An early disallowed goal from Crew’s Josh Williams set up an evening of disappointment as Columbus Crew’s poor early season form continued with a 1-0 defeat to the Vancouver Whitecaps on yet another cold spring night at Crew Stadium.

The Crew started out well with both Williams and Gaven having goals disallowed while Williams speculative goal of the season effort came crashing back off the Whitecaps crossbar.

An early mental turning point came after just three minutes when Crew captain Chad Marshall was called for grabbing hold of Vancouver’s Jay DeMerit while Josh Williams side-footed the ball into the goal. It was a refereeing decision that baffled most of the onlooking fans within Crew Stadium.

On 74 minutes Vancouver snatched the decisive goal when Crew ‘keeper Andy Gruenebaum’s misjudged step forward allowed Young Pyo-Lee’s bending free kick to loop over his head and into the goal. It proved to be a costly error from a goalkeeper that’s been in fine form for most of the early season.

The Crew next go out on the road to Portland, who have had an almost equally bad start to the year, before returning to Crew stadium on May 12th with a game against FC Dallas.