CARSON, Calif. -- At 6-foot-4, Chad Marshall is not hard to find on the soccer field. Yet opponents can't seem to keep him under wraps.
For the second time in as many games Sunday, "Air" Marshall went skyward and headed in a Guillermo Barros Schelotto set piece. The first tied the Eastern Conference Championship with Chicago at 1-1 and sparked the Crew to a 2-1 victory to earn their first berth in the MLS Cup. The second was even more critical.
Just 87 seconds after New York tied Sunday's MLS Cup Final at 1-1 at The Home Depot Center, Marshall scored his sixth goal of the season and it proved to be the game-winner, although Frankie Hejduk added a late insurance goal for a 3-1 Crew win.
"When (New York) scored Chad scored and that stopped my gray hairs right away and then Frankie scored and finished his chance off amazingly well," said Crew midfielder Duncan Oughton, who has been with the Crew longer than any player (2001).
• Crew capture first MLS Cup
• MLS Cup Notes: Crew win Cup
• Schelotto named MLS Cup MVP
• Hejduk adjusts style in MLS Cup
• Lewis: Right team took Cup
• Davis: Tactics trumped by talent
• Wolyniec rewards Osorio's faith
• Red Bulls waste strong first half
• Cup win sweet for Crew's Moreno
• Red Bulls can't dodge final dagger
• Crew win Cup with team effort
• Crew notebook: Trio hope to return
• Red Bulls notebook: Still proud
MLS Cup Sights & Sounds
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• Backline is Crew's backbone
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SIGHTS & SOUNDS
Marshall's score capped a startling turnaround in his career. He appeared in only 13 matches last season and missed the final two months due to a series of concussions. The Crew's first pick in 2004 blossomed this season and was named the MLS Defender of the Year.
"It's been a long time -- three years of not making the playoffs to this is amazing. This is a great feeling," he said.
His goal in the 53rd minute countered the equalizer by John Wolyniec.
"It was good for us, especially since they just scored. It was huge," Marshall said. "There were still 35, 40 minutes left in the game. It was huge to get that momentum back." Schelotto also assisted on the first goal by Alejandro Moreno in the 31st minute and Hejduk's tally in the 82nd to be named the MLS Cup Most Valuable Player.
"He was awesome, not on the assists but getting the fouls we needed to relieve the pressure," Marshall said. "Sometimes we're battling and he's able to hold the ball and get a foul and let us get up."
Oughton said the goal by Hejduk could not have gone to a more deserving person. Hejduk is second in tenure on the team, having returned from Europe to join Columbus in 2003.
"It was the perfect ending. The captain, the guy who's been the heart of the team, scoring at the end of the game to seal it. Amazing," Oughton said.
In an emotional postgame speech in the locker room, coach Sigi Schmid made special mention of all the players who wore the black and gold prior to the current group.
He singled out assistant coaches Mike Lapper and Robert Warzycha and Dante Washington of the front office staff as well as technical director Brian Bliss. Warzycha and Bliss were part of the original team in 1996.
"It's a little overwhelming. It's unbelievable," said Warzycha who has been with the organization for 13 years. "I memorized all the years of the guys that were with us. This championship was for them."
Bliss was traded from the Crew in his second season and eventually was an assistant with Kansas City when it won the 2000 MLS Cup. He returned to the Crew this season.
"It's a different feeling because this team is one I originally played for and came back and worked for and I had a lot of love for this organization when I left," he said. "I think it means a little bit more. When you can play for an organization and then come back and help them achieve a goal you couldn't as a player, it's that much sweeter. The fans deserve, the city deserves it and obviously the organization deserves it."
A very tired left back Gino Padula would agree. He had ice on his sore right knee and a smile on his face after waging an intense duel with blazing fast New York midfielder Dane Richards. Padula was challenged the entire match and Richards got the better of him to set up the score by Wolyniec, but that didn't matter.
"We are the champions," Padula said. "He's a very good player. It was a great battle between him and myself."
Padula went down with an injury in the 24th minute and missed about two minutes of play. He said he felt a pain behind the knee after sending a long ball to Robbie Rogers.
Schmid said that Padula later came by the bench and said he was not leaving the game.
"No, I'm not coming off," Padula said. "That was my first final. You have to go out if you're dying but today I'm not coming off."
Defender Danny O'Rourke was doubly happy. He beat his former club to claim the title and is from the Columbus suburb of Worthington.
"Not only did we do it for the team and the organization but for the city of Columbus," he said.
He praised the backing for the club at The Home Depot Center.
"We're spoiled enough to have them every day at home with that supporters' section," said O'Rourke. "For them to travel across the country and have the same support, I'm sure the Red Bulls were excited to have their group here but we're used to it.
"They deserve that trophy as much as we do."
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