Focused Zardes scoring goals early for Crew SC

At the peak of his production with the Los Angeles Galaxy, Gyasi Zardes went with the weather.

The temperature rose during the summer months at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, and so did Zardes’ scoring volume.

Zardes scored a career-high 16 goals as a 22-year-old in 2014, with 13 between July and September. Of his 34 career goals entering this season, 20 have come in that three-month span.

Zardes’ scoring trends this season make his start much more notable. Through five games as Crew SC’s striker, Zardes is sitting on four goals, a total he didn’t reach until July 12 Crew striker Gyasi Zardes, middle, celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Montreal on March 10. He scored twice against the Impact and has four goals in the first five games overall.

in 2014. And this year’s goals have come with a semi-steady diet of Columbus snow, rain, sleet and, Tuesday, the first tornado warning he can remember.

“This year, it’s nice to get goals early on so I can just keep the momentum going and it kind of motivates me. It helps me stay humble,

scoring goals,” Zardes said. “It makes me want to work even harder, and my teammates are doing a phenomenal job getting the ball into the attacking half and I’m just trying to make sure I’m on the end of their crosses or their service.”

A striker’s game, Zardes said, is mental, and failing to score early Crew SC at Fire When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday TV: Ch. 53, Spectrum Sports Radio: WWCD-FM (102.5) in a season can add to the mental burden. But this season has brought a different mindset. Zardes, 26, said he is doing a better job of narrowing his focus to each game.

“It’s maturity. You mature as a player,” he said. “I’ve been in the league for a while now and it’s understanding that it’s a long season. As a striker you can score two goals in a game, three goals in a game, and all of a sudden have five goals.

“Also, more importantly, it’s about thinking about the team and not being selfish. I think when I was younger I was like, ‘Me, me, me. I want to get goals. I want to score this game. I want to get an assist this game.’ But now I couldn’t care less about it. I just want the team to win.”

A few other contributing factors have aided Zardes’ transition to the Crew. He is healthy, now more than 18 months removed from the broken foot that ended his 2016 season, and has the support of the Crew’s coaching staff.

Many were leery of Zardes, who scored just eight goals over his last two seasons with the Galaxy, stepping in to replace Ola Kamara, who was traded. Coach Gregg Berhalter acknowledged the scoring gap the Crew’s offense would need to bridge, but he expressed his belief in Zardes early in the preseason and indicated he would give him every opportunity to be the striker.

“We looked at his profile and we looked at his attributes, and we have clear characteristics that we look for in each position and his characteristics fit our profile,” Berhalter said. “So, it was pretty easy.”

A month into the season, easy is exactly how Zardes is making it look.