The Columbus Crew and Philadelphia Union battled to a six-goal stalemate in MLS Reserve League action at Columbus Crew Stadium on Sunday morning.
The Union struck first in the opening minute of play when guest player Matt Kassel led a counter attack to find fellow trialist Lucky Mkosana for a fine finish past Crew goalkeeper Matt Lampson, giving Philadelphia the early advantage.
Columbus drew level in the 23rd minute as Emilio RenterÃa played a give-and-go to Aaron Schoenfeld, with the Venezuelan beating Union 'keeper Chase Harrison to the far post for the equalizer.
After the break, the Crew took a 2-1 advantage after 53 minutes when Homegrown forward Ben Speas beat his defender and sent in a left-footed cross into Olman Vargas on the far post for the easy tap-in. Philadelphia answered ten minutes later as Zach Pfeffer dribbled through the Black & Gold defense and beat guest goalkeeper Nick Noble just a minute after Noble replaced Lampson in net.
The Crew went ahead once again in the 69th minute when a loose ball in front of net landed at the feet of Justin Meram. The second-year forward utilized some shifty footwork to beat Harrison for the tally and give the Crew a 3-2 advantage.
Not to be denied the road point, Mkosana fired a shot on goal two minutes later. The trialist's shot was parried by Noble, landing at the feet of forward Chandler Hoffman who netted the equalizer.
Both teams battled to find a winner throughout the final ten minutes, with the nearest chance coming in stoppage time as Harrison saved Cole Grossman's blast from close range..
Scoring Summary:
PHI – Lucky Mkosana (Matt Kassel) 1
CLB – Emilio Renteria (Aaron Schoenfeld) 23
CLB – Olman Vargas (Ben Speas) 53
PHI – Zach Pfeffer (unassisted) 63
CLB – Justin Meram (unassisted) 69
PHI – Chandler Hoffman (unassisted) 73
Misconduct Summary:
PHI - Cristhian Hernandez (caution) 71
CLB - Cole Grossman (caution) 76
Columbus Crew: Matt Lampson (Nick Noble,62), Ethan Finlay, Kevan George, Eric Gehrig, Nemanja Vukovic, Cole Grossman, Emilio Renteria (Aaron Horton, 58), Aaron Schoenfeld, Ben Speas, Justin Meram, Olman Vargas.
Substitutes not used: Alex Crognale^, Nathan Kohl^, Francisco Juarez.
^ - Academy Player
- Guest Player
D.C. United: Philadelphia Union starting XI: Chase Harrison, Matt Kassel, Greg Jordan, Keon Daniel, Gabriel Gómez, Zach Pfeffer, Roger Torres (Brian Nana-Sinkam^, 46), Cristhian Hernandez, Jimmy McLaughlin, Lucky Mkosana, Chandler Hoffman.
Substitute Not Used: Chris Konopka, Antoine Hoppenot, Jack McInerney.
^ - Academy Player
* - Guest Player
Referee: Corey Richardson
Referee's Assistants: Andre Castel, Tre Gaither
4th Official: Devon Duling
