Columbus, Ohio (October 28, 2018) — In the final game of the 2018 regular season, Gyasi Zardes entered uncharted territory.
The Columbus Crew SC center forward tallied his first career hat-trick in his club’s 3-2 win over Minnesota United FC on Sunday. Coupled with the Montreal Impact‘s loss to the New England Revolution, the result ensured the Black and Gold’s ticket into this year’s MLS Cup Playoffs.
With his trifecta of tallies, Zardes finished the season with 19 goals which are a new single-season career-high.
Gyasi Zardes Sets New Single-Season Career-High Goalscoring Mark as Columbus Crew SC Books Ticket to MLS Cup Playoffs
Manager Gregg Berhalter made two notable changes to the team’s usual starting XI. Gaston Sauro replaced center back Jonathan Mensah who was suspended due to yellow card accumulation. Niko Hansen also made his second-straight start. Last week, he replaced Justin Meram who didn’t travel to Orlando with the team. But for this game, the second-year winger started in place of Pedro Santos.
Santos’ struggles in the attack likely played a role. He came into Sunday’s clash converting just 1.4 percent of his shots into goals. That’s a fairly stark contrast to Zardes whose shot conversion percentage stands at 19.3 percent.
Conditions at MAPFRE Stadium were cold and windy ahead of kickoff. And it didn’t take long for the weather to have its own effect on the game. In the tenth minute, referee Robert Sibiga motioned for the players to leave the pitch due to lightning in the area. The ensuing delay lasted for roughly an hour.
It didn’t take Crew SC long to get on the board after the restart of play. In the 11th minute, Zardes was the beneficiary of some interplay off a short corner between Federico Higuain and Milton Valenzuela. Higuain passed it to Valenzuela who floated in a cross towards Zardes who headed the ball past former Crew SC goalkeeper Matt Lampson to put the Black and Gold ahead.
Zardes wasn’t done. And much like his first tally, it came right after a restart. This time, though, he found the net four minutes after the start of the second half. Higuain played his own unique role once again. His set piece shot from just outside the box bounced towards Lampson who spilled it right in front of goal. Zardes made no mistake with the poacher’s finish.
Midway through the second half, Minnesota got one back. After a Columbus foul, Darwin Quintero flighted a ball into the box. Left-back Francisco Calvo was the beneficiary of some questionable marking as he had quite a bit of space in front of goal and took full advantage. The 68th-minute strike was the Costa Rican’s first goal of the season.
Nine minutes later, Calvo doubled his tally and knotted up the game. It was made possible due to some lax clearing from Harrison Afful who let a cross slip in between his legs. It came right to Calvo who was lurking on the back post and buried it past Zack Steffen.
That seemed like a “here we go again” moment given the way Columbus lost to Orlando last week. But the team responded. In the 83rd minute, Zardes made a well-timed run at goal and redirected a cross by Hansen into the net for his hat-trick, the first of his career.
The result ensured Crew SC’s fourth trip to the playoffs over the course of Berhalter’s five years as head coach and sporting director. It remains unclear if it’s the last. There has been rampant speculation in recent weeks that Berhalter is the front-runner for the USMNT.
But for now, Berhalter and company have at least one game remaining in 2018. It will come at Audi Field with the Black and Gold facing D.C. United, the first meeting between the two MLS charter members in the playoffs since 1999.
