[dropcap]T[/dropcap]oday, Major League Soccer revealed the full league schedule for the 2015 regular-season campaign. Now that the MLS boasts 20 clubs, each team will play a 34-match clip.
For Columbus Crew SC — the league’s first club — action will begin March 7 on the road against the Houston Dynamo. Crew SC, along with the MLS at-large, enters its 20th season of play dating back to 1996. The 2015 season will see the game debut of Crew SC’s new badge and identity.
The road match against Houston is the sole meeting between the clubs for 2015 and also marks the fourth-straight year Crew SC has opened the year on the road. Last year, the Black & Gold opened the season in a winning effort against D.C. United, 3-0, in what was also the debut of Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter.
Berhalter will take the helm of the league’s oldest club for his second season as Crew SC looks to build upon its third place finish in the Eastern Conference. In 2014, Columbus earned a postseason berth for the first time since the 2011 campaign.
The MLS schedule will feature each club playing one match against each opposing team in the opposite conference, with two or three intra-conference tilts. With the introductions of New York City FC and Orlando City SC to the Eastern Conference, both Sporting Kansas City and Houston Dynamo have been switched to the Western Conference.
Crew SC will face six Eastern Conference foes three times in 2015, including: Chicago Fire, D.C. United, New York Red Bulls, Orlando City SC, Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC. The Fire, Red Bulls and Toronto will make two trips to Columbus while the Black & Gold will make two trips to the other three clubs.
The Black & Gold will play two matches against each of the three remaining conference sides with one match at home and the other on the road.
Ten more matches will be played against Western Conference opponents. Crew SC will host FC Dallas, LA Galaxy, Portland TImbers FC, Seattle Sounders FC and Sporting Kansas City. The club will travel to Colorado Rapids, Houston Dynamo, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
The full schedule is below:
Home Games in Bold
*Eastern Conference Opponent
^UniMas/Univision Deportes Network
+ESPN2
#FOX Sports 1
Schedule and broadcast information subject to change
2015 Season Ticket Memberships, 10-match plans and group opportunities are on sale now by contacting a Crew SC ticket representative at (614) 44-7-2739 or online at ColumbusCrewSC.com. Single-match tickets will be available at a later date.
