6/20/2010: Dutch Lions Downed By Crew's Quality, Lose 3-0 At Baujan

Dutch Lions midfielder Julius Wille battles with Crew's French midfielder Leandre Griffit in the first Battle of Ohio (Picture by Sam Fahmi, Massive Report)

6/20/2010: Dutch Lions Downed By Crew's Quality, Lose 3-0 At Baujan
By Ryan Kozlowski

The two professional soccer teams in all of Ohio, Columbus Crew at the MLS level and the Dayton Dutch Lions at the PDL PRO level, met this Saturday at Baujan Field. The crowd at Baujan was a sea of bright colors, both yellow and orange, as the Dayton Dutch Lions were set to play a competitive friendly against the MLS Columbus Crew. Unsurprisingly, when the Crew starters took the field in the second half, it was a little too much quality for the Dayton Dutch Lions to contest. The Dutch Lions had their moments and opportunities late in the first half and moments of brillant link up play in the second, but when all was said and done on a sweltering day, the Lions would be downed by a 3-0 scoreline.

In the first half, the Dutch Lions were able to stick around against a Crew side that had a few players (such as Shaun Francis, Othaniel Yanez, Kwaku Nyamekye) who were making their debuts for the Crew on the day and who, as a trio, had less experience then nearly all of the Dutch Lion players. However, this Crew first half lineup was balanced out with a few starters (such as Steven Lenhart, Adam Moffat, and company) who found their first goal in the 14th minute. The goal came off of a Leandre Griffit cross that found the head of Steven Lenhart and a destination in the back of the Dutch Lions net.

The Dayton Dutch Lions took a while to play their way into the game, but near the end of the first half they found their feet; As the Dutch Lions had good opportunity, after good opportunity to get an equalizer but could not find their way past Crew keeper Andy Greuenebaum as the seconds ticked down on the first forty-five.

In the second half, the Crew brought out the majority of their starters to raucious applause by both Crew and Dutch Lion fans. The screams got a little bit louder as the press announcer worked his way through the switches of Chad Marshall, Robbie Rogers, Frankie Hejduk, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Also, along with the switches, the game majorly turned in the favor of the Columbus Crew as one got a look, up close, at the quality it takes to win MLS Cups and Supporters Shields. With this turn of momentum for the Crew, Columbus scored two goals in the second half (55th minute by Eddie Gaven and 84th minute by Jason Garey) to seal up the friendly result.

Columbus Crew Head Coach Robert Warzycha was happy at the minutes the Dutch Lions game gave to both his starters and reserves on his team:

“It’s good for all the guys to get some minutes. For the guys who play a lot, because of the break, it gives them some minutes they need. For the guys who haven’t played much it gives them a chance to show what they can do.”

The Dutch Lions have also reportedly given the Crew the offer to give their reserves (such as Yanez, Francis, Duka, Nyamekye) minutes with the Dutch Lions at home games in Dayton; As the Dutch Lions could use the defensive help and the Crew's bottom of the roster could use game minutes with a purpose. The response is yet unknown on whether the Crew will take the Dutch Lions up on any of the Dutch Lions loan offers.

For the Dutch Lion players, the game was a great experience. The Dutch Lions centerback, Kyle Segebart, is a Crew fan and he talked about playing against some of the players he has looked up to and watched before at Crew Stadium:

"We thought we would have Guillermo locked up and then he would just do a little outside of the heel and be around us. It was great to play against Guillermo, Frankie, Marshall, and all the Crew players for the experience as it makes you better, playing better players. Although, Marshall was complaining a little about my elbows in the box," said a smiling Segebart.

Head Coach Sonny Silooy agreed that the experience of playing against a strong MLS side was a good one, but it could have came with less mental errors:

"For them, it’s a great experience to play an MLS team. We knew we would have a difficult game. It was our fourth match in seven days. Against a big team in the U.S., you have to play with your head. All the goals came from mistakes.”

The Dutch Lions will look to learn from their mistakes and correct them before this Wednesday's game in Cincinnati against the Kings at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday is a big game as Cincinnati can be a tricky little team, as they have defeated the Chicago Fire and came back from 3-1 down to tie the Dutch Lions in their PDL opener at Miami Valley South Stadium.

Please take the one hour trip down I-75 to support your Lions!