Fans wait for the game to begin during rain delays on Friday. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor
Columbus was cruising toward a fourth straight win over Orlando—until it all unraveled.
The Crew lost 3-1 to Orlando City SC on Friday night at Lower.com Field, allowing three goals in the second half in a late game collapse.
Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy was understandably frustrated with his club’s performance.
“Obviously I’m not happy with this one, because this is not us,” Nancy said. “Collectively we had many opportunities and collectively we should have defended better, but we didn’t do it.”
After an hour-long weather delay, the game kicked off, and Columbus was aggressive early and often. The Crew tallied five shots in the first 15 minutes of action, however, the rain-soaked pitch played a factor in preventing Columbus from getting on the board.
The attack continued on for Columbus, as they registered three shots in the following five minutes, but once again were unable to finish scoring opportunities.
Through 45 minutes of play, Columbus had dominated the box score. The Crew had controlled possession for 61.9% of the game and had six more shot attempts than Orlando City, yet no goals to show for it.
Both clubs squandered golden opportunities to strike early on in the second.
But in the 66th minute, the Crew finally struck.
The referee went to video review to determine Orlando right midfielder Marco Pasalic committed a handball violation in the box, granting a penalty kick shot to Columbus. Rossi stepped up to take the shot, sending it past goalkeeper Pedro Gallese for a 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately for Columbus, the lead would last only ten minutes.
In the 76th minute, Orlando left midfielder Iván Angulo crossed the ball into the center of the box where striker Ramiro Enrique scored with a header. But it did not stop there.
The pair of Angulo and Enrique connected again three minutes later, with Angulo setting up Enrique to score a right-footed shot, taking a 2-1 lead over Columbus.
Ten minutes of stoppage time was added to the clock, but Columbus was not the beneficiary.
In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Orlando striker Martin Ojeda blasted a shot past Schulte, cementing the comeback win for Orlando.
Crew center back Sean Zawadzki commented on the lessons that can be learned from their performance.
“We have to be switched on all the time knowing we have the ball,” Zawadzki said. “How can we organize ourselves better—being in better spots to prevent them from going on a counter attack and creating these good chances.”
The Crew’s next game will take place Tuesday night at Lower.com Field, kicking off the first game of the Leagues Cup 2025 against Toluca at 7:00 p.m.
