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Junior guard Kolby King became the fifth Bulldog to enter the transfer portal. Photo by Andrew Buckley. CALEB DENORME | MANAGING EDITOR | cdenorme@butler.edu Although the men’s basketball season ended in the second round of the College Basketball Crown, the work continues for head coach Thad Matta and staff. Graduating forwards Jahmyl Telfort, Patrick McCaffery and Pierre Brooks, along with center Andre Screen leave significant gaps in Butler’s rotation. Along with the graduates, sophomore forward Augusto Cassia, sophomore center Boden Kapke, junior guard Kolby King, junior guard Landon Moore and first-year guard Ryder Cate have all entered the transfer portal. The transfer portal opened on March 24 and will close on April 22. Eight of Butler’s 15 players on the roster last season were acquired via the transfer portal. With all the departures, the Bulldogs landed some portal players to replace those on the move. The first commitment of the portal season came from former Drexel senior guard Yame Butler. The 6-foot-5 graduate began his career at Fordham before spending three years at Drexel, averaging 13.6 points, 1.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game last season for the Dragons. Butler started 32 of the 33 possible games last year, had the third-highest minutes-per-game on the team and shot a blistering 48.6% from the field. The second addition came from in-state. Former Purdue Fort Wayne junior guard Jalen Jackson committed to Butler after stints with the Mastodons and University of Illinois-Chicago. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 19.2 points on his way to being named a first-team All-Horizon League selection last season. Jackson’s main game will be taking lots of shots and leading the scoring charge, something that will need to be replaced after the departure of Telfort and Brooks. Butler’s third portal addition of the season was senior forward Michael Ajayi. The former Gonzaga forward spent time at Pierce College and Pepperdine before joining the Zags last season. In 2023-24 with Pepperdine, Ajayi led the West Coast Conference in scoring with an average of 17.1 points per game and earned First Team All-Conference honors. Last season with Gonzaga, Ajayi started 13 games averaging 6.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Although his playing time was diminished at Gonzaga, Ajayi will likely be a routine starter for the Bulldogs come fall. Sophomore center Drayton Jones committed to the Bulldogs on April 15, finally filling a major need for Butler. Up until Jones’ commitment, the Dawgs did not have a center on the roster after the graduation of Screen and transfer of Kapke and Cassia. The 6-foot-11 Houston native averaged 13 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game last season for South Carolina State. Jones now fills a glaring need for Butler and will likely slot into the starting lineup to protect and attack the rim. Butler will also have a new crop of young Dawgs joining the ranks next season, with Azavier Robinson, Jack McCaffery, Jackson Keith and Efeosa Oliogu coming in as first-years. The Bulldogs have one open spot remaining after Jones’ arrival.

The Columbus Crew continued their unbeaten streak to open up the 2025 MLS season with a 2-1 win over CF Montreal on Saturday. The first 30 minutes were a dream for the Black & Gold, netting two goals courtesy of Jacen Russell-Rowe and AZ Jackson to jump out to an early lead. From there though, Montreal showed fight to get back into the game. Prince Owusu bagged a tap in off a shot from Caden Clark that careened off the post and back into his path to get back within a goal. In the end, the Crew weathered the storm and saw out the game to claim a 2-1 victory and add three points. The way Columbus looked was night and day from the first half hour compared to the rest of the game. Part of that was how Montreal adjusted, but the Black & Gold also shot themselves in the foot multiple times in this match. Let’s dive into all the tactics that went into this 2-1 win for the Crew. Dominant first half-hour The opening chunk of this game could not have gone better for Wilfried Nancy’s side. Jackson opened the scoring within 12 minutes and Russell-Rowe doubled the advantage just 14 minutes later, looking like Columbus would cruise to an easy victory. This first half hour of the Black & Gold onslaught was due to how Nancy set up his team and some crucial mistakes from Montreal. Let’s dive into the mishaps from the visitors first. Montreal came into this game lined up in a 4-3-3 after firing former Crew 2 head coach Laurent Courtois only five games into the season. Marco Donadel stepped into the interim role, opting for a four-back traditional 4-3-3 formation. Teams do not tend to play in four-back formations against the Crew due to Columbus’ immense width. The Black & Gold use their wingbacks to stretch the opposition, leaving the middle undermanned if the outside backs in a back four need to go outside. That is exactly what sunk Montreal early on in this game. The fullbacks had to decide to stay narrow and allow the Crew to take the wide areas or go out and meet them – risking an internal overload. There is a quick fix if Montreal was set on pushing their fullbacks wider to mark Columbus’ wingbacks. If the visitors dropped their defensive midfielders deeper – bolstering and adding manpower to the backline – Montreal could have gotten wide coverage and defensive stability in the midfield at the cost of numbers up top. Instead, Montreal decided to gamble. The visitors did not drop their defensive midfielders into the backline and actually pushed them up to attempt to press the Black & Gold. This gave Max Arfsten and Mo Farsi acres of space out wide to go one-on-one with the opposing fullbacks. The second mistake for Montreal was how much they overcommitted to the press without buying into their backline. The reason Nancy’s press for the Crew works so well is because the entire team pressures, not just an allotment of attackers with the defense sitting back conservatively. Montreal learned this lesson the hard way. The pressure from the opposing attackers and midfielders pushed Columbus back, but the defense did not follow the Black & Gold’s dropping attackers. This meant that Diego Rossi, Jackson, and Russell-Rowe had a major gap in the midfield to run into, get the ball, and turn upfield. When this easy release happened, Arfsten and Faris were flying up the wings with the Crew holding a five-on-four advantage against Montreal’s recovering defense. Sucking the opposition into overcommitting and attacking their weakness is what caused Columbus to have the dominant opening half that they did. Now, what did the Black & Gold do that was so potent? Simple – they took what Montreal gave them and played clean, smart soccer. The buildup play out of the back in the first 30 minutes is some of the best combinations the Crew have done all season. Yes, Montreal’s pressure was not very well-thought-out, but it was still up to Columbus to exploit the weaknesses. The Black & Gold recognized early on that they had opportunities to break the opposition’s broken press, wide mismatch opportunities, and a numerical advantage against a recovering defense. They saw these chances and they took them, to the tune of two goals in the opening 30 minutes of the game. How did Montreal get back into the game? After the opening phase of the game resulted in a lot of Crew possession and offensive changes, Montreal started to show signs of life. The visitors made a few key changes that changed the game and forced Columbus to really compete and see the game out. The first thing Montreal did was slow down the game. If they could keep possession and get more comfortable on the ball, they could try to break down the Black & Gold defense while keeping possession away from the Crew. This also allowed Montreal to get into Columbus’ attacking third and actually engage their repress, which in the first 30 minutes was broken. Luckily for the Canadian side, they adjusted that press to make the Black & Gold uncomfortable. The primary thing Montreal had to do to fix their press was take care of the Crew’s dropping attackers. Cutting off the droppers would force Columbus to build out of the back without a long-release option. Instead of pressing all-out with six to seven players like they did in the first half, Montreal pressed with four to five and dropped two players to take care of the dropping attackers. That may seem easier to break given that the Black & Gold could still create overloads, but Montreal only pressed on certain cues. When the Crew possessed the ball in the middle of the pitch, the visitors employed a resisted press and aimed to keep Columbus in front of them. When the point of possession switched to a side of the field though, Montreal would cut off switch options and force the Black & Gold towards the sideline. With the droppers covered and the switch points virtually taken out of play, the Crew’s only options were to go long and hope the attackers could hold up the play or combine through the pressure. Combining through the pressure was not a problem for Columbus in the first half, but in the second half, the Black & Gold were sloppy. Misplaced passes, poor touches, and uncharacteristic turnovers high up the field gave Montreal ample opportunity to bear down on Patrick Shulte. In making the press less aggressive and more intentional, Montreal’s pressure became incredibly effective in getting back into the game. Despite Montreal’s efforts to get back into the game, Nancy’s savvy side saw out the three points at home. In the last ten minutes, the Crew slowed the game down, kept possession, and milked the clock to get the victory. It was not an emphatic win, but three points is three points. Columbus remains unbeaten in MLS competition for at least another week.

Butler gave up a season-high 100 points in the loss to Boise State. Photo courtesy of Butler Athletics. CALEB DENORME | MANAGING EDITOR | cdenorme@butler.edu The men’s basketball team’s season came to an end in the second round of the College Basketball Crown, falling to Boise State 100-93. It was an offensive clinic from both teams, shooting well over 55% on the game and combining for 193 total points. The difference in the game was turnovers and rebounding, both categories won by Boise State. In Butler’s final game of the 2024-25 season, let’s go beyond the box score. Same old story The main gripe around this Bulldogs squad this season has been the inability to play tough defense. Butler has the firepower to match most teams on the offensive end, but that advantage fades as soon as the Dawgs turn to play defense. This reality was incredibly evident in this game. The Bulldogs gave up 100 points on 60.3% shooting by Boise State. The Broncos also hit on 45.8% of their shots from beyond the arc. Part of that is due to a hot shooting night, but the defense is also questionable. Butler was able to keep pace offensively, pouring in 93 points on the night. The blemish on the Dawgs offensive performance was the 10 giveaways – eight in the first half – that contributed to Boise State’s 17 points off of turnovers. The bright spot on the night was the play of sophomore guard Finley Bizjack and first-year guard Evan Haywood. Bizjack blew up for 30 points – beating his season best 19 points – on 8-12 shooting and tallied seven assists. Haywood added 14 points, two rebounds and a steal to the Bulldogs’ effort. Despite the stellar play from the young Dawgs, Butler’s defense and turnovers ended the season. The issues that were on display in early losses to North Dakota State and Austin Peay reared their ugly head to set the Bulldogs final record at 15-20. Where does Butler go from here? Although the transfer portal has been open since March 24, portal season can now truly begin for Butler. First-year guard Ryder Cate is the only Bulldog who has entered the portal so far, but it is safe to say that he will not be the last. Although they have seen a lack of exits, the Dawgs have already been busy getting portal acquisitions. Purdue Fort Wayne guard Jalen Jackson and Drexel guard Yame Butler already announced their commitment to Butler earlier this week. Jackson, a first team All-Horizon League selection, averaged 19.2 points per game for the Mastodons last season. Butler averaged 13.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game this past year for Drexel. Both players coming in will be expected to instantly contribute to the Bulldogs success next season. The incoming guard pair will partner with Bizjack, who confirmed he will also be returning next season in a post on X after the win over Utah on March 31. The rest of the team’s decisions will likely be coming in the next few weeks, with Butler’s staff still working on other transfers. For now the Bulldogs will end their season with this loss to Boise State, polishing off a disappointing campaign.

The Columbus Crew returned to its winning ways on Saturday, taking down D.C United 2-1 away from home. After a scoreless draw with NYCFC the week before at Lower.com Field, Columbus bagged two goals courtesy of Diego Rossi to take all three points from D.C. It was yet another semi-rotated lineup with Steven Moreira and Malte Amundsen on the bench, but Andres Herrera and Cesar Ruvalcaba slotted in nicely on the backline. After D.C. grabbed the opening goal within the first 20 minutes, Rossi equalized almost instantly to get the game back on level terms. The Crew’s no. 10 struck again in the 65th minute when a deflected shot from outside the box looped over the opposing keeper. From there, the Black & Gold locked down their defense and left D.C. with another win to remain unbeaten in MLS play. The way D.C United set up defensively strongly dictated how the Crew’s offense operated, but it did not stop the goals from going in. Let’s dive into all the tactics that helped Columbus grab a win on the road. D.C’s offensive strategy and defensive setup D.C United came into this game with an offense predicated around one central player: Christian Benteke. The Belgian striker has proven his worth in MLS, scoring goal after goal during his time in the nation’s capital. That being said, his particular skillset can match up well against a team like the Black & Gold. Everyone knows that Wilfried Nancy’s side wants to get as many numbers as possible into the attack and re-press when the ball is lost. This leaves gaps in the backline where good teams that can play through pressure can counter the Crew. Granted, Benteke is not a speed merchant. He is not going to outrun Sean Zawadzki or any of the other defenders Columbus put out on the field, but he can assist the counter in other ways. Benteke’s holdup play is a force to be reckoned with, especially against smaller, ball-possessing centerbacks. So instead of countering the Black & Gold with pace using a quicker forward over the top, D.C. tried to play the ball into Benteke’s feet and get secondary runners up into the attack. Nancy knew that with a player of Benteke’s caliber in terms of holdup play, the Crew needed to have a contingency plan for the Belgian. That is why for much of the first half Columbus had two center backs staying back to shadow the striker. That is huge praise coming from Nancy and the Black & Gold, but it limited Benteke’s touches and forced United to build out of the back through the Crew’s press. Due to the two center backs hanging around Benteke, Columbus employed more of a resisted pressure rather than the usual high-octane press. Credit to D.C., they played well through pressure and had some decent spells of possession to push the Black & Gold back into their own half. The hosts found a goal but only held onto the advantage for a fleeting moment before Rossi equalized. That moment of joy being replaced by frustration was partly due to D.C.’s defensive setup. United came into this game with a clear goal in mind: clog up the middle and make the Crew beat them from the wide areas. So, when the hosts defended in a 4-4-2, the four midfielders were incredibly narrow. This narrowness could be for a few reasons. D.C. may have wanted to have more coverage on dropping attackers coming back to get the ball or desired to blanket Darlington Nagbe to take him off his game. Whatever the reason was, United decided to put the pressure on Dejuan Jones, Yevhen Cheberko, Herrera, and Ruvalcaba to make plays on offense and unlock D.C. That theory has some merit. In the grand scheme of things, those players are less scary than Rossi, Jacen Russell-Rowe, and Dylan Chambost having space in the midfield to create a spread midfield. Despite D.C’s attempts though, their defensive system did have flaws. The narrow midfield naturally left acres of space out wide for the wingbacks and outside centerbacks to occupy. Another added wrinkle was that Max Arfsten and Jones became interchangeable on that left wing, easily overloading the undermanned wide defense. Jones or Arfsten would drag the outside back wide, and then a channel would open up inside. Either the United center back could side over – leaving space in behind them – or they could stay and allow the channel to open in front of them. The Crew did a good job of attacking where the space was and ultimately netting two goals. It was yet another close affair, but Columbus came out with the win and momentum heading into the next week. Piecing together the puzzle You can make the argument that a season is like a puzzle, especially for Nancy and the Black & Gold. Early on there is a general idea of what the team is supposed to look like, but at times players will be plugged into situations and roles that are different. It is at these times that Nancy and the coaching staff will be looking at how they perform so they can find the best position and role for each player. For example, in the opening game against Chicago this season Zawadzki played as a true defensive midfielder. He made some good challenges but often looked lost and overlooked. In recent weeks, the coaching staff moved him into the central center back position where he has absolutely thrived. Another great player to look at is Chambost, who started off this season in a fluid attacking midfielder role. Since Zawadzki moved back to defense, Chambost took over his spot next to Nagbe and has been gaining confidence since then. Chambost moving freed up a spot in the fluid front three – which will eventually go to a presumed DP No. 9 this summer – that was filled by a few different players. One of the more successful moves was Arfsten coming up into the attack, who has given the Black & Gold some serious firepower up top with his ability to create and play out wide. Not only did this move benefit Arfsten, but it also allowed Jones and Herrera to get more playing time at wingback, both of whom have had moments of brilliance. The moral of the story is that we are no longer in an age where players are stuck in one position, especially in Nancy’s system. There will be experimenting throughout this season to find out in what role and at what position a player can be their best. This is the benefit to having multi-faceted players on your team, but also why finding these jacks-of-all-trades can be difficult. Nancy will continue tinkering and the Black & Gold will keep moving forward. A matchup with CF Montreal awaits this weekend back at home in front of a Columbus crowd.

April 1, 2025 by Caleb Denorme Owen Presthus of Columbus Crew 2 dribbles the ball against Lexington Sporting Club in the Second Round of the 2025 US Open Cup. Photo: Columbus Crew 2 Goals from three Columbus Crew 2 players, all under the age of 20 sent Lexington SC crashing out of the the Second Round of the 2025 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with a 3-0 win. Midfielder Owen Presthus, and forwards Christian Ortiz and Brent Adu-Gyamfi each tallied goals for the Capybaras to advance to the Third Round. It was a back and forth game from the opening kick, with both teams turning each other over high up the pitch. It only took Presthus seven minutes to open the scoring for the Capybaras. Presthus connected with 16-year-old phenom Chase Adams on a low cross to dispatch a deflected shot into the far corner. Presthus said he knew the importance of the US Open Cup because his father – Tom Presthus, who won the 2002 US Open Cup with the Columbus Crew – keeps his ring in his office. “I saw he has an Open Cup ring from 2002 and he has it in our office,” Presthus said. “It’s just a constant reminder of what this tournament is. It’s the most historic soccer competition in America.” Lexington got its footing back quickly though, controlling possession and creating chances for a majority of the next 20 minutes. Midfielder Michael Adedokun grazed Crew 2’s woodwork on a first time shot from the center of the box in the 23rd minute, inches away from levelling the match. Crew 2 pushed back, attempting to hit Lexington on the counter but the visitors thwarted any of the Capys attempts to bear down on goalkeeper Brooks Thompson. Lexington had a few opportunities off of corners, but could not seriously threaten goalkeeper Luke Pruter. After a minute of added time in the first half, both teams headed to the locker room with just a goal separating them. Despite the scoreline, much of the first half was spent inside Crew 2’s defensive half. The second half started off well for Columbus. Crew 2 controlled possession and had two shouts for a penalty — one for a handball and the other for taking down Ortiz in the box — that were not given by the officials. Although the penalty cries fell upon deaf ears, the Capys continued to play with renewed energy. Lexington struggled to get out of its own half despite making multiple substitutions at halftime. The visitors’ luck changed in the 56th minute when a corner was awarded off a deflected pass. A short corner and quick cross flew into a sea of bodies in the box, sending the ball careening off the bottom side of the crossbar. Pruter quickly secured the ball before it bounced over the line, allowing Crew 2 to survive another near-miss by Lexington. A mere minute later, Pruter was called into action again. The 23-year-old used every inch of his wingspan to get a touch on a deflected shot and tip the ball over the bar to save the Capys again. Prince Forfor of Columbus Crew 2 celebrates after defeating Lexington Sporting Club 3-0 in the Second Round of the 2025 US Open Cup. Photo: Columbus Crew 2 Lexington’s onslaught on the Crew 2 goal continued, but the hosts punched back in the 65th minute. A bad pass in the back of Lexington’s defense was picked off by Ortiz, who outpaced the defense and slotted a low right-footed shot into the far corner to make it 2-0. Seven minutes later Ortiz was bearing down on goal again. A quick slip pass caught the Lexington defense napping and the 17-year-old was one-on-one with Thompson. Ortiz attempted to nutmeg the goalkeeper, but Thompson remained big and got a touch on the ball to send it wide. Lexington threw more bodies forward and Columbus sat in a 5-4-1, with Pruter standing on his head to keep the visitors out. Crew 2 took advantage of Lexington chasing the game in the 95th minute, with Adu-Gyamfi lacing a right-footed shot across the goalkeeper into the bottom corner to push Columbus’ lead to three goals. After 90 minutes and six minutes of stoppage time, Crew 2 came away with a 3-0 win over Lexington to move on. Crew 2 assistant coach Josh Williams was proud of his team competing in a high-level cup competition, but does not want this to be his squad’s last win in it. “I feel like the Open Cup just does something,” Williams said. “It was fun tonight to kind of play the underdog role. We’re going to show up, whether we’re home or away. It doesn’t matter the stadium, we are going to show up compete. We fear no one and anything can happen, and I feel like we showed that tonight. Columbus moves onto the Third Round of the Open Cup, which will take place on April 15-16.

Senior forward Pierre Brooks is averaging 15.2 points per game this season. Photo by Andrew Buckley. CALEB DENORME | MANAGING EDITOR | cdenorme@butler.edu The men’s basketball team will take the court again on Monday, March 30, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for the inaugural College Basketball Crown. The Bulldogs are slated to face off against the Utah Utes in the first round, with a possibility to advance and play either Boise State or George Washington University. Here is what you need to know as the Dawgs prepare to battle the Utes in a postseason competition: Who: Butler vs. Utah When: March 31, 3 p.m. Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada How to watch: FS1 What is the College Basketball Crown? The College Basketball Crown, known simply as “The Crown,” is a new 16-team postseason tournament that includes teams from the Big Ten, Big East, Big 12 and other at-large teams. The tournament will take place from March 31 to April 6 and is a new, innovative look at postseason college basketball tournaments. The Crown will pay out NIL pots to schools based on how far they progress in the tournament. The champion of the Crown will receive $300,000 in NIL money, with the runner-up cashing a $100,000 check. The four semi-finalists will each receive $50,000. Another perk of the Crown is its one-of-a-kind championship trophy, a crown that is the first wearable trophy in modern sports. The allure of possible NIL money and an opportunity to play against other teams in top conferences is an opportunity for the “best of the rest” to end their respective seasons on a high note. Time will tell if the Crown will affect the way the NIT and other college basketball postseason tournaments are run, especially with the NIL factor. Utah scouting report The Utes currently sit at 16-16 on the season and 8-12 in conference play, but have been through a rollercoaster of a spring. Former Utah head coach Craig Smith was fired in February, and the Utes have since hired former standout forward at Utah and current Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Alex Jensen to be the next head coach of the program. Utah is currently led by interim head coach Josh Eilert, with Jensen preparing to take over after the Mavericks’ season ends. Since the coaching change, seven Utes have decided to enter the transfer portal. Guard Miro Little, forward Keanu Dawes, forward Jake Wahlin, center Lawson Lovering, guard Hunter Erickson, center Joul Karram, forward Ayomide Bamisile, guard Jayden Teat and guard Brandon Haddock all have decided to go portaling despite still being in the Crown. It is unclear which players for the Utes will take the court against Butler despite being in the portal, but Utah still presents a challenge for the Bulldogs. The Utes are led by fifth-year guard Gabe Madsen and junior forward Ezra Ausar. Madsen averages 15.1 points per game and is Utah’s main threat from beyond the arc. The 6’6” guard from Rochester, Minnesota, shot 300 triples this season and connected on 32% of those attempts. Ausar averages 12.4 points per game and hits on a 51% clip from the field. Although Ausar’s shooting percentage is high, he only connects on 7.1% of his threes and has only taken 14 shots from beyond the arc this season. Butler will need two completely different game plans to stop both of Utah’s guards. Madsen’s long-range ability paired with Ausar’s tendency to get to the rim will be a nice one-two punch for the Utes. The Dawgs will need to be on top of their game to advance to the next round.

The Columbus Crew took an inaugural trip out west to San Diego to take on expansion side San Diego FC last weekend. Columbus pounced out to an early 1-0 courtesy of a Max Arfsten goal, but a Malte Amundsen red card in the second half changed the game for the Black & Gold. San Diego found a foothold and began chipping away at the Crew. After Yevhen Cheberko had to exit momentarily to be checked for a head injury, the hosts capitalized on the short-manned Columbus side off a corner to level the game. Patrick Schulte kept the Black & Gold in the game from there, stopping chance after chance to secure a point for the Crew. It was a game of momentum swings for Columbus and San Diego. San Diego FC started off in control, but the Black & Gold had a spell of dominance that resulted in a goal, and another called back for a suspicious foul. After the 40th minute though, it was mostly San Diego dominance and the Crew hanging on for a point. In a game of swings, let’s dive into all the tactics that dictated this draw. Columbus’ wingback brigade The early surprise of the night was three wingbacks being named in the starting team sheet. Arfsten, Mo Farsi and DeJuan Jones were all included in the starting XI for a new look to Wilfried Nancy’s team. Instantly Crew fans could see the vision. Arfsten joined the fluid front three with Jones in the left wingback spot. Dylan Chambost moved back deeper into the midfield with Darlington Nagbe, and Sean Zawadzki was the anchor of the backline. This was an attack-minded lineup with emphasis on ball possession and width dominance. When Columbus was at its best in this game, it was stellar wingback play that propelled it to those heights. The early consensus was that Nancy wanted to spread San Diego’s four-back defensive line and overload the wings. Arfsten and Jones often operated as a double wingback tandem, interchanging often. When Jones was in the wingback position, Arfsten could go inside to drag a defender and create space or stay high and wide to combine with Jones. On the other side, Farsi had a completely different assignment. Arfsten rarely went over to his half of the field due to the buildup primarily being on the left, so Farsi played the role of an inverted wingback. The Algerian international waited for San Diego’s backline to shift and then exploited the space in between and behind the center back and outside back. He had a good look at goal on a ball over the top early on but whiffed on the finish. When the Black & Gold had a give and go game with Jones, Arfsten and the fluid attack on one side, with Farsi as a long switch and inverted runner on the other side, San Diego FC did not know what to do. Part of that was due to how the Crew wanted to attack the hosts, but the other factor was how San Diego was set up early in the first half. San Diego played a 4-3-3 with an extremely narrow midfield and backline. With Columbus committing three fluid forwards, two midfielders, and sometimes two outside center backs into the attack, the defense tried to plug up the middle. That was fine until the entire defensive line had to shift to mark on the wing, leaving the backside wide open. Throughout the first half there were giant pockets between San Diego’s wingers and outside backs. This space was routinely exploited by the Black & Gold and helped with the buildup and overloads. It was eventually San Diego’s adjustments that got them back into the game. Around the 40-minute mark, the hosts made a change. They allowed the backline to get more horizontal to mark the wide areas and the wingers dropped a bit deeper on defense. This left them a bit undermanned in the immediate attack, but they became a much better countering team. The structural change was a minute detail that the San Diego coaching staff tried and saw it give them a foothold in the game, but bigger and more impactful changes came in the second half. San Diego’s philosophy change Right off the bat in the second half you could tell San Diego made a tactical philosophy shift that changed the game. Typically, a team that enjoys a draw out buildup, San Diego resorted to going direct. Clever runs from the front three paired with a high Crew backline resulted in chance after chance for the hosts, and then their luck got better when Amundsen pulled down an attacker and got sent off. Seeing the opposition go down to 10 men, San Diego doubled down and committed more men forward. After equalizing off a corner when Columbus had nine players on the field, the aerial assault continued. San Diego sent three to four attackers probing the backline and making runs in behind which led to a ton of changes, but also a number of offsides calls. That was the gamble San Diego was willing to take. Going long in the air is always daunting because it feels out of control and sometimes needs luck, but against a high backline like the Black & Gold, a perfect pass can spell doom. The other tweak that San Diego made was on the defensive side with their press. In the first half, the hosts employed a resisted pressure with four players that was broken by the Crew routinely. It was simple math, San Diego pressed with four and Columbus had five to six players in that area at all times for a game-like version of rondo. In the second half (and especially after the red card), San Diego began pressing higher with five players and one “rover” on the backside. The five attackers went after the Black & Gold backline, with the sitting player marking the backside wingback. San Diego wanted to put the Crew under siege while taking away the backside release valve. Obviously, this was made easier by the lack of a player on the field for Columbus, but the Black & Gold got some chances off of San Diego mistakes. Diego Rossi came so close to taking the lead back for the Crew off a breakaway where it was just him and two defenders, but the shot sailed high. This was one of those games for Columbus that did not go remotely to plan, but they will take a point on the road and move on. San Diego showed they belong in this league and will be a force this season, but the Black & Gold held their own in adverse circumstances. There is still a lot of work for this Crew team to do, but a draw away from home against one of the better teams in the West while playing down a man during the match is nothing to be ashamed of.

The Columbus Crew bowed out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup after winning the home leg 2-1 but losing on an aggregate scoreline of 4-2. Columbus went down in the opening leg out in the City of Angels 3-0 but showed fight in this game to get the aggregate tie back within one goal. A late Denis Bouanga clinching goal sunk the Black & Gold’s comeback attempt for good. Despite the 3-0 hole coming into this game, the Crew responded with energy and an attack-first mentality. Wilfried Nancy set up his team to chase goals and dominate the game, which Columbus did. With two early goals from Jacen Russell-Rowe and Diego Rossi, the comeback looked to be on. After halftime though, LAFC locked down their defense helped by Hugo Lloris standing on his head on multiple occasions. Let’s dive into the tactics that Nancy got right, and wrong, in the Black & Gold’s aggregate loss to LAFC. Setting up an attack-minded team From the moment the starting lineups were released, you could see Nancy’s intention for this game. On the backline, he replaced Yevhen Cheberko with Sean Zawadzki, who could slide into midfield if needed and be a better passing center-back. Including AZ Jackson, Dylan Chambost, and Darlington Nagbe in midfield gave the Crew more of an emphasis on attacking, rounded out with Russell-Rowe and Rossi up top. Typically, we’ve seen Chambost play as a part of that fluid front three, but in this game, he primarily sat next to Nagbe for his defensive duties. Jackson primarily joined the attack but often sat underneath as a roaming No. 10. At kickoff, Columbus employed a 1-4-5 formation that looked more like a 1-4-3-2. The Black & Gold tipped their hand at the weekend against the Houston Dynamo where they attacked in the same shape. Zawadzki stayed back as the lone center back but still moved 10 to 15 yards past midfield to aid in the attack. Both Chambost and Nagbe remained in the center of the pitch for most of the night, with Chambost occasionally leaking out wide or high. Malte Amundsen and Steven Moreira pushed forward as wide midfielders or second wingbacks, just lower than Mo Farsi and Max Arfsten. The tweak that the Crew made from the last game against LAFC was pushing the wingbacks higher than the three inside forwards. This pushed the LAFC backline deeper and allowed the attackers to drop into space and turn. Granted, much of Columbus’ dominance was also due to LAFC’s contentment to sit back and defend. The Black & Gold’s first-half showing was mostly due to the visitors trying to sit deep and stymie any whiff of an attack. LAFC opted to do this in a 5-4-1 with Igor Jesus dropping into a center back role in that back five. The Crew have struggled to break down a low block before, but this time they had success due to their setup. The key was the outside center backs moving into positions that wide midfielders would occupy. I would characterize this positioning as “second wingbacks” just below the true wingbacks pushing the limits of LAFC’s backline. Both Moreira and Amundsen were bridges or half-pivots to the wingbacks, but they also played an important role in widening LAFC’s midfield. The visitors had a choice to make – they could plug up the middle or choose to cover the outside center backs moving into the attack. LAFC tried to do both, which gave Columbus’ attack a diverse approach. When LAFC’s midfielders stayed central, Moreira and Amundsen would combine with the wingbacks and create wide overloads with the interior attackers. These overlaps from the outside center backs generate a ton of crossing opportunities. If LAFC decided to play with a wider defensive base, the inside was now open to play the ball into the attackers’ feet. This is where Jackson became very important for the Black & Gold. To the average viewer, it seemed Jackson did not have a good game, but he was essential to the Crew’s buildup and attack. When the opposition decided to shut down Moreira and Amundsen, Jackson became the target man inside. The young attacking midfielder dropped into the half-space and received the ball to his feet with a defender on his back. Sometimes he lost the ball due to the pressure, but on other occasions, he adopted an Alexandru Matan role and created attacks off the dribble. Once the ball went inside, LAFC’s defense would constrict and open up the wings for the dual wingbacks. From there Columbus would overload the width and force the defense to overshift to compensate, leaving the backside open for the opposite wingback and Russell-Rowe to attack. Another subtle tweak happened if LAFC committed numbers to guard against the double wingbacks on each side. In some scenarios, Farsi and Arfsten would pinch inside like second strikers to give more options for target attackers in the middle. These inverted interior runs tried to attack the channels left by the defense’s three center backs and pull them out of position with central overloads. The Black & Gold came out swinging and it led to one of the better offensive performances of the season but shot themselves in the foot late to seal it for LAFC. Despite the loss, there are positives to be taken from this game that the Crew can hopefully care into the weekend at San Diego. Where did it fall apart? Ironically for Columbus, it was the substitutions that killed the momentum. The moment Moreira went down and had to come out, the Black & Gold were losing a huge attacking and defensive piece. The Frenchman is not only the reigning defensive player of the year, but he can also be a potent attacker. Nancy’s decision to bring on Cheberko was an interesting one. When his number went up the question was where would he play? Typically, the Ukrainian sits in the center of the back five with two outside center backs around him, but this time he took up Moreira’s position and played on the right side. While Cheberko can be a multi-faceted center back, he does not have the same attacking attributes that fit him into what the Crew was trying to do. Possibly moving Zawadzki – who is more adaptable in attack – out on the right and putting Cheberko back in the center of defense would have been a better move. The simple fact is that the Ukrainian did not offer anything in the offensive sector. We’ve seen his inability to be a creative passing center back in recent games, so throwing him in the attacking third on overlaps does not make sense. We see the poor passing vision in the final move of the second half where he laid out a weak pass to the opposite side that was picked off by LAFC and ultimately converted by Bouanga. Cheberko is going to need to play in the absence of Rudy Camacho, and Columbus is counting on him to be a big part of their season. The simple fact is that Cheberko is not an attack-minded outside center back, which makes the substitution puzzling when Andres Herrera is sitting on the bench. The other substitution that was puzzling was taking out Jackson for Taha Habroune. Granted, Jackson had not been playing his best game, but he was a creative piece in the attacking third that could kick off movements. The turnovers were a problem, but that is the tradeoff you have to consider given his attacking creativity. Habroune is going to be an excellent player – hopefully for Columbus one day – but he was not ready for the stage on Tuesday night. He looked lost in the attacking third and consistently got lost in space, running into teammates and getting into others’ passing lanes. Nancy possibly thought Habroune could bring the same creativity Jackson offered but limited the turnovers. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The Cheberko substitution hampered the attack, but Habroune coming on threw a wrench into the Black & Gold’s plans. He just did not fit what the Crew needed at that moment, which was a highly creative, risk-taking attacker that can create something out of nothing. The icing on the cake was both substitutes – Cheberko and Habroune – combining for LAFC’s only goal of the night. Cheberko plays a lazy square pass across the middle that is preached against in high school locker rooms around the country, and Habroune is caught watching and waiting with concrete shoes on as LAFC intercepts the ball. Players will have bad games, and this match was no different. Cheberko and Habroune will both bounce back, but their substitutions sealed this game for LAFC along with Lloris building a brick wall in front of goal. All in all, the Crew returned to Columbus in an insurmountable hole and almost got back in the tie. The team showed fight, and the attack looked better than in recent weeks. All focus now turns to a matchup with San Diego FC on Saturday.

The Columbus Crew returned home on the weekend to face off against the Houston Dynamo at Lower.com Field. After a crushing 3-0 loss to LAFC in the opening leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16, Columbus needed a pick-me-up. The Black & Gold would not get a better chance than facing the bottom-dwelling Dynamo at home. In a game that the Crew dominated, the contest would end scoreless with both teams sharing points. Columbus had opportunities to take the lead but could not find the breakthrough to claim all three points. After a disappointing showing at LAFC and now tying at home with the lowly Dynamo, the Black & Gold find themselves in an early-season rut with Wilfried Nancy looking for answers. It was a relaxing game for the scoreboard operator, so let’s dive into the tactics that saw these two sides leave finish in a draw. Columbus’ unique strategy and shapes When the Crew watched the tape from the loss to LAFC, they saw a thoroughly uninspiring offensive performance. That poor outing allowed LAFC to bag three goals on the counter and send Columbus home with their tail tucked between their legs. After reviewing this most recent matchup with Houston, the Black & Gold are taking important steps. While the Crew did not look like Nancy’s 2023 MLS Cup winning squad, Columbus made strides in the attacking sector. But before we get ahead of ourselves with the narrative about the Black & Gold’s offense, let’s look at the Crew’s shape and game plan. Columbus came out of the locker room in their normal shape, but that quickly morphed into a new formation that has not been utilized this season: a 1-4-5. Yevhen Cheberko stayed deep as the lone center back, while Malte Amundsen and Andres Herrera moved into outside midfielder/half-pivot roles. Between the converted wide midfielders sat Darlington Nagbe and Sean Zawadzki. The front five remained fluid, but there was a little tweak to it. The interior attackers consisting of Diego Rossi, Dylan Chambost and Jacen Russell-Rowe sat deeper than Mo Farsi and Max Arfsten out on the wings. Since Herrera and Amundsen were already in wide midfielder positions, the wingbacks could push the Dynamo backline further up the pitch to create that space underneath. Because of this aggressive positioning by the wingbacks, the front three inside sat a bit deeper to help out with the midfield duties in the buildup. So technically while this formation was a base 1-4-5, it looked more like a 1-4-3-2 with the top two being the wingbacks. This was the offensive shape that Columbus stayed in for most of the game. Of course, as it is in any Nancy system, there were subtle changes that reflected a 2-3-5 of later a 1-3-6 when AZ Jackson came on for Darlington Nagbe, but the formation almost always reverted to the 1-4-5. So that was the general shape the Crew lined up in throughout the game, but the offensive focus was different. Houston defended in a 4-2-4 high and then dropped into a 4-4-2 low block, so Columbus had to figure out how to unlock another low block. The solution for Nancy was to attack the width, overload wide areas and then switch the point of attack to the other flank quickly to catch the defense napping. The Dynamo did not have a wide defensive base in a natural four-back system, so shifting them was easy if the Crew could switch the ball fast enough. Some of the best attacking chances happened this way. The ball would be out in a wide area and the Houston defense would move over to cover, and then the switch would come through Nagbe or Zawadzki. If Columbus could get the ball to the opposing wingback and then have the outside centerback overlap, space would open up in behind. The emphasis on attacking the wide spaces through the wingbacks and overlapping outside centerbacks freed up some good crossing opportunities, but the fact is that the Crew just could not find that final pass. The gameplan was sound and, to an extent, it worked. The Crew had multiple promising attacking chances and looks on goal, but the second-to-last or final pass was just not there. That has been the main struggle this season for Columbus, that final combination of play to cap off a move. Fans of the Black & Gold should be encouraged, not outraged. The Crew responded well and were just unlucky not to find a goal, which is not usually the case under Nancy. It is still very early in the season, so no reason to press the panic button just yet. How can the Crew improve? The main points of growth for this Columbus team needs to come at both ends of the pitch. We have talked a little bit about the offensive improvement, but beyond the final one or two passes there are areas where the Black & Gold need to clean up. The first is utilizing the midfield during build ups. Too often the Crew are one-dimensional in their build up which is allows opposing teams to key in and adjust. Columbus loves to use their wingbacks and outside center backs to build up from out wide, but the midfield is often wide open to attack. If the Black & Gold can work from outside to inside and take the space that is given, teams will be left guessing whether to guard the flanks or interior. The other glaring issue is the decision-making on offense. The Crew go through phases where they are too focused with retaining possession that they miss opportunities to go at goal. If you watch Nancy on the sideline this past game against Houston, you can see his frustration at times when the ball is recycled instead of played into an attacking position. For a team that is built on playing beautiful, bold and brash soccer, Columbus looks timid in the attacking third from time to time. To win games the Black & Gold will need to get that boldness back and rely on their re-press to win the ball back if it is lost finding those attacking chances. Finally, the last glaring offensive issue that is a hot-button topic in the Crew community right now is the loss of offensive talent. Fans will want to talk about Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez, but I think this team is really missing Alexandru Matan as well. Matan was one of those players who was quick, could play in the midfield or on the wing and was a crafty combination in the final third with the other attackers. Columbus is missing a player who can beat a defender and start off a combination in the attacking half. Matan was quietly invaluable at doing that for the Black & Gold under Nancy, so the offensive questions marks go beyond “who can play striker?”. On defense, the biggest improvement will be limiting turnovers and moving the ball quicker. Rudy Camacho is a piece that this team desperately misses right now. Cheberko has filled in fairly well but has been shaky in possession and is often too slow with the ball at his feet. Again, reducing mistakes and becoming comfortable will come with time as the early-season rust is knocked off, but Columbus cannot keep hemorrhaging goals off dumb mistakes at the back. The season is only three games old, but there is still a lot of work that can be done. Nancy will not be focused on simply getting results in March but grabbing wins when it counts in the summer and fall as well.

The Columbus Crew kicked off their 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup campaign in disappointing style, falling to LAFC 3-0 away from home. After controlling the opening few minutes of the game, Columbus quickly was on the back foot due to LAFC’s press and ability to hit on the counter. After only 20 minutes, Denis Bouanga opened the scoring courtesy of Steven Moreira getting pickpocketed. Bouanga would double the advantage just after halftime, and LAFC would put the cherry on top with a third goal in the final 10 minutes. It wasn’t exactly the best performance the Black & Gold have every put out, but LAFC and Steve Cherundolo did their due diligence as well. Let’s dive into all the tactics that went into this backbreaking loss in the first leg of this CONCACAF Champions Cup tie. First half tactics Anyone who watched the first five minutes of this game would have thought it was going to be a long night for LAFC. The Crew were controlling possession, turning the hosts over high up the pitch and coming out of the gate strong. That all would change around the 10-minute mark when LAFC finally decided to show their hand. First, we need to talk about the base setup of both teams. LAFC came out of the locker room in a 4-3-3 with Bouanga out on the left wing. This formation is fairly simply with not a lot of nuance or fluidity to it, but it is effective. Columbus came out in Wilfried Nancy’s patented 5-2-3 formation that can also change into a number of different shapes. We’ll start with the Black & Gold. From kickoff the Crew changed their shape into a 2-3-5 on offense with Malte Amundsen stepping up into the midfield alongside Darlington Nagbe and Sean Zawadzki. Both wingbacks moved up as wingers and AZ Jackson, Dylan Chambost and Diego Rossi sat inside. In the buildup, Jackson and Chambost would sometimes drop into the half pivot spaces to be the bridge to the wingbacks, but other than that there was a lack of creative movement by the attackers. Some of the attacking struggles can be attributed to the Black & Gold’s stagnant nature, but LAFC also had a few tricks up their sleeve to keep the Crew at bay. The hosts came out in a low block that resembled a 4-5-1 and allowed Columbus to control possession for a majority of the first few minutes. There was limited pressure from LAFC, almost as if they were trying to feel out the first few minutes to give the Black & Gold a sense of comfort. LAFC’s offensive strategy was simple: suck the Crew in and then hit on the counter with their speedy attackers. Cherundolo knows Nancy wants nine players at least in the attacking zone and he banked on his attackers being faster than a recovering Amundsen or Moreira. The first goal was an absolute gift by Moreira and should be ruled out as an outlier from a consistently great player having an off night. Most of (if not all) of LAFC’s attacking chances from then on came on the counter against some form of a recovering defense by Columbus. LAFC relied on the Black & Gold to get out of shape against their low block and then turn the ball over. If the hosts could win that second ball, it was off to the he races against a backpedaling Yevhen Cheberko and company. The Crew not only had issues unlocking the low block but also struggled to get out of LAFC’s pressure. Columbus routinely found themselves under attack by the opposing attackers and could not combine to get out of it. LAFC succeeded by sending five attackers to pressure the backline and midfielders and then reserved two more defenders to follow the Black & Gold dropping attackers. This left only two avenues of breaking the press: combining quickly through pressured droppers or going long. This is where the lineup decisions come in. The Crew did not have a true striker on the field with the absence of Jacen Russell-Rowe from the starting XI. Diego Rossi can play as a striker, but not one that is a big body and can hold up play. So, now the only option was to combine quickly through the dropping attackers. Columbus has done this plenty of times against LAFC in the past, but on Tuesday their touches and passes were woefully poor. Rossi was dribbling into the feet of defenders, DeJuan Jones’ touches shot off his foot and Chambost seemed to play more inaccurate passes than completed ones. There’s a word to be said about the absences of Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez, but it’s also true that if the Black & Gold played their best they could have competed against LAFC and made this a good game. Sure, the team is going to miss arguably the best player in club history and one of the best poachers in the league but losing two players does not cause a catastrophic failure like Tuesday night. You can argue this is on Issa Tall, but it also rests firmly on the shoulders of Nancy and the team who frankly did not show up. Credit to LAFC for coming out with a smart gameplan to play to their strengths while taking away the Crew’s, but two things can be true. Columbus misses Hernandez and Ramirez, but they are better than this performance on the west coast. Columbus’ adjustments One of the supposed shocks of the game came after halftime, when Moreira made way for former Crew 2 standout Taha Habroune. Why substitute the Black & Gold’s best defender – and reigning MLS Defender of the Year – for a midfielder who has not seen much action at this level? Fans were seriously doubting this call from Nancy, but there was a vision to it. Going into halftime the Crew were down 1-0 and had been outplayed for a majority of the half. Columbus already committed to sending one of the outside centerbacks (almost always Amundsen) up into the midfield and Moreira was not having a good game. Taking off a player who was not in form for a midfielder who has creative ability and could possibly change the game was a risk Nancy was willing to take. Now hindsight is 20-20, and the substitution did not pan out. It took Bouanga only a matter of seconds out of the locker room to double LAFC’s advantage and for all the Black & Gold fans on social media to lash out at the substitution. With Habroune on the field and Zawadzki back in Moreira’s right centerback spot, the Crew now had a true midfield trio to help with the buildup. Another slight tweak to the formation when Columbus was in possession was a triangle midfield of Nagbe and Zawadzki as defensive midfielders, with Habroune moving into the No. 10 spot. Habroune and Chambost both occupied that attacking midfield space and often dropped into the half-pivot area, but LAFC still shut down any whiff of an attack. Once Bouanga’s second goal hit the back of the net, Cherundolo switched things up again. LAFC still defended in a 4-5-1 but sometimes it would change into a 5-4-1. Igor Jesus for the hosts would occasionally drop into the backline to plug up any semblance of a hole on defense. Jeremy Ebobisse stayed high as the lone attacker, holding up play for the wingers to provide counter-attacking support. From there, the Black & Gold had to deal with the almost impossible task of unlocking LAFC’s Fort Knox-like low block. With nine players committed to defending and a serious counter threat looming, it was a lose-lose situation for the Crew that eventually resulted in a third goal for LAFC. This loss will be part of the growing pains this Columbus squad will go through this year, but it’s important to remember the season is a mere three games old. The Black & Gold still have 32 more MLS matches and a number of clashes in other competitions, so there is no reason to throw in the towel just yet. One may recall the start to the 2022 season when Miguel Berry was starting up top for a Crew side that was awaiting a DP No. 9… sound familiar? While fans may moan about Tall and the front office not replacing players, a reminder of patience and a trust in the process is due. If after the summer there are no replacements, I will join with the pitchfork gang… but until then sit back, relax and let Nancy and his staff figure things out. This loss to LAFC is a blow, but this Columbus side will hopefully prove it was just another early-season learning opportunity.

Fifth-year forward Jahmyl Telfort had 20 points in the loss to Xavier. Photo by Andrew Buckley. CALEB DENORME | MANAGING EDITOR | cdenorme@butler.edu The men’s basketball team fell again to rival Xavier 91-78, this time at home in front of a packed Hinkle Fieldhouse. On a night that honored the seniors – forwards Jahmyl Telfort, Pierre Brooks, Patrick McCaffery and center Andre Screen – the Bulldogs were a no-show. It was a tightly contested first half, but the Musketeers asserted their dominance in an explosive second half showing. Xavier scored 47 points in the second half and routinely soared to the basket for emphatic slams. The Hinkle crowd was out of the game a mere two minutes into the second half. In a brutal but fitting end to Butler’s home slate, let’s go beyond the box score. Streaky first half shootout Both offenses were in rare form in the first half, dueling back and forth with a number of runs. After the first five minutes, the squads were deadlocked at 14 and were both hitting shots from everywhere on the court. At one point, the Bulldogs were shooting 80% from beyond the arc to keep up with Xavier’s red-hot offensive output. That trend would die out though. Over the next six minutes, the Musketeers built a 10-point lead courtesy of a 14-4 run. Butler head coach Thad Matta was high on Xavier, giving the Musketeers lofty praise for the offensive showing. “Xavier is playing as well as anyone in the country right now,” Matta said. “They’re a heck of a basketball team right now.” Butler’s defense remained sluggish, but when the offense went missing, Xavier took advantage. The Musketeers had the cleaner first half with only two turnovers compared to Butler’s five, but that did not stop the Dawgs from staging a few runs of their own. The Bulldogs outscored Xavier 22-16 in the final 9:31 of the first half courtesy of some hot shooting from McCaffery and a string of Musketeer scoring droughts. Butler has been streaky all year, but the first half of this game ended up being the pinnacle of streakiness. Both teams could not find a consistent rhythm on offense, which led to a back-and-forth game. In the end, the Bulldogs went into the locker room down by four, but that number would soon inflate to an embarrassing proportion in front of a home crowd. A depressing ending to a severely underwhelming year Butler had its sights set on an improvement in Matta’s third year at the helm, but those aspirations were quickly put on hold after alarming early-season losses to Austin Peay and North Dakota State. Although the Bulldogs beat Northwestern and Mississippi State en route to an Arizona Tip-Off championship, there were always questions surrounding the team. Early season highs and lows are typical for any college basketball team, but how would the Dawgs respond to a daunting Big East slate? Butler fans got their answer as fall turned into winter when the Bulldogs started conference play with six losses, part of a bigger nine-game stretch. Those losses were mired with squandered leads, blowouts and poor basketball. The harsh reality is that Butler’s regression has been a season-long escapade. The Bulldogs had flashes of talent – especially from team leaders Telfort and Brooks – but there was always a sense that the final product was not refined. With the four seniors leaving after this season, Matta reflected on what Telfort, Brooks, Screen and McCaffery meant to the program despite the lackluster season. “I love these guys,” Matta said. “They’ve been great teammates [and] they worked hard. It [is] hard for me to see those four guys go even though we’ve only had them for a little bit of time. I’ll miss these guys.” When Matta returned to his alma mater there were dreams of NCAA Tournament appearances and getting back to the glory days, but in year three the Dawgs are no closer to accomplishing that feat. With a talented senior class exiting with no real team accolades to show, a longer rebuild is on the horizon. For now, it will be back to the drawing board for Matta and Co., seeking to make true on the promises given in the summer of 2022. As stated in the opening home hype video displayed in Hinkle before every home game, Butler is made by history. The problem with history is that it is in the past, and dwelling on the past will never bear fruit to a brighter future.

The Columbus Crew grabbed its second win of the season on the road against the New England Revolution. On a freezing night in the northeast, the Black & Gold weathered former Crew head coach and current New England coach Caleb Porter’s storm and grabbed a singular goal to claim all three points. It was a cagey affair, with little action for most of the match. The Revolution did their best to contain Columbus, but the Black & Gold eventually got on the scoresheet courtesy of Jacen Russell-Rowe. His goal would be securing the Crew’s second win of the young season. In a particularly uneventful and slightly boring game, let’s dive into the tactics that gave Columbus the victory over New England. Taking advantage of New England’s over shift Fans of the Black & Gold are used to seeing Porter-coached teams after the coach’s tenure in Columbus. His classic 4-2-3-1 formation is a staple, and that was the shape that New England lined up in on Saturday night. We know by now what tactics Porter was going to employ. The Revolution would play a passive style of possession to draw the Black & Gold out and then hit the Crew when they over-commit or get out of shape. New England’s offense was essentially a non-factor in this matchup. Much of the Revolution’s chances or half chances were created by their defense pressing Columbus into making mistakes. These mistakes led to transition chances, but New England could not capitalize on any of them. The biggest hurdle for the Black & Gold was getting around New England’s compartmentalized press. The Revolution matched the Crew’s overloads and often pressed them toward the sideline, hoping to cut off any switches or combinations of play that could break the pressure. When Columbus would shift two center backs, a wingback, midfielder,s and even a dropping striker over to one side, New England would combat that by shifting over defenders of their own. It was a man-marking press that eventually tightened until the Black & Gold had to play along, turn the ball over or the Revolution made a mistake. This is exactly what happened for much of the first half, but the key in this press was Leo Campana up top for New England. He was responsible for cutting of the Crew’s switch point, which in this case would be Yevhen Cheberko. If Cheberko was marked by Campana and the rest of New England’s press was airtight, Columbus would have to go long or switch the point of play through Patrick Schulte. Switching the ball through Schulte works in theory, but the Black & Gold would give up depth and it would give the Revolution time to recover to cut down space on the opposite flank. Again, this stifled the Crew for much of the first half. It would be great to say that Wilfried Nancy went into the locker room and devised a master plan to come up with Russell-Rowe’s goal, but it was actually a mistake by New England that caused Columbus to go ahead. Off a throw-in during the 50th minute of the match, the Black & Gold dropped nine(!) players back onto the sideline for a throw-in. The Revolution had seven defenders in the same area, but they did not account for Dylan Chambost dropping in from a higher attacking area. The New England markers did not check their shoulders, and a quick throw-in combination sprung Chambost into attack. Now the Crew had exactly what they wanted – a three vs. three with the defense on its heels. Mo Farsi received the ball flanked inside by Diego Rossi and Russell-Rowe, with a trailing Chambost behind them. This is where the critical mistake from New England becomes complete. To compensate for the blown press, the Revolution overshifts towards Farsi on the right side while Rossi makes a dummy run inside to freeze the backside defender. Russell-Rowe on the other hand beats his marking defender backside and receives a picture-perfect pass for him to dispatch in the back of the net. All credit to New England for staying in their shape for the majority of the match and making life difficult for Columbus, but in the end the Black & Gold’s offense was too much to hold back. Teams are learning that even without Cucho Hernandez, you can have a perfect game plan and still concede goals. The Crew’s ability to grind out wins on the road despite being in cold temperatures and in a cagey game is admirable. After the offseason departures, fans will be encouraged by this start by the Black & Gold.