COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Fans gathered for the biggest home game of the Columbus Crew’s season as the Hell is Real rivalry returned to Lower.com Field Saturday.

“The games are always loud,” Crew fan Nick Ungar said. “Everyone likes to high-five.”

Both teams sported their decorative jerseys for the game, a rivalry the fans take very seriously. The first of two games between the clubs this season ended in a 1-1 draw.

“The community, the tailgate, everyone’s always so friendly,” Ungar said.

The rivalry is named after a religious sign located on Interstate 71, the roadway connecting the two cities, which now symbolizes the intense rivalry, especially as both teams trend toward the top of the MLS Eastern Conference during the last three seasons.

“Eventually it’s going to get to be an OSU versus Michigan rivalry,” Nordecke member Ravi Panguy said. “There’s going to be this level of animosity that you’re going to have between Columbus and Cincinnati, like Ohio State has with Michigan, and it’s going to be there. It’s growing. It’s going to get to that place, and it’s great. It’s going to be great for the fans. It’s going to be great for the community.”

The official fan section for the Crew, Nordecke gathers on gameday behind the north goal at Lower.com Field.

“It’s just a different feeling of excitement,” Nordecke member Noah Cline said. “My first time sitting in the Nordecke, I told myself I would never go back to a normal seat again, just because it’s a family. It’s so fun coming and seeing people standing and cheering. We’ve got a horn section, drums. We truly do feel like we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves.”

“It’s hard to describe in words how special it is because it’s more than just a supporter’s group, it’s more than just a fan section, it’s a community,” Panguy said. “You see it all around, every tailgate that we have here, every away game we have, it is a community, and that’s what makes it so great and that’s what makes it so special.”

Fans said they’re confident in the Crew’s season so far and the coaching staff that’s behind it.

“I will never doubt our Coach Nancy,” Ungar said. “I think he has really shown that it’s a team sport and even without a clear goalscorer, we’re still able to bring home three points, a lot of ties, but ultimately it’s been a great season to watch, and the team, I think, we can bring home a cup. I don’t see why not. We’ve done it a few times before.”

“You know what’s interesting is we’ve lost some really great players like Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez and a few others, but we have not really strayed away from victory,” Panguy said. “We’ve seen that in our performance in a lot of the games we’ve had. Even with the two draws that we had previously, like Philadelphia and Montreal, those were draws, and those came out pretty successful actually.”

The Crew went from being Ohio’s only MLS team to battling for state bragging rights when Cincinnati joined the league in 2019, marking the official start of the Hell is Real rivalry.

The Crew will be back on the pitch this Saturday, May 24, when the team travels to Charlotte. Columbus and Cincinnati will face each other again on July 12.