The Columbus Crew came into their match Saturday against the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps having not won since May 3. The Black & Gold knew it wouldn’t be easy Saturday against the best team in the MLS’s Western Conference in the Whitecaps, who were 10-1-5 when they arrived in Columbus. The Crew, however, took a 2-1 lead in the first half and blanked Vancouver the rest of the way for the win.

The Crew had additional challenges being without their top two goalkeepers – Patrick Schulte and Nicholas Hagen. Schulte remains out with an injury and Hagen is playing in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Black & Gold were also without Rudy Camacho and Malte Amundson (injuries), and Max Arfsten (CONCACAF).

Given all that, it was the Crew that scored first, and in near record time. Lassi Lappalainen brought the ball to the right corner of Vancouver’s zone and, as he moved along the end line, he found Ibrahim Aliyu coming to the middle of the box from the left side. Aliyu quickly turned the ball with a kick into the goal. It happened at 1:08 into the match, the second-fastest regular-season goal in team history.

The Whitecaps responded four minutes later when Daniel Rios took a pass from Mathias Laborda and drove it by Crew keeper Evan Bush. Still in the first half, Diego Rossi put the Black & Gold back on top in the 23rd minute. Daniel Gazdag intercepted a Vancouver pass deep in the Whitecaps’ zone and found a wide-open Rossi in front of the net for the easy score. It was Gazdag’s first point since joining the Crew.

With the win, Columbus is in fourth place in the MLS’s Eastern Conference, trailing first-place Philadelphia by six points. Cincinnati and Nashville remain in-between. The Crew play next on Wednesday, June 25 when they host Atlanta United FC at Lower.com Field with the kickoff at 7:30 p.m.