after posting a 17 7 6 record in the 7
