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Late first-half goal lifts MLS team into deadlock Thursday, June 22, 2000 By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
The Columbus Crew didn't bring their A-game for their A-League opponent, the Riverhounds, last night. The Crew's best players didn't show up for the exhibition game at Bethel Park High School Stadium.
That made Riverhounds Coach John Kowalski's point all the clearer after the Crew and Riverhounds played to a 1-1 tie before 5,011 fans, the largest crowd of the season.
"I've been saying all along that if you take away three or four of their top players, we can play with any MLS team out there, and everybody saw that we could," Kowalski said. "The whole idea of this was to show we could play with the big boys. And it was a good opportunity for our players to show the MLS what they were all about for callups later in the season."
"This night was to prove we could play with the top league in the country," said forward Phil Karn, one of the last cuts of the Crew this preseason. "We stuck right with them for the most part. We proved ourselves."
The Riverhounds scored first when Bonseu converted a penalty kick in the 34th minute. Bonseu beat goalkeeper Mark Dougherty to the upper left corner after Karn was tackled in the penalty box by the Crew's Steve Armas.
The Riverhounds had a good opportunity to increase their lead a few minutes later when midfielder Goran Vasic's corner kick bounced around in close, but header attempts by John Jones and Bonseu could not get through Dougherty.
The Crew's Roland Aguilera hit the crossbar on a direct kick from 18 yards out in the 39th minute, and it looked like the Riverhounds were going to take their 1-0 advantage into halftime. But during extra time off a John Perez direct kick, Mike Clark headed one past a helpless Randy Dedini.
"That's been the story of our season," Karn said. "We give up late goals. There was an unmarked man right in front. End of story, 1-1."
Kowalski used the game to tinker with a lineup that has played poorly during June. The Riverhounds have not won since Memorial Day, and they have had trouble scoring all season.
After opening the season with four wins and a tie in the first five games, the Riverhounds have dropped six league games in a row. They get back to A-League action Saturday at home against Raleigh.
Kowalski seems to have settled on the forward line of Mike Apple and Karn. That duo played well last night.
"They are starting to come back again," Kowalski said. "I used John Jones as the left defender for the last 35 minutes, and I had Ezzy [Ihekonorye] on the right side, which was good. It was a good game to use some experiments."
The Riverhounds had the better of play in the second half, but they were unable to score the go-ahead goal.
Joenal Castma had an opportunity in close in the 72nd minute, but Mike Lapper cleared the ball from in front of the net.
Jair Vazquez pressured late in the 89th minute. He centered a pass in front, but none of his teammates were able to get to it for a shot.
"We kept the ball well," midfielder Allan Eller said. "That surprised me. I thought they would do a better job of that."
"I can't say they played with 100 percent determination," Kowalski said. "They came in here and played with an exhibition attitude. It was a nice exhibition. We created some good opportunities. The game was moving pretty well."
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