COLUMBUS -- Chivas USA came into Saturday's match against Columbus having never lost in Crew Stadium, and despite going down by two goals midway through the second half, that record seemed to still be intact when the visitors stormed back to tie the game at 3-3.
But just as the momentum looked to be in favor of the Red-and-White, the Crew netted a fourth goal -- the second on the night by Robbie Rogers -- and Chivas went down to defeat for the first time this season.
"It was a difficult way to lose the game tonight," said Chivas head coach Preki after the match. "Losing 2-1 at the half we still thought we were the better team."
Chivas was not even close to full strength for the contest, with three regulars not starting the match, including forward Maykel Galindo and Ante Razov, who along with Alecko Eskandarian did not even make the trip to Ohio.
As a result, Keith Savage, the team's only SuperDraft pick in 2008, made the start on the right side of midfield with Sacha Kljestan playing underneath Atiba Harris, who was the only true striker for Preki's team.
Still, Savage made his debut one to remember, getting on the scoresheet by assisting on Chivas' first goal.
"It wasn't the best assist I've ever had but I'll take it, being my first game and all," said Savage. "Now I can just hope for a good week of practice and to do it again next week.
"It made it all the more special because it is my mom's birthday back home and the whole family was watching," he added.
After the match coach Preki had little good to say about his squad's defending.
"Defensively, all night I thought we were shaky," he said. "We had all kinds of errors in the back. When you go on the road and score three goals, you should come away with something. Tonight we found a way to lose points."
The game-winning goal came from well outside the penalty area, a low blast by Rogers that was aimed right at Brad Guzan yet seemed to knuckle on its way goalward and sailed through the goalkeeper's hands. "I put the blame on my shoulders," said Guzan, generally regarded as one of best 'keepers in the league. "I let the team down tonight. I couldn't come up with a save when we needed it. I let the guys down, but at the same time, I think we still need to get better as a whole. We were given chances to tie the game, to win the game and when we needed a save, I couldn't make it."
"What do you think?" said Preki when asked to evaluate his goalkeeper's performance. "Guzan was good for us last year. Everybody makes a mistake or two, and tonight was the result. We need to come out with a good mentality next week. It is only one game and it is still early in the season."
Even with the defending woes, Chivas showed great resilience in their efforts to pull points out of Columbus and stay near the top of the standings in the Western Conference. The Red-and-White will be without Kljestan and Francisco Mendoza for next Sunday's home game against FC Dallas after both were sent off in the final minutes.
"Three times we were down and three times we managed to fight back," said the Chivas boss, "only to give up a bad goal on a couple of mistakes."
"We thought we were back in the game, and even had a shot at three points and then came the goal and [red] cards and it was really a rollercoaster," said Savage. "It was definitely one of the craziest games I have been a part of."
