Major League Soccer announced on Wednesday the home openers for each team for the league’s 22nd season. Columbus Crew SC will start the year at MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday March 4 at 2:00 p.m. ET against Eastern Conference rivals Chicago Fire.
This contest not only marks the 22nd season for Black & Gold soccer in Columbus, but also the 19th year of play in MAPFRE Stadium, which opened as the first professional soccer specific stadium in 1999.
This game marks the second-earliest Crew SC has begun a regular season. The first was a March 2 road tilt with Chivas USA in 2013 — a 3-0 win.