The Columbus Crew SC ended the 2015 season with a heart-breaking loss at MAPFRE Stadium as the Portland Timbers lifted the MLS Cup with a 2-1 win in front of a packed house.
It’s a tough loss to take for the Crew as a linesman error and a colossal mistake from Crew SC #1 Steve Clark dropped the home team into a hole they couldn’t get out from, even though Kei Kamara halved the deficit early in the first half.
Diego Valeri pounced on an overly confident Steve Clark to give the Timbers a shock lead after 30 seconds and Lucas Melano doubled the lead just 6 minutes later, despite all but one human in the stadium seeing the ball clearly go out of bounds and play almost coming to a halt.
The Crew did all they could to push for a late equalizer but Portland remained strong and stuck everyone behind the ball while trying to catch out Crew SC on the break as desperation started to sink in.
Even though this result hurts, 2015 has been a very successful year both on and off the pitch for Crew SC and a massive thanks and well done have to go out to everyone that worked hard to deliver an entertaining and attacking team that surprised almost everyone by becoming Eastern Conference Champions and making their way to the MLS Cup Final.
I’m looking forward to 2016.
Photos by Matt Ellis.
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Matt Ellis is a freelance photographer who covers bands that visit the city and the Columbus Crew SC MLS team. More about Matt can be found at Matt Ellis Photography.