COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Steven Lenhart has picked up his professional soccer career right where he left it after leading Azusa Pacific to the 2008 NAIA men’s soccer national championship. Lenhart, who had scored a goal in his second game with the Columbus Crew’s reserves, registered his first career goal in his first start with the first team in Columbus’ 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play-in match Tuesday night.
“Finally getting a chance to play with the first team in a bigger spotlight was a great experience,” said Lenhart, whose goal helped the Crew advance to a final play-in match against the Chicago Fire June 10. “As a forward, you’ve got to score to keep being noticed, so it was kind of a relief to get it with the first team. It’s nice for all the work you put into training, practice and the game pay off.”
Lenhart, who scored 2 game-winning goals at the 2007 NAIA Tourmament to lead the Cougars to the national title and had 9 game-winners in his 16 goals during the 2007 season, scored the game-winner just 26 minutes into the contest. A deep throw-in to the box caused a collision for the header between Columbus forward Alejandro Moreno with two Real Salt Lake defenders. The ball was knocked loose, and Lenhart beat everyone to it and sent a low, hard drive into the net to give the Crew a 1-0 lead.
“I had missed 2 chances before in the game, and I knew I needed to get a goal,” said Lenhart, a 6-foot-1 forward. “I was able to get it on frame, and it went in. I looked over later in the game and saw my mom in the stands. She came out and surprised me, and it meant a lot to me to see her there and share this experience with her.”
Lenhart nearly had an opportunity to tally his second score late in the first half, but was caught offside on the attack.
"I thought Steve played well," said Crew head coach Sigi Schmid. "He got some good chances and he scored a decent goal. With a little more composure at certain times he may have had two or three goals."
Prior to Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup contest, Lenhart had started 2 of the 3 games he appeared in for the Columbus Crew reserves, including the 1-1 draw with the Kansas City Wizards reserves May 4, in which he scored the Crew’s lone goal. Lenhart’s score, a 43rd-minute one-timer off a through ball from Emmanuel Ekpo, pulled the Crew reserves even at 1-1.
“One of the toughest adjustments from college to professional soccer is all the focus as an individual,” said Lenhart. “It’s a longer season, and it’s a challenge to not be so particular about my game. It’s easy to get caught up in it, but if you stick to your game and what you do well, it pays off. I spent a couple weeks early in the year overanalyzing myself, but scoring a goal definitely helps my confidence."
Lenhart is expected to remain on the 18-man Columbus roster and dress for Saturday’s MLS contest at Chivas USA, a 7:30 p.m. game at The Home Depot Center in Carson. Tickets are on sale via the Chivas USA official website, cdchivasusa.com.
