CHESTER, Pa.Nearly one month ago, the Union suffered one of the most frustrating defeats in their two-year history. Finishing off a questionable second-half handball turned penalty kick, the Columbus Crew took down the Union, 2-1, in a battle for first place in the Eastern Conference at Columbus Crew Stadium.
The loss had the Union players salivating for the rematch at homeand on Saturday night at PPL Park, they will get their chance.
It was a good game in Columbus, we were all waiting for this game at home, especially at this point in the season, coach Peter Nowak said. Everybody would like to win this game.
However, in order to gain revenge, the Union will have to go slump-busting. To do that, they will have to battle the Crew from the opening whistle onward. No let-downs, no mental mistakes, the Unions form has to be sterling.
Were still a very young and inexperienced group, said Nowak, whose squad is 5-1-8 at home. We just need to start the game like someone put a gun to our heads, because thats when we play our best.
Riding an eight-game winless streak that dates back to July 17, the Union, sitting in third place in the conference with an 8-7-12 record and 36 points, have gone beyond suffering a simple poor streak. They are downright snake-bitten. But despite their departure from the top of the table and the recent loss of All-Star goaltender and captain Faryd Mondragon to a broken finger, the club hasnt abandoned its noted competitive fight.
Its not going to get any easier, Nowak said. We try to fight through it as a group. Were going to keep fighting, regardless of the situation. Well fight for whatever we can get and whatever we can scratch for. Were going to fight for it.
In fact, with a three-goal comeback to earn a draw on Sept. 7 against the New England Revolution, in which Sebastien Le Toux scored a pair of goals, and a respectable scoreless draw against the Portland Timbers last Saturday, the Union seem to be getting their confidence back and heading in the right direction.
It was a huge improvement of anticipating plays, said Nowak, discussing the advancement of the Timbers game from previous contests. The defensive players shut it down before anything bad was able to happen. Whichever team was going to score the goal was going to win the game, and we missed a couple of chances.
Leading the charge of gradual improvement is backup goalkeeper Zac MacMath, who has two full games under his belt filling in for Mondragon. After allowing four goals against the Revolution, MacMath, in impressive fashion, posted a shutout in his second-ever MLS contest. The Union will be relying on his vocal guidance and decision-making once again against the Crew.
He was very good in both starts, Nowak said of MacMath. Hes working very hard and hes a confident guy. You can see the work is paying off.
The struggling Crew, at 11-9-8 overall and 3-7-3 on the road, fought the Houston Dynamo to a 2-2 draw on Wednesday, are bringing a three-game winless run to Chester on just a three-day rest. Led by Andres Mendozas 11 goals and US Mens National Team midfielder Robbie Rogers six assists, the Crew have scored six goals in their last three games. The problem, however, is that they have allowed an eye-popping 12 during the same span.
With two limping teams going nose-to-nose on Saturday with just four points separating them in the standings, Nowak understands that it will come down to whichever teams out-works the other to determine who will bring in the result.
For all of us, we just have to believe that the work is going to pay off, Nowak said. We need to believe we have built something great together and we just need to work as we always do and stay positive. Thats been our strength, even last year with so many games and bad goals against us, we fought through.
Tait continues youth movement
After three weeks of working with the Union as a trialist, the club inked 21-year-old English defender Joe Tait to a contract on Tuesday, adding to the clubs youthful flair.
This is a move for the future, said Nowak, who hopes to use the young back out of the USL at some point in the upcoming weeks. Were still looking to get the youngsters that will benefit us for the future and hes definitely one of those guys. He has good abilities as a defender, a good communicator and hes very competitive. Hes tough to play against and you can see it in practice that he keeps getting better.
While Taits ability impressed the Union, who have gone through the 2011 season notoriously shallow on defense, it may be his versatility that sealed the deal. According to Nowak, Tait isnt locked down to just one defensive slot but can work from either flank and even succeed in the center positions.
Im not sure if hes purely a left back but he gives up an option at all the back positions, Nowak said. Well see where he fits, but the games he played as a center back have been pretty good.
E-mail Ryan Bright at ryanbright13@gmail.com