Columbus Crew 2 on the verge of back-to-back MLS NEXT Pro championships

Photo via Columbus Crew 2

The Columbus Crew 2 battles Austin FC II this Sunday in the MLS NEXT Pro Cup. With a win, the Crew 2 will complete a successful defense of their 2022 MLS NEXT Pro championship. As the higher seed, Columbus is the host for this matchup.

New Roster, Same Result

The Crew 2 roster looks a lot different from the 2022 team that dominated the league from start to finish and won the cup. In fact, there are only 4 players still on the team from last season. Last year’s squad was led by forward Jacen Russell-Rowe, the league’s Most Valuable Player. In addition to winning MVP, Russell-Rowe won the Golden Boot for most points during the regular season and Jacen was MVP of the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro Final.

Russell-Rowe is now on the Columbus Crew first team roster. Other current Columbus Crew players who were on the Crew 2 roster in 2022 include starting goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, defender Mohamed Farsi, and midfielder Sean Zawadzki.

Laurent Courtois

One constant for the Crew organization is head coach Laurent Courtois, who has worked with the Columbus Crew organization since 2019. Courtois is a development-minded coach who led the organization’s U-17 and U-19 teams prior to becoming head coach for the Columbus Crew 2 when MLS NEXT Pro was formed two seasons ago. Courtois’ ability to guide the club to two straight Cup Finals with very different personnel is a testament to his coaching acumen and ability to develop a team concept among the players. Can the Capybaras get it done again?

This year’s Crew 2 squad is led by Team Captain attacking midfielder Marco Micaletto, attacker Noah Fuson, midfielder Gibran Rayo, defender Philip Quinton, and goalkeeper Stanislav Lapkes. The Crew 2 finished the season 3rd in the Eastern Conference and won their conference quarterfinal match against 5th seed Orlando City B at Historic Crew Stadium. The Capys then went on the road and defeated top seed Charlotte Crown Legacy in the conference semifinals and 2nd seed New England Revolution II in the conference finals.

Austin FC II earned the 4th seed in the Western Conference and has played all three playoff games on the road, defeating Sporting Kansas City II, the Tacoma Defiance (Seattle Sounders organization), and the Colorado Rapids II. Austin FC II has one more road match to take home a championship, but this will be an environment unlike anything ATXFCII has seen during their playoff run. There’s a lot of animosity towards the Austin FC organization from Crew fans, the Columbus Crew were almost relocated to Austin. 

Goodbye, Columbus?

Anthony Precourt bought the Crew in 2012 with a vision of the team playing in a downtown stadium. The Crew played matches in what’s now referred to as Historic Crew Stadium, the first soccer-specific stadium in the United States. The stadium is about three miles from downtown Columbus, located on the fairgrounds. Historic Crew Stadium is plain with little architectural appeal or forethought, like a large high school stadium. The press box faces west, directly into the sun. The solution was to stick gray sunblock on the glass. Sure, it eliminates the heat and brightness, but the vision of the game is blurry which is underwhelming, and downright embarrassing to invite the press to cover a Major League Soccer match.

When Precourt’s vision to build a new downtown stadium got muddled and seemed unlikely, he decided to relocate the team and began lining up markers to build a state-of-the-art downtown facility in Austin, Texas. A nasty fight ensued over the course of two years between Precourt Ventures and Nordecke supporters, who launched a #SaveTheCrew campaign that went global. Making a long story extremely short, the #SaveTheCrew campaign won, Precourt sold the team to the Haslam family (Cleveland Browns owners) effective January 1, 2019, and left town for Austin where he formed Austin Football Club.

Lower.com Field

Fast-forward four years, and the Columbus Crew have achieved Precourt’s vision. The Crew’s home is Lower.com Field, a state-of-the-art soccer stadium in downtown Columbus that’s recognized globally as one of the great soccer venues of its size. The team has sold out 14 consecutive regular season home matches to end the 2023 regular season.

The Columbus Crew 2 typically plays its home matches at Historic Crew Stadium. The facilities have been updated (but not the press box) and the grounds are a great home for youth soccer and developmental leagues. However, for the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro Cup Final, Lower.com Field is the venue.

It’s unlikely Precourt makes the trip, but I expect the Nordecke supporters to show up in full force to support the Crew 2. It’s also a chance to heckle Precourt and the Austin FC organization and let them know that all is well in Columbus. Kickoff is 5pm on Sunday.