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Rapids-Crew Preview

A matchup against MLS' stingiest defense was already challenging for the Columbus Crew SC, and now they'll have to do it minus one the league's premier scorers.

Taking the pitch for the first time since the stunning trade of Kei Kamara, Columbus caps a tumultuous week with Saturday night's home match against the rising Colorado Rapids.

Five days after being involved in the wildest game of this season, Crew SC engineered the biggest move of the campaign by dealing 2015 MLS MVP runner-up Kamara to New England on Thursday in exchange for future draft choices and a slew of allocation money. The move was triggered by the star forward's public comments following last Saturday's 4-4 draw with Montreal, in which Kamara criticized teammate Federico Higuain after the two engaged in an on-field argument over who should take a penalty kick.

Kamara, who was a goal away from a hat trick at the time of the PK, wouldn't have played this week regardless of the trade, having been suspended by coach Gregg Berhalter for the match for his media outburst.

"It wasn't just a one-off incident, I'm sure Gregg has addressed that," captain Michael Parkhurst said. "This is a team-first culture and that's the way it is and that's the way it's going to be for now and for always. That's why they made the move and we support the staff."

While the trade may improve a seemingly fractured locker room, Columbus (2-4-3) figures to have a much tougher time replacing Kamara's prolific production. His 22 regular-season goals in 2015 tied Toronto's Sebastian Giovinco for the league lead and he added four more during Crew SC's run to the MLS final.

Columbus does have an experienced option in Conor Casey, who owns 73 goals in 196 MLS games. However, the 34-year-old has played just five minutes this season.

Ola Kamara - no relation to Kei - is expected to receive the first crack up top. The Norwegian recorded a goal in Wednesday's friendly against Mexican side Veracruz.

"There's no doubt that Kei's presence will be missed to a certain extent, but we feel that we can - certainly with other guys stepping up their performance - we feel like we can compensate for that," Berhalter said.

Berhalter also has some defensive issues to sort out after Columbus conceded three second-half goals to the Impact to squander a 4-1 lead.

The mood is much more harmonious in Colorado (7-2-2), which continued its surprising early season success with Wednesday's 1-0 win over visiting Sporting Kansas City.

The Rapids, allowing a league-low 0.73 goals per game, received a second straight clean sheet from Zac MacMath to improve to 5-0-1 over their last six matches.

"You've got a team here that wants to keep winning," coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "(Wednesday) was a great performance in that it's not always going to come the way that you'd like. But this isn't a beauty contest. This is about winning, and they got the job done."

Kei Kamara had both goals as Columbus halted a five-game winless stretch in the series with a 2-1 road victory last August. Colorado stopped an eight-game winless drought in Columbus with a 2-0 win in its last visit on May 11, 2013.

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