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Columbus Crew battle frigid temps to defeat New England Revolution on the road: Takeaways
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- Columbus Crew battle frigid temps to defeat New England Revolution on the road: Takeaways
The temperature at Gillette Stadium on Saturday dropped to as low as 19 degrees and at times felt like 13 degrees in the Crew's 1-0 victory over the New England Revolution.
Fighting against the frigid weather, the Crew found success in its first road game of the season behind a goal from forward Jacen Russell-Rowe. The Crew have won their first two games of the regular season for the first time since 2018, with the 22-year-old scoring in both matchups.
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Replay: Columbus Crew record victory vs New England Revolution in season's first road game
Though Russell-Rowe, who is from Toronto , prides himself on handling cold temperatures well, he admitted the cold had an impact on the team's performance.
Crew forward Jacen Russell-Rowe celebrates his goal against the Revolution on Saturday.
The Crew's having to play through the cold is what made the outing impressive to coach Wilfried Nancy , who was on the sideline wearing three layers of clothing. To Nancy, it felt like a 3-0 victory rather than 1-0.
"It was so cold with the wind," Nancy said. "To play away, to win this game and to play, also, a really good game in terms of resiliency, but also in terms of the way we manage the game, this is unbelievable what they did. I'm really proud of my team."
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The Crew failed to get a shot attempt on goal in the first half. The first shot recorded on target from Columbus was the goal from Russell-Rowe at the 51st minute, which was assisted by midfielder Mo Farsi.
It was a muted offensive outing compared to the Crew's 4-2 win over the Chicago Fire to open the season. According to Farsi, the weather at Lower.com Field that night was "a thousand percent" warmer than in New England .
Crew coach Wilfried Nancy directs his team against the Revolution on Saturday.
Columbus Crew 's game heavily impacted by temperature vs New England Revolution
From communication to body movement, a majority of the Crew's game was impacted by cold.
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"We couldn't even talk," Farsi said. "Our mouth like couldn't move. Of course, when it's cold like that, it's very hard to play."
Defender Yevhen Cheberko said that at times it felt like he could barley move.
Facing New England, a team the Crew outscored 9-1 during their two-game series for the regular season last year, there was a feeling among the team there was little more the Crew could do while the temperature was so low.
"I think with the weather and the conditions, we did a pretty good performance," Farsi said. "Defensively, it was sharp. Offensively, we had chances. We put one in and won 1-0, and that's enough. We're not going to win every game with five or six goals."
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Columbus Crew fight through multiple cramping issues vs New England Revolution
At the 61-minute mark, Nancy made his first substitution of the game when he took Russell-Rowe out for Aziel Jackson.
Russell-Rowe said after the game that he's been limited in minutes the first two games due to dealing with cramping.
Crew defender Malte Amundsen reacts to defeating the Revolution on Saturday.
In the final minute of stoppage time that extended more than 11 minutes, Nancy was forced to make one last change. Forward Dylan Chambost was replaced by DeJuan Jones , who Nancy had no plan on playing, after Chambost also expressed he was dealing with cramping.
"It was difficult to do subs with the conditions," Nancy said. "That's why we tried to stay with the same team, knowing that I wanted to make changes before the game but with the conditions, I think that it was the best thing to stay with the same players because it was really, really difficult mentally, and also physically."
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Columbus Crew head into CONCACAF Champions Cup opener following extended game
New England's best opportunity to get on the board was on a possible penalty kick from Chambost being called for a handball within the Crew's box near the 90-minute mark.
Chambost argued that the ball hit his rib age, rather than his arm on the Revolution's free kick attempt, and he was proven correct when the call was overturned following a VAR review.
The review, combined with a hand injury to New England goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic that had to be evaluated, led to over 100 minutes of actual game time.
"It's very hard," Farsi said. " We played 90 plus-12, and we have a game on Tuesday. It was super cold, it was very hard for the body, but we're used to it. Last year, we played so many games, we're going to take the experience of last year to do it again this year."
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The Crew head straight to Los Angeles to face LAFC in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup series in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew defeat New England Revolution in cold game: Takeaways
