A 1-1 draw against New York/New Jersey will linger like the bitter aftertaste in an unfinished symphony of offense after the Columbus Crew tied the Metrostars on a windy Saturday evening at Columbus Crew Stadium.

A 34th minute right-footed strike by Crew forward Jeff Cunningham was canceled out with a coolly struck penalty kick by Clint Mathis in the 64th. Ten minutes of overtime couldn’t satisfy the 12,518 people in attendance as the Metrostars looked happy to leave the capital city with one point and their Eastern Conference lead.

“We are disappointed with the final result, but I’m awfully proud of the guys’ effort tonight,” Columbus coach Greg Andrulis said.

Andrulis, trying to secure up a defense that leaked in a late winner to New England last week, inserted both Chad McCarty and Daniel Torres into the defensive four as well as shifting young midfielder Kyle Martino to the wing side of midfield and moving Ross Paule into the center.

“Bottom line was to get Kyle in more one-on-one situations where he could do some damage,” Andrulis said.

Early on in the game the Crew came out with energy, as they forced the Metrostars back in their own end for much of the first. Cunningham, named Man of the Match, was the main character in the Crew’s attack, racing in on numerous breakaways only to be stopped again and again by goalkeeper Tim Howard.

“We didn’t respond in the first half. We couldn’t let Columbus win every header, every tackle for the rest of the game,” Metrostars coach Bob Bradley said.

Cunningham’s time would come on a well-fashioned buildup with Paule receiving a long Freddy Garcia pass and passing it on to a rather unmarked Cunningham at the top of the penalty area. Cunningham then sent a low right-footed effort beyond the outstretched palm of Howard. It was Cunningham’s fifth goal of the year and extended his points-scoring streak to five matches.

Soon after, Cunningham was through again, victimizing Eddie Pope’s halftime replacement, Kenny Arena, and his partner Steve Jolley, but Cunningham had two shots saved by Howard with the final effort being deflected wide by Howard.

Howard was possibly playing in his final match for the Metrostars as he leaves for national team duty this week and is expected to sign for English giants Manchester United soon after.

“I didn’t to a good job of capitalizing on the opportunities we created tonight,” Cunningham said. “I accept a lot of the responsibility for the result tonight.”

The Metrostars equalized when Crew goalkeeper Jon Busch pulled down Honduran midfielder Amado Guevara in the area and referee Jair Marrufo pointed immediately at the spot.

“I got a little piece of him, but I didn’t get him as bad as he made it look,” Busch said.

Mathis easily deceived Busch on the penalty, setting a club record by extending his goalscoring streak to five matches.

Columbus had a seemingly legitimate penalty claim of their own turned down when Cunningham raced through Arena and Jolley again only to be held back near the edge of the penalty area. The referee spotted the foul outside the area and the following free kick didn’t come to anything.

“I didn’t think the game was very well officiated,” Cunningham said.

The tie leaves Columbus tied with Chicago for fourth place in the Eastern Conference, only ahead of winless D.C. United.

Next week the Crew faces the Western Conference leading San Jose Earthquakes at Crew Stadium.