CREW BATTLES CHIVAS USA TO EXCITING 3-3 DRAW

Mendoza scores twice and Ekpo adds goal, assist as Black & Gold remains unbeaten at home and moves to 3-3-5 on the season

COLUMBUS, May 28, 2011: Andrés Mendoza scored twice and Emmanuel Ekpo had a goal and an assist as the Columbus Crew rallied from a goal down on three separate occasions for a wild 3-3 draw against Chivas USA Saturday at Crew Stadium. The Crew’s three goals were a season-high and it remained unbeaten at home (3-0-3).

It only took four minutes for the visiting team to get on the board. Chivas midfielder Simon Elliott lobbed a ball towards Justin Braun, who was on the side of the 18-yard box. Braun crossed into the box and found an unmarked Nick LaBrocca who tapped it in for the early lead.

Andrés Mendoza in action

The Black & Gold did not let up and the Mendoza-Heinemann combination almost paid dividends in the 12th minute when Heinemann sent a shot on goal that nearly crossed the line only to see Goats defender Ante Jazic get to it before the Peruvian striker and clear it.

The Crew tied the game in the 17th minute when Mendoza received a ball from Ekpo and placed a left-footed strike in the bottom right corner of the net to make it 1-1. Heinemann almost notched his first MLS tally when he received a well placed cross from Rogers only to see his shot saved by Chivas keeper Dan Kennedy.

Then in the 37th minute, Chivas’ Boyens headed a corner from Heath Pearce into the back of the net to regain the lead putting the Goats up 2-1 at the half.

The second half started with the same intensity for both teams. Mendoza nearly connected again in the 50th minute, before his second tally of the evening came just two minutes later. Mendoza intercepted a back pass from Elliott and proceeded to easily slot the ball past Kennedy to make it 2-2.

Chivas would get back on top only five minutes later when midfielder Jorge Flores received a well played cross from Ben Zemanski and slotted it past Hesmer who was only able to get a finger on it. But the Crew once again showed resilience and did not let up and got on the board again in the 64th minute when Ekpo hit a rocket into the near post to produce the final score.

Columbus had one final chance to win the game in the 90th minute, but Chivas USA defender Ante Jazic cleared Jeff Cunningham’s header from the goal line, the second such save for the defender in the game.

The Crew (3-3-5) played more than 20 minutes down the stretch with a man advantage after Chivas USA's Jorge Flores received a second yellow after a hard challenge on Gaven, but they had to settle for a draw.

Scoring Summary:
CHV -- Nick LaBrocca 2 (Justin Braun 1, Simon Elliott 1) 4
CLB -- Andres Mendoza 2 (Emmanuel Ekpo 1) 17
CHV -- Andrew Boyens 1 (Heath Pearce 3) 37
CLB -- Andres Mendoza 3 (unassisted) 52
CHV -- Jorge Flores 1 (Ben Zemanski 2, Ante Jazic 3) 57
CLB -- Emmanuel Ekpo 1 (unassisted) 64
Attendance: 9,431.

LaPrensa's Adrianne Chasteen and Claudia Annoni in attendance at Crew Stadium.

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Revised: 05/31/11 13:23:33 -0700.