After two weeks in Lakewood Ranch, Florida and another back in Central Ohio at SuperKick in Lewis Center, Crew SC is preparing for phase three of preseason. The Black & Gold are escaping the cold Columbus weather and heading to Tucson, Arizona to participate in the fifth annual Desert Diamond Cup over the next two weeks.

Hosted by FC Tucson of the USL Premier Development League (PDL), Crew SC is set to be joined by five other MLS sides as well as two USL teams and the hosts in the tournament.

The Black & Gold will play Sporting Kansas City at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, February 17, followed by contests against Real Salt Lake on Saturday, February 20 (7 p.m. ET) and the Swope Park Rangers (USL) on Wednesday, February 24 (8 p.m. ET). The fourth and final match will be played on Saturday, February 27, against a yet to be determined opponent.

ColumbusCrewSC.com will provide full coverage of the preseason friendlies, including live audio streams of the matches against Kansas City and the Swope Park Rangers. Crew SC broadcast voice Neil Sika will have the call.

In addition, there will be live video streams of the Black & Gold’s matches on February 20 (RSL) and 27 (TBD). The kickoff time for the final match in the tournament has yet to be determined.

Additional information for the tournament can be found at http://bit.ly/DDCTickets.