Black & Gold face Orlando for second and final regular-season meeting between the two sides

COLUMBUS — Columbus Crew (10-13-8, 38 points) hosts Orlando City SC (12-8-11, 47 points) at Lower.com Field tonight [7:30 p.m. ET / Bally Sports Great Lakes, Bally Sports App (Stream) / 97.1 The Fan & 971TheFan.com (English); ColumbusCrew.com (Spanish)]. Coverage of the match on Bally Sports Great Lakes will begin at 7:00 p.m. ET.

The match is set to be the 15th all-time regular-season meeting between the two clubs. The Black & Gold have a 3-1-1 all-time home regular-season record against Orlando and have outscored the Lions 10-6. Over its last six matches at Lower.com Field, the Crew has outscored opponents 14-6 while posting a home record of 5-0-1 across all competitions.

Columbus Crew Head Coach Caleb Porter will not be available for this evening’s match after being entered into MLS Health and Safety Protocols on October 19. In Porter’s absence, Assistant Coach Ezra Hendrickson will temporarily assume coaching duties on the sideline tonight.

COLUMBUS
CREW
2021 REGULAR SEASON:
(10-13-8, 38 pts.)

ORLANDO
CITY SC
2021 REGULAR SEASON:
(12-8-11, 47 pts.)

Date: Wednesday, October 27
Match Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Kickoff: 7:38 p.m. ET
Location: Lower.com Field (Columbus, OH)
Local TV: Bally Sports Great Lakes Neil Sika (play-by-play) Jordan Angeli (analyst) Brett Hiltbrand (sideline)
97.1 The Fan [Radio]: Chris Doran (analyst)
ColumbusCrew.com Spanish Audio Stream: Juan Valladares (play-by-play)

OHIOHEALTH PLAYER AVAILABILITY REPORT
OUT: Artur – R Hip Injury Perry Kitchen – L Knee Injury Kevin Molino – R Knee Injury Aidan Morris – L Knee Injury Gyasi Zardes – L Knee Injury
QUESTIONABLE: Luis Diaz – MLS Health and Safety Protocol Josh Williams – Low Back Tightness
Health and Safety Protocols
A player may be listed as “Questionable” or “Out” due to Health and Safety Protocols
for the following reasons:
• Quarantine due to participating in high risk behavior. • Quarantine related to being a high risk close contact. • Pending COVID-19 test results. • An inconclusive COVID-19 test result. • A positive COVID-19 test or a confirmed case of COVID-19. • Other illness not related to COVID-19

LAST MATCH RECAP

COLUMBUS CREW FALLS TO THE NEW YORK RED BULLS
On Saturday, Columbus Crew faced the New York Red Bulls for
the third time this regular season, with the match taking place at
Lower.com Field. The Red Bulls opened the scoring in the seventh
minute through Cristian Casseres Jr. Crew forward Miguel Berry
equalized the match with an 18th-minute goal, assisted by Steven
Moreira and Lucas Zelarayan. The helper by Moreira was his first
as a member of the Black & Gold. Sean Nealis scored the matchwinning goal in the 87th minute, giving the Red Bulls a 2-1 win.

COLUMBUS CREW VS. ORLANDO CITY SC AT A GLANCE

Columbus Crew record: 5-6-3 (24 GF, 23 GA)
Home games: 3-1-1 (10 GF, 6 GA)
Road games: 2-5-2 (14 GF, 17 GA)
07/13/2019 CLB 0 at ORL 1 L Exploria Stadium
11/04/2020 CLB 1 at ORL 2 L Exploria Stadium
09/04/2021 CLB 2 at ORL 3 L Exploria Stadium

THE CREW FACES ORLANDO CITY SC ON WEDNESDAY
Columbus Crew continues its two-match homestand when it hosts
Orlando City SC on Wednesday, October 27 at Lower.com Field. The
match is set to be the 15th all-time regular-season meeting between
the two clubs. The Black & Gold have a 3-1-1 all-time home regularseason record against Orlando City SC and have outscored the Lions
10-6.

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING
The two sides last met on September 4 of this season, when the Crew
traveled to Orlando, Florida to face Orlando City SC at Exploria Stadium. Orlando City opened the scoring in the 26th minute through
Daryl Dike and Silvester van der Water doubled Orlando’s lead in the
29th minute. Orlando scored an own goal in the 52nd minute and
forward Miguel Berry equalized the match for the Crew in the 54th
minute. Orlando City scored the match-winning goal in the 69th
minute through Junior Urso to give the Lions a 3-2 win.

COACHES
Caleb Porter: 100-85-73 (Portland Timbers: ‘13 – ’17; Columbus Crew: ’19 – Present) vs.
Oscar Pareja: 126-91-75 (Colorado Rapids ’12 – 13, FC Dallas ’14 – ’18, Orlando City SC
’20 – Present)
Records listed are MLS regular-season totals

2021 REGULAR-SEASON SNAPSHOT

2021 MLS Regular Season: 2021 MLS Regular Season:
Points: 37 Points: 46
Points Per Game: 1.23 Points Per Game: 1.52
Eastern Conference: 11th Eastern Conference: Fourth
Home: 8-4-3 Home: 8-2-6
Away: 2-9-5 Away: 4-6-5
Goals For: 38 Goals For: 45
Goals Against: 42 Goals Against: 44
+/-: -4 +/-: +1
2021 Regular-Season Leaders
Goals: Zardes (9) Goals: Nani (10)
Assists: Santos (6) Assists: Pereyra (10)
Shots: Zelarayan (75) Shots: Nani (63)
Shots on Goal: Zelarayan (26) Shots on Goal: Nani (25)
Fouls Suffered: Zelarayan (55) Fouls Suffered: Junior Urso (63)
Fouls Committed: Santos (41) Fouls Committed: Pereyra (39)
Yellow Cards Issued: Santos (5) Yellow Cards Issued: Five players tied (6)
Saves Leader: Room (77) Saves Leader: Gallese (55)
GAA Leader: Room (1.33) GAA Leader: Gallese (1.33)
Wins: Room (8) Wins: Gallese (6)

BLACK & GOLD NOTES

WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Wednesday’s home match against Orlando City SC begins
at 7:30 p.m. ET and is set to be locally televised on Bally
Sports Great Lakes and via stream on the Bally Sports App.
Neil Sika, Jordan Angeli and Brett Hiltbrand are slated to
have the call in English. Pre-match coverage will begin
at 7:00 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Great Lakes. The contest is
also available in English on 97.1 The Fan and streaming via
“Listen Live” on 971TheFan.com, with Chris Doran calling
the match. A Spanish audio stream is available on ColumbusCrew.com, with Juan Valladares on the call.

BERRY SCORES SIXTH GOAL OF 2021 MLS REGULAR SEASON
Forward Miguel Berry scored his sixth goal of the 2021 MLS
regular season in Saturday’s match against the New York
Red Bulls. The goal was Berry’s second of the season against
the Red Bulls, having netted the 87th-minute match-winning goal in the Crew’s 2-1 win over New York earlier this
season (September 14). In 2021, Berry has made 15 regularseason appearances (six starts), scoring six goals and adding one assist.

BERRY AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS IN GOALS PER 90
MINUTES
Through 31 weeks of MLS regular-season action, forward
Miguel Berry currently has the fourth-highest goals per 90
minutes ratio among players with 250 minutes of action or
more. Berry has played 573 minutes this year for the Crew,
tallying six strikes. For a list of the MLS players with the
highest goals per 90 minute average this season, please see
the table below.
2021 MLS GOALS PER 90 MINUTE LEADERS*
PLAYER GPM

1. Ramon Abila (MIN/DC) 1.03
2. Ola Kamara (DC) 0.97
3. Cristian Arango (LAFC) 0.95
4. Miguel Berry (CLB) 0.94
5. Chicharito (LA) 0.81
   *2021 MLS regular season (250 or more minutes only, as of 10/25/2021)

MOREIRA PROVIDES FIRST ASSIST AS MEMBER OF THE
CREW
Defender Steven Moreira was credited with an assist on
Miguel Berry’s 18th-minute goal during Saturday’s match
against the New York Red Bulls. The helper was Moreira’s
first as a member of the Black & Gold, having joined the
Club as a free agent on August 23 of this year. To date,
Moreira has made four regular-season appearances (all
starts) for the Crew.

COLUMBUS CREW SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CAPS (AS OF OCT. 14, 2021)

Player National Team Caps Last Appearance
Liam Fraser Canada 10 10/10/21 vs. Jamaica (FIFA World Cup qualifier)
Luis Diaz Costa Rica 8 10/7/21 vs. Honduras (FIFA World Cup qualifier)
Waylon Francis Costa Rica 7 3/22/19 vs. Guatemala (friendly)
Eloy Room Curacao 40 6/15/21 vs. Panama (FIFA World Cup qualifier)
Harrison Afful Ghana 77 9/08/18 vs. Kenya (AFCoN qua.)
Jonathan Mensah Ghana 63 10/12/21 vs. Zimbabwe (FIFA World Cup qualifier)
Derrick Etienne Jr. Haiti 31 7/18/21 vs. Martinique (Concacaf Gold Cup)
Kevin Molino Trinidad & Tobago 53 7/18/21 vs. Guatemala (Concacaf Gold Cup)
Perry Kitchen United States 5 10/11/16 vs. New Zealand (friendly)
Darlington Nagbe United States 25 3/28/18 vs. Paraguay (friendly)
Gyasi Zardes United States 65 10/13/21 vs. Costa Rica (FIFA World Cup qualifier)
Lucas Zelarayan Armenia 2 10/11/21 vs. Romania (FIFA World Cup qualifier)

ZELARAYAN ADDS FIFTH HELPER OF 2021 REGULAR
SEASON
Midfielder Lucas Zelarayan provided his fifth assist of the
2021 regular season on Miguel Berry’s 18th-minute goal
during Saturday’s match against the New York Red Bulls.
The helper marks an MLS career-high for the Armenian
international, whose previous career-high for the Crew
was four assists, set last season. Additionally, the assist
was the second consecutive match in which Zelarayan
and Berry have connected, with Berry tallying a helper on
Zelarayan’s 75th-minute goal against Nashville SC (October 20). Zelarayan is now second on the Club in assists, and
only trails Pedro Santos in the category (six). He has made
29 appearances (25 starts) for the Crew this season, scoring
eight goals and tallying five assists.

ZELARAYAN LEADING CREW IN COMBINED GOALS AND
ASSISTS THIS SEASON
Midfielder Lucas Zelarayan currently leads the Crew in
combined regular-season goals and assists this season,
having scored eight goals and provided five assists. Midfielder Pedro Santos and forward Gyasi Zardes are tied for
second with a combined nine goals and assists. Forward
Miguel Berry is in fourth place with a combined seven
goals and assists, while midfielder Darlington Nagbe is in
fifth place with a combined six goals and assists. For a list
of the Crew players with the highest combined goals and
assist totals in 2021, see the table below.
2021 CREW GOALS/ASSISTS LEADERS
PLAYER G A G+A

1. Lucas Zelarayan 8 5 13
   T-2. Pedro Santos 3 6 9
   T-2. Gyasi Zardes 9 0 9
2. Miguel Berry 6 1 7
3. Darlington Nagbe 2 4 6

ETIENNE JR. MAKES 50TH MLS REGULAR-SEASON START
Midfielder Derrick Etienne Jr. made his 50th MLS regularseason start in Saturday’s match against the New York Red
Bulls. Notably, his 50th MLS regular start came against the
Red Bulls, where he made 60 appearances (22 starts) from
2016 to 2019. Since joining MLS prior to the 2016 regular
season, Etienne Jr. has made 112 regular-season appear- ances (50 starts), scoring seven goals and adding 10 assists.
This season for the Crew, Etienne Jr. has made 26 appear- ances (18 starts) and has provided four assists.

HURTADO AND ZARDES NEARING MILESTONE MARKS
Forwards Erik Hurtado and Gyasi Zardes are approaching
milestone marks at both the Club and League level. Hurta- do has made 149 appearances (63 starts) in MLS since
joining the League prior to the 2013 season and needs one
more to reach 150 appearances. During his time in MLS,
Hurtado has scored 19 goals and provided 11 assists. Ad- ditionally, Zardes has made 99 regular-season starts for the
Crew since being acquired by the Club prior to the 2018
season and needs one more start to reach 100 regular-sea- son starts for the Black & Gold. Zardes has scored 53 goals
and registered six helpers during his time with the Black &
Gold.

NAGBE AND HAIRSTON: PASS MASTERS
Through 31 matches in the 2021 MLS regular season, midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Marlon Hairston are among
the League leaders in passing accuracy among players
who have attempted 500 or more passes. Nagbe has made
30 starts while completing 1,439 of his 1,522 attempted
passes for a passing accuracy percentage of 94.55%, while
Hairston has made 17 appearances and completed 564 of
his 616 attempted passes for a passing accuracy percentage of 91.56%. For a list of the MLS players with the highest passing accuracy in 2021, see the table below.
2021 PLAYERS WITH HIGHEST PASSING ACCURACY*
PLAYER ATT. COMP. %

1. Darlington Nagbe (CLB)1522 1439 94.55
2. Anibal Godoy (NSH) 1065 980 92.02
3. Marcelo Silva (RSL) 751 688 91.61
4. Sebastian Lletget (LA) 906 830 91.61
5. Marlon Hairston (CLB) 641 587 91.58
   *2021 MLS regular season (500 or more passes only, as of 10/25/2021)

BLACK & GOLD QUOTES

ON HIS APPROACH AS CAPTAIN TO MOTIVATE THE TEAM
“I always make sure that I’m sending the right message at the
right time. We always have the quote, ‘Do your job’ and I think
we’ve been doing that. Sometimes I know when to talk to
guys, and sometimes I don’t do it in front of the guys, in front
of everyone. I do it individually. Then I make sure that I get
guys ready because we’re all in this together and we need to
be there for each other.”

• JONATHAN MENSAH
  ON WHAT CREW PLAYERS NEED TO DO AHEAD OF
  REMAINING REGULAR-SEASON MATCHES
  “Everyone has to look themselves in the mirror and say, ‘Hey,
  what do we want?’ and really just give everything that we can
  to make it. At the end of the day, we know what it takes to
  win. Everyone knows what it takes to win, whether you have
  more experience or not. It’s about fighting; it’s about taking
  responsibility upon yourself.”
• MIGUEL BERRY

MILESTONES ON THE HORIZON

ERIK HURTADO
• Has made 149 MLS regular-season appearances and
needs one more to reach 150.
KEVIN MOLINO
• Has made 98 MLS regular-season starts and needs
two more to reach 100.
GYASI ZARDES
• Has made 99 regular-season starts for the Crew and
needs one more to reach 100.
LUCAS ZELARAYAN
• Has made 45 MLS regular-season appearances and
needs five more to reach 50.

2021 MLS Regular SeasonColumbus Crew vs. Orlando City SC Wednesday, October 27 – 7:30 p.m. ET – Lower.com Field Local Television: Bally Sports Great Lakes, Bally Sports App (Stream) | Coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. ET Columbus Crew Radio: 97.1 The Fan & 971TheFan.com (English); ColumbusCrew.com (Spanish).ABOUT COLUMBUS CREWColumbus Crew is the first club in Major League Soccer. The Crew is operated by The Edwards Family and Haslam Sports Group. The Black & Gold are the 2020 MLS Cup Champions and the 2021 Campeones Cup winners. The Club won its first MLS Cup championship in 2008 and also won the 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as well as MLS Supporters’ Shield titles in 2004, 2008 and 2009. The 2021 campaign is the Columbus Crew’s 26th season in MLS as well as the Club’s final season at Historic Crew Stadium — the first soccer-specific stadium in the United States – and the Crew’s inaugural season at Lower.com Field. Website: ColumbusCrew.com | Twitter: @ColumbusCrew | Instagram: @ColumbusCrew | Hashtag: #Crew96 | Facebook.com/columbuscrew | App: ColumbusCrew.com/app | Stadium: Lower.com Field | Training Facility: OhioHealth Performance Center

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