Sean Zawadzki's pivotal clearance helped Crew bury rival FC Cincinnati
The turning point for Sunday’s win against FC Cincinnati didn’t come with Aidan Morris’ rocket of an opening goal. It wasn’t when the crowd erupted for suspended Crew coach Wilfried Nancy during the pregame festivities, or when late reserve Jacen Russell-Rowe iced the 3-0 win with a goal deep in stoppage time.
It came in roughly the 24th minute courtesy of a brief dip in play by the Crew and a lot of hustle from center back Sean Zawadzki. A 2-0 lead was fresh on the scoreboard and celebratory smoke was still wafting through the Nordecke as FC Cincinnati took the kickoff, marched up the field and very nearly pulled within a goal.
If not for Zawadzki, they would have. But when Aaron Boupendza’s shot from the right side of the Crew’s penalty area made its way past Crew goalkeeper Patrick Shulte, it was the retreating defender who had just enough speed to keep the ball from crossing the goal line and prevent the visitors from a momentum-changing goal.
Then, a moment later, it was Zawadzki who booted the ball down the field and out of harm’s way as Cincinnati tried to press its attack. Both touches were critical, but Zawadzki said one felt more satisfying than the other.
“I would say booting it out of danger,” he said. “I kicked it as hard as I could as far as I could and it just felt good.”
The specifics of the play were important. Zawadzki said when he saw Schulte come off his line that he knew to try and cover the goal, just in case something happened. That instinct proved prescient as Zawadzki was able to slide and deflect the ball with his outstretched left leg as his momentum carried him into the back corner of the net.
But it was also an act of frustration at how he perceived the Crew to be playing in the immediate aftermath of having taken a 2-0 lead on their rivals.
“We just scored a second goal and our press right off the kickoff wasn’t great and allowed them to play in behind us,” he said. “We’ve had plays like this in numerous games throughout the year and we’ve continued to learn from these moments where we have little dips in our performances. Hopefully we get to the point where we don’t have these lapses in games and it allows us to play a full 90 minutes plus.”
The sequence was undoubtedly pivotal, and it’s one that Nancy said he plans to show his players again before they host Toronto FC on Saturday night – just not for the reasons you might suspect. The coach has a belief that how a player first touches the ball in a game will inform what their performance will look like for the remainder of that game.
To him, Zawadzki’s start to the game was less than ideal.
“Sean, the first three balls he touched, he missed the ball or the execution was not good,” Nancy said. “At the third or fourth one, he gave a magnificent ball with the left foot. Sean did a really good game despite the fact that he started in a bad way. For me, the message is Sean was able to improve and stay on the task and was able all the time to push himself and compete.”
A central midfielder by trade, Zawadzki converted to center back this season when injuries forced Nancy to get creative with his back line. Now with the additions of center backs Rudy Camacho and Yevhen Cherberko, the second-year MLS veteran could find his way back to his more natural position as the newcomers settle in.
“There’s been some moments in training where I go from center back to center mid and it’s a little weird; I have to adjust again,” he said. “I’m open to whatever. I’ll be ready to step in.”
Nancy said the time in the back will help him, as will continued growth from the 23-year-old Zawadzki. Same for a little more of a mean streak.
“When we met with him, the first or second week, we did an exercise because he was too nice,” the coach said. “We had to take him and do exercise to push him and be hard with him. Since that, he (has steadily improved). The fact that he was also able to play as a center back is going to be good for him in the future as a central midfield player.”
Get more Columbus Crew news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Sean Zawadzki's hustle helped the Crew blank rival FC Cincinnati
