Kyle Hyland Q&A

This Q&A with Crew Reserve Team player Kyle Hyland was recorded after the home opener back in March, but it’s still timely.  In it, Hyland talks about growing up playing the world’s game in the Northeast Ohio soccer hotbed of Bay Village.

KZ – [By mid-March, the Crew had played two league games already and the third was the home opener.]  What have you been doing for the past couple weeks?  I know that the first Reserve League game isn’t until the 26th of March.

KH – We’ve been training a lot.  Every day, we still train and everything.

Even with the guys going out on the West Coast trip [to Chivas USA and Vancouver], we still got after it hard back here and they try to push us really hard because the bottom line is that we need to be ready if we’re called upon for the first team.  We just kept working and preparing in anticipation of that happening.

KZ – When you guys get that first Reserve League game [against Chicago], I’m sure you guys are going to be totally amped up and ready to kick guys who aren’t wearing black and gold, right?

KH – Yeah, definitely.  It’s for sure going to be nice to get out there and see different faces and get some different competition.  We’re going to be real excited for that.  No doubt about it.

KZ – Talk about your youth soccer.  You played for Bay Soccer Association growing up and where else?

KH – I played with the Cobras and then I switched to Cleveland United when I was 16 and then I came down here and played for the Crew Academy.  I also played for the Friedel Academy, too, for a little bit before I came down here.  During the summers, I played here and then last summer, I played for the PDL team in Reading, Pennsylvania.

KZ – Talk about playing for Coach Bobby Dougherty and how that prepared you for college and for this setting.  His teams are consistently among the best in Cleveland in any of the OHSAA’s three divisions, annually advancing to the State Regional Playoffs and beyond.

KH – He and I have a great relationship.  He’s got a great knowledge of the game and he helps me a lot.  He boosts my confidence a lot whenever I’m down.  I’ll call him and he keeps me up and motivated.  He’s just a great coach who has lead Bay to quite a few great seasons over the years.  He’s definitely helped me a lot, to be able to mature a lot and to get to play in college and for the Crew Academy.  He’s a real honest guy, too, so he won’t sugar-coat it if you’re having a bad game.  It’s good to have a coach like that.  He’s just a great coach.

KZ – You’ve been a Crew fan all of your life.  Who’s your favorite Crew player of all-time and why?

KH – Brian McBride.  I know it’s stereotypical, but when I was a little kid I loved to watch him play.  I loved how he could make something out of nothing and it was amazing to watch how he would fight so hard for every ball in the air, and it proved when he consistently scored goals in the air.

Since the Q&A was recorded, Hyland has appeared in eight matches with the Crew Reserves, mostly at left back, and has notched two assists in about 500 minutes of play.  The Black & Gold is 4-3-1 in those matches and there are at least five more coming up as we head through the rest of the season.

PHOTO CREDIT – Hyland/mlscleveland.com; McBride/Columbus Crew

Josh Williams Q&A

Columbus Crew right back Josh Williams is off to a flying start this season.  The Black and Gold came out of its first four matches with a solid 2-1-1 mark, thanks in part, to Williams’ stellar play.  Not only is #3 leading the team in scoring with two goals, but he is also ranked fifth in the entire league in the Castrol Index – stunningly, he’s the only defender in the top 20!!  I conducted this Q&A with Williams at the Columbus Crew’s home opener.  Here are his responses to various questions about his time with the Crew, growing up playing soccer in Northeast Ohio and taking his game to the next level.  

Q – Talk about your progress to this point in your first team career.  What’s this year like for you compared to last year?

Josh Williams – This is my first opening day start, so that’s exciting.  I think last year it was against Montreal, I got in the game but I didn’t start.  It was a real cool experience for me.  This is my first time, so when I woke up this morning, it was like Christmas day.  I couldn’t wait to get to the stadium.  It’s just fun.  Right now, I’m still young, even though I’m a veteran on this team and my career is only going up from here, so I’m just going to keep working hard and grinding it out and we’ll see where it can go.

Q – Talk about your roots growing up playing soccer in Copley.  Did you play travel soccer and then get into club?

JW – I started off with the Copley Cosmos and I played with them for a couple years and then I linked up with the Cleveland Internationals and I was with them when I was nine and I played with Chris Korb and Mike Nanchoff.

Q – Was Korb wearing the same shin guards back then that he wears now?  

JW – I think he was, man!  [laughs]  You’ve seen those then, obviously?  Those things are Dixie cups, I always joke with him.  And he keeps those socks so low, looks like he’s not wearing anything…  yeah, Korby’s actually been my best friend since pretty much that first day (at Internationals).  We kind of linked up then and the rest is history.  I was with them from age nine until about 17.  A lot of my time playing premier was with Internationals, playing with Justin (Morrow) and (former DC United player) Barry Rice.  We had a really good team.  We had a lot of guys who had successful college careers and a lot of guys who are playing in MLS now were on that team.

Q – Talk about how that prepared you for making the jump to college?

JW – I actually stopped playing (year-round) when I went to high school.  I played baseball and basketball, so I quit playing club soccer.  So that didn’t really prepare me all that much.  It prepared me for the high school seasons, but that was it.  Cleveland State prepared me, along with my work after college.

Q – Talk about Cleveland State.  What was it about your time there that helped get you ready for the pros?    Was it the atmosphere, the training sessions, working under a former pro soccer player?

JW – Yeah, all of those things.  But also the individual hard work that I put in.  We started off kind of rocky.  Kaz (Head Coach Ali Kazemaini) and TJ Kolba were trying to get things together my first year.  We were 0-17-1 the year before I came in and he brought in a bunch of local guys to go about changing the program locally, but we were able to turn it around.  We were a part of that.  There were a couple of rough years in there, but my junior and senior year we started to pull it together and we ended up having a lot of success, reaching the Horizon League Championship Game (in 2008).  I think that’s when the tables started to turn and I could see a future for myself in soccer.

Q – What challenges have you set for yourself in this, your second season?

JW – Dominate the right side, is mostly what I want to do.  I’m a defender first, so I want to shut down the right side and always post a shutout.  I want to get forward too.  Bobby likes me getting forward, so let’s see if I can turn things around and get some goals this season.  I was kind of unlucky with that last year, but I like to get forward and contribute some goals and some assists to help out the offense.  I want to be an anchor back there on the right side.

Q – Have you played at the back all your life, or is this position something that you’ve been growing into now in the pros?

JW – Obviously, growing up if you’re a skilled player they stick you up top or in the middle.  In high school, I played mostly forward and center mid.  At Cleveland State I played mostly defensive mid and then when I came here they moved me to the back.  I’ve played mostly center back and wing back with the Crew.

Q – You’ve been a Crew fan all your life.  Who’s your favorite Crew player of all-time and why?  

JW – Brian McBride.  I grew up as a forward, so I would always love going to the games to watch him.  I loved watching the more athletic guys and no one was better at that time in front of goal than he was.

* PHOTO CREDITS:  Korb – dcunited.com; Williams – csuvikings.com/sports; McBride – mlssoccer.com

Crew v Earthquakes Photo Album

Here a some of the photos that I took at the Columbus Crew v San Jose Earthquakes game last Saturday night.  Obviously, these focus on our guys: Kyle Hyland (pics taken pre-game when he was training with the Crew reserves), Josh Williams, Ben Speas and Justin Morrow.  If you click on any one of those thumbnails, you can then view them all in a larger, pseudo-slideshow format.

Hyland training pre-game

Hyland training pre-game

Hyland training pre-game

Williams warming up

Hyland heads in to the lockerroom

Williams juggling

Morrow heading in to the lockerroom before kickoff

The official match ball of Major League Soccer

Kyle Hyland during Opening Match introductions of all the Crew players

Justin Morrow shaking hands with Crew players

Morrow and Williams

Williams dribbling at Morrow

Williams heading towards the sideline with Morrow covering

Williams crossing

Williams cutting inside on Morrow

Williams receiving a pass

Williams heading clear

Speas guarding the post; Williams jostling for position on a San Jose corner

Morrow crossing

Speas passing

Williams setting to throw with Morrow covering

Williams heading clear a San Jose corner kick

Morrow dribbling

Morrow celebrating his goal

Morrow defending

Williams and Morrow chatting after the final whistle

Williams making a young fan’s day complete

Williams and Morrow visiting with fans

Photos from Columbus v DC United, 21 July 2012

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2012 Week 12 Review

Boatloads of goals this week, but none of them was scored by our boys.  Zero assists for our guys, too.  Bummer.  Looking ahead, the guys who aren’t playing for Vancouver or Montreal will be busy mid-week with U.S. Open Cup games.  Most of the league is on a break for the next couple weeks, so look for an update next week on the Open Cup games, as well as a rundown of how the guys and their teams have been doing to this point in the season, i.e. Castrol Player Rankings and various Power Rankings.

• Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] & Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] – Montreal Impact •  Ubiparipovic subbed in up front for the last five minutes of the match, but Montreal gave up a late goal to 10-man Colorado and ended up losing 3-2.  In Evan Bush news, not that we’d root for injuries to the two veteran goalies ahead of him, but starter Donovan Ricketts was injured in the match and replaced by his backup, Greg Sutton.  So, if Ricketts is going to miss more time, that’ll mean Bush will then be the backup to Sutton.  Potential good news there.    This week: no games this week

• Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] – DC United •  Played 90 at left back as United beat New England 3-2 on Saturday.  The home side went up 2-0 after 46 minutes before allowing the Revs to tie things up in the 50th minute.  But the winner came in the 61st minute and moves DC into first place in the Eastern Conference.    This week: Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round @ Richmond Kickers, Tuesday, 29 May, 7pm

• Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] – San Jose Earthquakes •  Played 90 at center back for the Earthquakes, who lost 2-1 at Sporting Kansas City on Sunday night.    This week: Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round v Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Tuesday, 29 May, 1030pm

• Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] – Portland Timbers •  Game #2 in the 2012 Cascadia Cup series ended in a draw (just like #1 did), and Nagbe played all 90 minutes of the game, which finished up 1-1.    This week: Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round v Cal FC, Wednesday, 30 May, 1030pm

• Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] – Vancouver Whitecaps •  Was not in the gameday 18 for the 1-1 draw on Saturday.  He did play 90 on Sunday as the ‘Caps reserves beat the Timbers reserves 2-1, and he even assisted on former University of Akron teammate Darren Mattocks’ eventual game-winner.    This week: no games this week

• Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] & Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] – Columbus Crew •  Williams played 90 at center back as the Crew beat the Fire 2-1 on Saturday night.  Speas was still listed as DOUBTFUL on the pregame injury report.    This week: Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round v Dayton Dutch Lions, Tuesday, 29 May, 730pm

• Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] – Los Angeles Galaxy •  Same old, same old.  Walker is still in search of his first first-team action of the season, and was yet again not a part of the gameday 18 for the Galaxy in their 2-1 loss in Houston on Saturday.    This week: Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round @ Carolina RailHawks, Tuesday, 29 May, 7pm

• Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] – Chivas USA •  Was listed as QUESTIONABLE for Saturday’s 1-1 draw for Chivas at home to Seattle, and as such, he was not on the gameday roster.    This week: Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round @ Ventura County Fusion, Tuesday, 29 May, 10pm

2012 Week 9 Review

No goals this week, but our guys did play in seven of 11 possible games last week (not including three guys who are out injured and missed four games).  This upcoming weekend, we’ll have two head-to-head possibilities, as well as two of our boys will get to check out the Houston Dynamo’s new stadium – BBVA Compass Stadium – which opens on Saturday.  The place looks really sweet, expecially if you like the color orange.

• Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] & Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] – Montreal Impact •  Bush was not in the team for either match this week.  Ubiparipovic played 84 minutes at mid in a 2-0 win on the road at Sporting Kansas City.  Followed that up with 90 minutes on Wednesday night, as the Impact was dumped out of the Amway Canadian Championship with a 2-0 loss.  The aggregate was the same, after a 0-0 draw the previous week.    This week: v Los Angeles Galaxy, Saturday, 12 May, 4pm

• Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] – DC United •  Got in at right back for the final 14 minutes of a 5-3 loss at San Jose  last Wednesday.  This week: @ Houston Dynamo, Saturday, 12 May, 430pm – match to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network

• Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] – San Jose Earthquakes •  Just win, baby!  Right?  Ordinarily, a center back whose team allows three goals at home can’t reflect fondly on any such match.  But the first-place Earthquakes scored five, so it’s all good!  Morrow went the distance in last Wednesday’s 5-3 win over DC United, and the day before, the gang at the March to the Match podcast called him “the best center back in the league right now.”  Wow!  This week: v Chivas USA, Sunday, 13 May, 7pm – match to be televised live on Galavisión

• Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] – Portland Timbers •  Started up top and played 90 in the Timbers’ 0-0 home draw with the Crew.  This week: @ Houston Dynamo, Tuesday, 15 May, 830pm

• Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] – Vancouver Whitecaps •  Was an unused sub for the Whitecaps’ 2-1 home win against San Jose on Saturday.  On Wednesday, Nanchoff started and played 70 minutes at outside mid in a 3-1 victory over FC Edmonton in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship semifinals.  Vancouver will play Toronto FC in the two-leg final, starting next week.   This week: @ New England Revolution, Saturday, 12 May, 730pm; v Toronto FC, Wednesday, 16 May, 1030pm

• Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] & Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] – Columbus Crew •  Another 90 at center back for Williams in the 0-0 draw at Portland.  Once more, he nearly scored, with a goal-line clearance denying him of a fine header off a corner kick.  Here’s a story on Williams pairing up with Eric Gehrig last week at center back.  Meanwhile, Speas is still on the DL as he recovers from sports hernia surgery.  This week: v FC Dallas, Saturday, 12 May, 730pm

• Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] – Los Angeles Galaxy •  Was not a part of the gameday roster for the mid-week 2-0 loss at Seattle.  Neither was he a part of the squad for the Galaxy’s 1-0 home loss to the Red Bulls.  He did put in 90 minutes’ work during a reserve team 1-1 draw with San Jose on Tuesday.  This week: @ Montreal Impact, Saturday, 12 May, 4pm

• Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] – Chivas USA •  Is currently out injured with a sprained MCL, but is on the recovery trail.  In the cdchivasusa.com preview for last week’s game with Chicago, Zemanski said, “I’m close, it’s just that final stretch of getting confidence back in my knee, but I feel like I’m close,” Zemanski said. “I can pass the ball. I’m doing some [running] and cutting. It’s getting stronger, but there’s just that final stretch. I’m trying to get back out this week, but hopefully this week or next.”  Also, check out this link.  Evidently, you could win a date with Ben.  Interesting.  Without Zemanski, Chivas lost 2-1 to the Fire at the Home Depot Center last Friday night.  This week: @ San Jose Earthquakes, Sunday, 13 May, 7pm – match to be televised live on Galavisión

2012 Week 8 Review

We got 1.5 goals last weekend and five of the boys got first team action, along with a 4-2-1 record (the two losses were head-to-head, so that didn’t help our guys’ record.)  Still no yellow or red cards on the season from this lot.  They play hard and clean.

• Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] & Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] – Montreal Impact •  Here’s an article on how our pair, along with four other Impact players who were with the team last year in the NASL are doing this year with the league switch.  Bush was not a part of the gameday 18 for the Timbers match last weekend.  Here’s an article about the goalkeeping trio that Montreal has, primarily focused on the #2, Greg Sutton.  But, help me out here – isn’t the photo of Bush and NOT of Greg Sutton?  Weird.  Ubiparipovic came on in the 68th minute at outside mid and scored the second goal in the Impact’s 2-0 victory over visiting Portland on Saturday.  That gives him two on the year, in just 97 minutes on the field, spread out over three matches.  Effective.   This week: v Toronto FC, Wednesday, 2 May, 7pm – Amway Canadian Championship semifinal; @ Sporting Kansas City, Saturday, 5 May, 830pm

• Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] – DC United •  Was an unused sub in a 3-2 win over Houston last Saturday night.  This week: @ San Jose Earthquakes, Wednesday, 2 May, 1030pm; @ Toronto FC, Saturday, 5 May, 4pm

• Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] – San Jose Earthquakes •  90 minutes at center back for Morrow in a 2-1 win at Philadelphia on Saturday.  This week: v DC United, Wednesday, 2 May, 1030pm; @ Vancouver Whitecaps, Saturday, 5 May, 7pm

• Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] – Portland Timbers •  Started and played all 90 minutes of a frustrating 2-0 loss at Montreal.  This week: v Columbus Crew, Saturday, 5 May, 1030pm

• Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] – Vancouver Whitecaps •  Nanchoff made the gameday 18 for the first time this season, but did not get into the ‘Caps 1-0 road win in his home state against the Columbus Crew.  Team Nanchoff was in full voice for most of the match, though, as a couple hundred of his nearest and dearest made the trip down in hopes of catching a glimpse of their boy in action.  This week: v Edmonton FC, Wednesday, 2 May, 1030pm in the Amway Canadian Championship semifinal; v San Jose Earthquakes, Saturday, 5 May, 7pm

• Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] & Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] – Columbus Crew •  On Saturday, Williams actually did score his first-ever MLS goal, only to have it called back for a foul in the box.  Minutes later, he pounded an overhead kick off the crossbar!  Maybe Crew Head Coach Robert Warzycha should try him up front!  His efforts were not enough to keep Crew from falling to visiting Vancouver 1-0.  Speas is still on the DL as he recovers from sports hernia surgery.    This week: @ Portland Timbers, Saturday, 5 May, 1030pm

• Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] – Los Angeles Galaxy •  Was not a part of the gameday roster for the 1-1 draw with FC Dallas at home on Saturday.  This week: @ Seattle Sounders, Wednesday, 2 May, 10pm; v New York Red Bulls, Saturday, 5 May, 8pm – match broadcast live on ESPN

• Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] – Chivas USA •  Is currently out injured with a sprained MCL and missed the Chivas 4-0 loss at Colorado on Saturday.  This week: v Chicago Fire, Saturday, 5 May, 1030pm