Crew players celebrate their early goal with fans. Macy Erickson | Lantern Photographer

The drought is over.

The Crew picked up their first win since May 3, defeating the current league-best record-holding Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2-1 Saturday night at Lower.com Field to snap the fourth-longest losing streak in franchise history. 

Columbus head coach Wilfried Nancy was joyful to see his players celebrate a win after a rough month of May. 

“I think that I’m happy for the players, because obviously they were not happy regarding the last game,” Nancy said. “The spirit and the intensity during the practice was really up and tonight they showed [last game] was an accident.” 

Columbus wasted no time getting on the board, scoring in the first two minutes via the right foot of right wing Ibrahim Aliyu. 

However, Vancouver would not trail for long. Six minutes into the game, attacking midfielder Jean-Claude Ngando scored from the center of the box, tying the game at 1. 

In the 23rd minute, center forward Diego Rossi reclaimed the lead for the Crew, making the score 2-1. He was assisted by left wing Daniel Gazdag, his first assist in a Columbus uniform. 

At halftime, Columbus controlled possession for 57.5% and had a slight edge in shots at 4 to 2. 

Trailing by a goal, the Whitecaps were looking to get the equalizer early in the second half. 

In the 49th minute, left wing-back Edier Ocampo had a scoring chance from the center of the box but was denied by Crew goalkeeper Evan Bush, keeping the Columbus lead intact.

Ten minutes later, Columbus had an uncontested breakaway score that would have extended their lead, but it was waved off after an offside penalty review. Despite the Crew’s offense working its way into scoring opportunities, they would shoot themselves in the foot with two more scoring plays in the 76th and 80th minutes being negated due to offside penalties.

The Whitecaps had multiple opportunities down the stretch to tie the game, including a free kick in stoppage time, but they ultimately could not find the back of the net.

During the 90 minutes of play, Columbus controlled the ball for 57.6% of the game while Vancouver outshot it nine to eight. 

Crew center back Sean Zawadzki was pleased with the team’s defensive performance. 

“I think we did really well. We worked a lot this weekend on balls in behind,” Zawadzki said. “I think we did well managing that and kind of limiting activities with that.” 

The Crew (8-3-7) will host Atlanta United FC (4-9-5) at 7:30 p.m. June 25 at Lower.com Field.