In three games on artificial turf this season Columbus has been outscored 4-0, in losses at New York and Real Salt Lake and a scoreless draw at Toronto FC on May 17.
The Crew's next opportunity to rectify the situation is Saturday at Toronto but it will likely have to do so without MLS assist leader Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who has a strained hamstring.
His potential absence adds another challenge as the Crew inch closer to their first playoff spot since 2004 and the Supporters' Shield for most points.
"It's coincidence," not a trend, coach Sigi Schmid said of the Crew's inability to score on an artificial surface.
A look at the three games reveals the Crew did not play miserably but in two of them early goals spelled their doom:
• April 5 -- New York 2, Crew 0: Dave van den Bergh scored 46 seconds into the match in Giants Stadium and Kevin Goldthwaite added another tally in the 8th minute. The Crew tried to battle back and outshot the Red Bulls 20-12 although New York doubled the Crew's four on target. Each side had seven corner kicks.
• May 17 -- Toronto 0, Crew 0: The attack never materialized as evidenced by only eight shots even though four reached the Toronto goal. TFC had 14 of the 20 fouls and six of the nine corners.
• July 12 -- Real Salt Lake 2, Crew 0: Javier Morales put RSL ahead in the third minute. While the Crew pressed and were unlucky to hit the post a couple of times, Robbie Findley iced the match in the 78th minute. RSL outshot the Crew 17-14 and had five on goal to two for Columbus. The Crew had 10 of the 14 corners.
"The first game on turf was the second game of the year. We didn't have a good game," Schmid said. "We had a horrible first 15 minutes and found ourselves behind the 8-ball and never got ourselves untracked. We had some chances when you look back on that game but didn't put them away.
"The second game on turf for us was in Toronto. That game took on a unique nature and we were just hanging on. The other one in Salt Lake was a little bit similar to the New York game where we put ourselves behind the 8-ball by giving up that free kick early and then again you look at the game and we had some chances."
Forward Jason Garey noted that Schmid had broached the topic of not scoring on turf in the days leading to the match at Toronto.
"We'll be able to score on turf. No problem. There's no mental block -- we've done it before," Garey said.
The Crew have won four in a row but that was with Schelotto, who assisted on 10 consecutive goals during the winning streak. It stands to reason that the goals will be hard to come by on the FieldTurf at BMO Field.
It really makes no sense that the team should have trouble on turf. The Crew are 5-4-2 in away matches after a 4-6-5 mark in 2007. However, Columbus was 2-1-2 on turf last season even though it was outscored 10-8.
"I've scored on turf. Alejandro's (Moreno) scored on turf. Everyone has. It's not a big deal," Garey said. "If we have a good performance like we did the other night against New England (4-0 win on Sept. 6) we'll score goals on turf or any other surface you put us on."
One theory for the Crew's struggle is that an artificial surface is not conducive to its style.
"We can't really play our game on that because we're not as used to it as they are. We're going up there and probably play a little differently," defender Chad Marshall said. "It's tough to play the type of soccer we like -- knocking balls around. You get bad touches, the ball hops up on you. You never really get a smooth roll out of it. It's probably going to be a lot of counterattacking. It's a tough place to play, anyway, so we'll probably sit back and pick and choose our times to go."
There aren't many who like the surface but fortunately for the Crew midfielder Eddie Gaven is one of them, having spent his early pro years playing his home games in Giants Stadium.
"I don't think it's a huge difference because I played on it for three years when I was with the MetroStars. I actually don't mind playing on it, which most guys on the team do," he said. "The ball rolls a little different. If it's a really dry turf the ball just stops. If it's wet, it takes off and skips like crazy. I don't know if they're going to have it dry or wet prior to the game."
As much as the Crew would like a point or three in Toronto, they can also receive a psychological boost just by scoring. After Toronto, the Crew also play on turf in games at New England and New York among their final three road matches.
"We definitely talked about that. We want to break that (scoreless streak) and show we can score on turf because to get through in the East at the end of the day you're probably going to have to play on turf at some point," Schmid said.
The Crew know positive results will be harder to come by down the stretch no matter where the match is played.
"We've got to be able to raise our level and play wherever it is so if we're in the playoffs on the road on turf we can deal with it," midfielder Brian Carroll said. "There's going to be a challenge whether it's on turf or not."
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