At times during his rookie season, Crew goalkeeper Zack Steffen has been bombarded by opposing offenses.

A 2-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls on April 22 could have been much worse if not for Steffen making five saves. In a 3-1 loss to Atlanta on June 17, he made four saves, including a slide to stop a breakaway that could have made the result even more lopsided. Two weeks before that, Steffen had a stellar first half to keep his team in the game only to have a pair of defensive breakdowns send the Crew to a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids.

So it’s understandable that Steffen was all smiles after a 1-0 Crew SC win over Philadelphia in which he kept a mostly-clean jersey as well as a clean sheet. Steffen dove a couple times just to be sure on Union shots that curled wide of the post and had the ball at his feet on more than 20 occasions Saturday. But he didn’t have to make a save to earn a victory.

“It was nice,” Steffen said with a laugh. “I’m sure Wednesday’s going to be different. It’s an acknowledgement to the back line and the midfielders and the guys in front of me. They had a spectacular game and we were in good shape the whole game. We recovered well when they transitioned. We were just connected. We were into it. It was a lot of fun to watch. Yeah, to watch.”

Steffen attributed improved team defending to mentality and an understanding of the importance of holding serve against Philadelphia before playing the same team on the road Wednesday night.

There were also the absences of key Philadelphia attacking players like Chris Pontius and CJ Sapong. And for the second straight MLS game, there was a three in the back formation for Crew SC.

Center backs Lalas Abubakar, Jonathan Mensah and Alex Crognale combined for the back three of a 3-4-2-1 formation. The setup helps the Crew help itself without the ball, putting numbers in front of the opponent’s attack and decreasing the likelihood of individual center backs — and Steffen — being hung out to dry.

The result hasn’t been pretty offensive performances — Crew SC has had to grind out back-to-back 1-0 wins — but an increased ability to remain afloat on defense while attempting to find openings on offense. The grind is what some Crew SC players said they’ve liked about the new setup.

“Yeah, I mean it’s all about the grinding. It doesn’t matter the scoreline. Once we can get one goal, just like today, mentally, we’ve got to defend our (tails) off and get the three points,” Abubakar said. “We just have to keep grinding whatever the case is.”

Crew SC has used a three center back formation four times in 21 MLS games this season, earning three wins. Ten bad minutes in the Colorado game separated Crew SC from a fourth win.

Coach Gregg Berhalter was coy, asked if he’ll stick with a similar formation in upcoming games.

“I think we have our playing style. We have the way we want to play. We want to dominate the ball. We want to move the ball,” Berhalter said. “We want to move around quickly and we can do it in both formations. So now it’s about personnel and now it’s about opponent. What’s the opponent doing and who do we have healthy who can be on the field?”

There’s also the question of how much the Crew can grind against the league’s most elite scoring teams. Examining the four teams Crew SC has played with three in the back, Colorado ranks last in the league in shots on target per game. D.C. United is 15th, Minnesota United is 19th and Philadelphia is 17th. None rank above 15th in the league in goals scored from the run of play.

Regardless, Crew SC got needed points Saturday night and has managed to put together back-to-back shutouts, something it probably did not expect after poor defensive performances in the first half of the season.

Opponents have not scored against Crew SC in 206 minutes. The clock starts ticking again Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.

“It gives you confidence that we’re eventually going to break through, we’re eventually going to keep going,” Berhalter said. “It gives the attackers confidence and to me it was more about team defending than individuals.”

Injury update

Right back Harrison Afful appeared to pull up while running late in the first half. He was held out of a Monday night scrimmage against Eintracht Frankfurt after experiencing a hamstring cramp late in last Sunday’s practice. On Saturday, Hector Jimenez came in for Afful to start the second half.

“It is the same thing and it is the thigh so we’re gonna have to evaluate it, but I think it was the same,” Berhalter said. “I don’t think it’s severe, though.”

Eyes on Abubakar

Ghana national team coach James Kwesi Appiah was at the Crew game Saturday night after attending practice earlier in the week.

It was an opportunity for Abubakar, a rookie out of Dayton, to earn a look in a starting role, but he said he didn’t feel pressure.

“For me, it’s all about the team first and coming on the field to play with my teammates and play a great performance. I don’t really care what the result from the national team is,” Abubakar said. “If I play well and he likes me, that’s fine. But if he doesn’t like me, for me what’s most important is for the club. So I’m really happy with the win and the shutout.”

The start was the second in a row for Abubakar, who finished with four tackles and 94.8 percent passing accuracy, all without committing a foul.

“To me, there was a play in the Frankfurt game that shows how his confidence is growing. It’s nice to see,” Berhalter said of Abubakar. “You hope when young players get chances they take their opportunity and go from there and we’re certainly seeing something from Lalas these last couple games.”

The goal

Midfielder Artur dribbled backward in the 65th minute before splitting a pair of Philadelphia defenders with a pass, allowing midfielder Justin Meram to get behind Giliano Wijnaldum and into the box. From there, Meram shot toward the lower leg of Philadelphia defender Joshua Yaro. The ball pinballed into the back of the net for the game’s only score.

“I’m always prepared. I was getting ready to see who was open and I tried to find the best pass,” Artur said through a team interpreter. “Once I saw this pass I went for it and I trusted the quality of my teammate that he would be able to finish.”

Said Meram of Yaro’s help: “Maybe he can do it again on Wednesday.”

aerickson@dispatch.com

@AEricksonCD