Columbus Crew Short-handed in Cup Final Against Sounders

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Columbus Crew have ruled out midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Pedro Santos for Saturday’s MLS Cup final against the Seattle Sounders. The Crew announced that Nagbe and Santos weren't medically cleared to play. Columbus also said it had a player test positive for COVID-19 in testing results received Thursday. It’s the second player to test positive this week, but the Crew have not announced who the players are.

(AP) — Sigi Schmid’s influence is being felt heading into Saturday’s MLS Cup final between Columbus and Seattle. Schmid died nearly two years ago. He was the only coach to lead the Crew to an MLS championship. Schmid was the first coach of the Sounders, creating the foundation for a franchise that has played in four of the past five league championship matches.