A mix of starters and reserves were shocked by the Dayton Dutch Lions last night in the 3rd Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup after Dayton came back from a late 1-0 deficit with two goals in the final 15 minutes.

The Crew were active early, trying to land an early knockout blow. They nearly got the first shot in the 6th minute. Chris Birchall fired in a free kick that rang off the crossbar, but bounced away from goal.. The rebound dropped to Eric Gehrig who popped a floating header over the crossbar from three yards out.

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The Crew commence Open Cup action tonight by playing fellow Ohio team the Dayton Dutch Lions in the Third Round Game. It's the first time these teams have played during an official competition, but they did play a friendly at the University of Dayton's Baujan Field in June of 2010 with the Crew coming out 3-0 winners.

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These wins can become habit forming. It was another diversified offensive effort and the makeshift defense kept the three points as the Fire pushed for the win.

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It was the Crew's third game in 8 days after a west coast cross country trip. The team might have been due a letdown in the sweltering heat and humidity of late May. However, they continued their winning ways with a 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire behind goals from Eddie Gaven and Emilio Renteria.

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It was an outstanding win and one that the Crew fully earned through an outstanding defensive effort.

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A tie that either could have been or a loss depending on how you look at it. San Jose hasn't been kind and the Crew were overrun for 30 minutes. Meram's goal nearly secured a shock three points until Alan Gordon tied it in extra time.

• Andy Gruenebaum played like a man possessed. His shot stopping was unparalleled, keeping the Crew in the game and giving them a chance to steal points.
• Eric Gehrig was targeted by San Jose to some effect. Gehrig did struggle early on with Lenhart, giving up the penalty, but eventually did well to quiet the former Crew front man.
• Justin Meram had a poor game through 45 minutes. He was timid and indecisive on the ball. He wasn't a good outlet for the defense. The goal was brilliant, but he still has some rough edges to his game that limit his effectiveness.
• Milovan Mirosevic struggled to get time on the ball and create much of anything going forward. Milo was wasteful when he did get open looks to pass.
• Tony Tchani improved over last week's game and appears to be settling into his right wing role. He's still too slow with his decisions, but he did show off some skills to get out of trouble along the touch line. He's still not adding enough to the offense.
• Dilly Duka showed some of the pace and skill that spreads the field for the Crew. He's not match fit, but every minute of game time gets him back to his 2011 level.
• Olman Vargas was his usual tidy self in possession, but struggled to get much of the ball. A healthy Duka may create more of those crosses that he's good at getting to the end of.

Gruenebaum (8): Outstanding in all facets. He had several top notch saves and stopped a penalty kick to keep the Crew in the game.
Miranda (6): Very solid game on defense, but wasn't a big impact on offense.
Gehrig (5): Struggled with loose balls in the box and did trip up Lenhart for the PK. Improved to play a very solid 2nd half.
Williams (6): Not tested as much, but was very effective in keeping Wondolowski under wraps.
Vukovic (6): Again, looked to push forward at every chance. His defense was solid. He still tended to spray his passes, limiting his effectivnes.
Tchani (5): He had an up and down game. He wasn't a big factor on offense even though he got an assist for Meram's singular goal scoring effort., but he was a big asset on defense. He did have a big breakout run to lead to a late scoring chance.
O'Rourke (5): Was overrun in the first half and didn't make as big of a defensive impact. He did pick his passes well.
Mirosevic (4): Struggled to maintain posession and misfired on his passes before coming out at halftime due to injury.
Gaven (6): Put in another steady performance at both wing and forward. Didn't get a shot off, but was everpresent to keep the ball moving.
Meram (6): Poor performance throughout the first half as he failed to hold up the ball and made little impact. Well, until his moment of genious on his goal. What a brilliant shot.
Vargas (5): Played 90 minutes but didn't make much of an impact as he played his first game off of a injury layoff.
Grossman (5): Played a quiet game as he replaced the ailing Mirosevic. He wasn't terribly involved in the offense and didn't have to make many plays on defense.
Duka (5): He certainly wasn't fully fit, but showed flashes of his skills once he settled into the game.
Francis (5): Not many touches in relief of Vukovic.
Coaching (6): The lineup struggled under the initial San Jose pressure, but did settle down. His Duka for Meram swap was a little odd, but Duka is certainly more familiar on the left. Used Gaven as the forward safety valve, just like against Dallas and the team did build some posession.

Note on Grades: I have set 5 as an average performance. The player had both good and bad events on the field. Under 5 is a disappointing performance. Above 5 is a notable performance.

The Crew have hatched a plan to make Crew Stadium's naming rights much more attractive, it includes a 100 foot tall electronic signboard. The team is hoping that the prominent placement along Interstate 71 convince a partner to pay $15 million over 10 years for prominent placement on the LED sign.

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Chris Birchall and Frankie Hejduk weren't in Washington D.C. today for the L.A. Galaxy's recognition ceremony at the White House. I was very surprised; I thought it was a given to bring back the key cogs for this type of event. Birchall even played in the Cup final. However, the Galaxy chose differently.

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The Crew break a five game losing streak and do it behind some impressive goals.

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The Crew announced their summer friendly today. Stoke City of the English Premier League will come to Crew Stadium on Tuesday July 24th at 7:30 PM. Stoke City are the 2nd oldest club in England, founded in 1863. They have played in the Premier League since the 2009-10 season. Stoke has consistently finished mid-table since their return to the top flight, they are currently 14th and assured of another season in the EPL.

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Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman sent a letter to NBA Commissioner David Stern last week announcing it's intentions to try and attract an NBA team. The team would play in Nationwide Arena, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The arena is now owned by the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority through a loan and purchase deal including new casino tax revenues. Coleman has extra incentive to attract more revenue producing tenants for the building.

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Stats can certainly inform or mislead depending on what is calculated. Baseball has a wealth of stats, football even has some newer ways to classify players and teams, but soccer has defied tabulation. Possession percentages are certainly in vogue, but the correlation to results is limited at best. There is one stat that does infer a little knowledge on how a team is performing, pass completion percentage.

The passing stats aren't foolproof. A team can play safe back passes and keep a 85%+ pass completion percentage with little positive effect. On the reverse, there is a certain baseline that a team should rise above. Last game against Portland the Crew's passing percentage was 69%. That is simply not good enough for a team looking to score.

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It was a scoreless tie with end to end action, but a lack of good chances. A tie was a fair result. Niether team looked like they were ready to break out of their scoring slump.

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The Crew signed midfielder Chris Birchall, 28, to a multiyear contract today. The Stafford, England native is a Trinidad and Tobago international and last played for the L.A. Galaxy, winning MLS Cup with them last year.

Birchall's signing brings the players under contract to 33, three over the roster limit of 30. Rich Balchan is currently on the Disabled List and forward Tommy Heineman and goalkeeper William Hesmer can be moved to the DL due to thier season ending injuries to put the Crew in roster compliance.

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U.S. Soccer and the Crew announced that the U.S. Men's National Team is returning to Crew Stadium. They will take on Jamaica in a World Cup Qualifier on Tuesday, September 11th at 8 pm. Columbus is no stranger to the National Team. They played 8 games, including 6 qualifiers since Crew Stadium was built in 1999. It's no surprise that Columbus gets a qualifier. It's not a high profile "hexagonal" qualifier, but one that the Crew and Columbus supports well.

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Olman Vargas and Aaron Schoenfeld picked up injuries on Saturday; adding to the insult of the Vancouver loss. Both look to be out for several weeks according to GM Mark McCullers. The dual injury blow seemingly couldn't come at a worse time with the offense averaging a paltry .86 goals per game. Vargas and Schoenfeld's injuries extend the injury report to 10, including expected starters, William Hesmer, Dilly Duka, and Julius James.

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Frankie Hej­duk, MLS Cup cham­pion and long a Crew leg­end, makes his Mas­sive Re­port Pod­cast debut. J.D. Smith, Matt Gosh­ert and Chris Lamac­chia break down a tough result against Vancouver and the week that was in the MLS. Recorded live at the Three-Legged Mare in the Arena Dis­trict.

Download/Listen/Subscribe at MassiveReportPodcast.com

The best performance by the Crew all year, but no points from this effort. It's a very unfortunant result; the Crew dominated everywhere but the scoreboard.

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The Crew announced the signing of Costa Rican forward Jairo Arrieta, currently of Saprissa. He'll join the team when the transfer window opens on June 27th. He will be expected to vie for a starting spot among the youthful forward crop.

The veteran Arrieta was described as a smaller striker who provides a different option than the team currently has.. He's quick and can play as a second striker, but he's also has enough speed to try and punish high defensive lines and offside traps. Both Coach Warzycha and Technical Director Brian Bliss talked about his quickness around the box and ability to create and finish chances.

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The Crew lineup and formation was unusual, but they were changes that made quite a bit of sense once the personnel was available to implement it.

• Danny O'Rourke made a tremendous impact in defensive midfield. It was a vintage Danny game. He was all over the midfield, providing support for the offense.
• Eddie Gaven played his type of game. He was able to get a little more central on the left and found the channels and space between the midfield and defense well. He also made the most of his attempts.
• Mirosevic wasn't as big of a factor as expected. The formation shift was supposed to free him up, but he didn't make as much of an impact that 94 touches and 2 shots would suggest.
• Tony Tchani was the unexpected right midfielder, but he did play 6 games there in 2010 for New York. He acquitted himself well, linking up passes and being dangerous. He needs to control his reckless behavior. His yellow was unnecessary.
• Warzycha probably expects more from his forwards. They weren't especially imposing. Renteria saw a lot of the ball, but tended to turn it over. Vargas saw less of the ball, but played smarter passes. Both need to threaten more consistently.
• The shift to have Williams and Marshall match up with the big duo of Bruin and Ching was a good idea. Houston didn't have many chances, but Bruin made two plays happen against Williams, enough to tie the game.

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CREW TO INTRODUCE EXCITING NEW ADDITION TO FRONT OFFICE THURSDAY

That's the heading to of the email sent to the media yesterday. All signs are pointing to the team bringing Frankie Hejduk back to the Crew family. He's an icon to Crew fans, no player was a more visible face to the team during his 8 year tenure with the team. He was a vocal and energetic member of Crew teams, both good and bad. He wore the captain's armband and lead with a competitive edge that was hard to match.

He was a tenacious defender whose signature move was a two footed tackle. There are plenty of "Frankie" moments during his career, both great and infamous. I can recall his Open Cup game in August of 2005 where he earned a red card in extra time after a mountain of questionable calls when against the Crew. His performance against Kansas City on April, 29th 2006 was magnificent; it solidified his spot on the U.S. roster for the World Cup. He learned two days later that he played 60 minutes during that game with a torn ACL, ruining his Cup dreams. The image of his crowning achievement, a goal in the MLS Cup, is replayed in the minds of Crew fans over and over. He has meant a lot to Crew faithful

Hejduk and his family lives in town and he's made Columbus his home. He's been around Crew Stadium recently and it's as if he never left. He was walking down the concourse when he was spotted by the west side tent. He waved to several fans, but was soon mobbed. He stood there signing autographs for everyone who came up. The same smile never leaving his face.

Recorded live from the podcast's new home at The Three-Legged Mare in the Arena District yesterday, this installment of the Massive Report Podcast examines the remains from the Crew's road performance. Host J.D. Smith and Matt Goshert were fired up at the Crew's apparent lack of fire. Resident historian and stats guru Matt Bernhardt weighs in with analysis and Managing Editor Patrick Guldan talks about what's going on around the league.

Listen/download/subscribe at www.MassiveReportPodcast.com

It was a very predictable game with predictable results. Once the starting lineups came out, it was apparent that the Crew would quickly move to long ball offense. The team oblidged.

• The defense had relatively little work to do on the day. The Union only had 8 shots, 2 on goal. The penalty was an unfortunate play, but Philly had two legitimate handball claims, one was called.
• The Crew actually had the majority of possession, more passes, and more complete passes. The vast majority were in the middle third. The Crew hovered around 50% completion rate in the final third.

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