COLUMBUS, Ohio — In a tightly contested match at Lower.com Field, Houston Dynamo’s goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell made five crucial saves to help his team secure a scoreless draw against the Columbus Crew. On the opposite end, Patrick Schulte, the Crew’s goalkeeper, was tested only once and successfully parried the attempt to keep his own clean sheet.
For Tarbell, this match marked his third clean sheet in just seven starts for the Dynamo over the span of three seasons. It also added to his overall career tally, bringing it to eight shutouts. His performance on the field was a notable comeback after conceding a total of six goals in consecutive home games against FC Dallas and Inter Miami earlier in the season. A pivotal moment came in the 87th minute when Tarbell denied a shot from Diego Rossi, allowing Houston to secure their first point of the season.
Schulte, demonstrating reliability in goal for Columbus, registered a single save in the first half. The young goalkeeper has now achieved 19 shutouts in his career, having played all his matches for Columbus.
The match saw a flurry of cautions handed out, with Houston’s Femi Awodesu and Ezequiel Ponce receiving yellow cards within the first 21 minutes. Their teammates, midfielders Erik Dueñas and Jose “Artur” De Lima Junior, were also shown yellow cards in quick succession midway through the second half. Columbus had its share of bookings as well, with defender Mohamed Farsi and forward Max Arfsten both seeing yellow in each half respectively.
The result leaves the all-time series between Houston and Columbus deadlocked at 8-8-12. Looking forward, the Dynamo are set to welcome Real Salt Lake in their upcoming match, while the Crew will be traveling to face off against the newly introduced team, San Diego FC.