2014 Columbus Crew season

Columbus Crew

2014 season
Investor-operators	Anthony Precourt
Head Coach	Gregg Berhalter
Stadium	Columbus Crew Stadium
Major League Soccer	Conference: 3rd Overall: 7th
MLS Cup Playoffs	Conference Semifinals
U.S. Open Cup	Fifth Round
Trillium Cup	Runners-Up (4 - 8)
Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup	Winners (1 - 1)
Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic	Champions
Top goalscorer	League: Federico Higuaín (11) All: Federico Higuaín (12)
Highest home attendance	21,318 (9/20 v. NE)
Lowest home attendance	1,913 (6/17 v. IND)
Average home league attendance	15,978 (79.3%)
Biggest win	DC 0-3 CLB (3/8) CLB 4–1 LA (8/16) CLB 3–0 HOU (8/23) CLB 3–0 CHV (9/7)
Biggest defeat	NY 4-1 CLB (7/12)
Home colors Away colors

The 2014 Columbus Crew season was the club's 19th season of existence and their 19th consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of soccer in the United States and Canada. The first match of the season was on March 8 against D.C. United. It was the first season under head coach Gregg Berhalter.

The 2014 season was a significant break from the past, particularly off the field. New owner Anthony Precourt, having purchased the team from Hunt Sports Group midway through 2013, made his presence felt often through the year. The team enjoyed its best performance in several years, including an appearance in the playoffs for the first time in three years. Gregg Berhalter was handed the helm, serving both as head coach and sporting director. He was joined by a trio of assistant coaches that included fellow World Cup veteran Josh Wolff, and longtime MLS goalkeeper Pat Onstad.

Columbus started the season with three consecutive victories, including a road win over Seattle Sounders FC. This torrid beginning then cooled dramatically as Columbus won only one of their next 16 games. Dominic Oduro, the leading scorer from the previous year, was dealt to Toronto while Jairo Arrieta likewise struggled to make an impact. Defensively a pair of new Costa Rican signings, Giancarlo Gonzalez and Waylon Francis, missed significant time due to Costa Rica's run to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. The defensive changes could have been more drastic, however, as Michael Parkhurst was left off the American squad.

A handful of players emerged in the latter half of the season, however, leading the team to a dramatic turnaround and ultimately a postseason berth. Federico Higuain was joined atop the scoring charts by third-year winger Ethan Finlay, with both ending the year with 11 goals and seven assists. Other significant players included the pairing of Tony Tchani and Wil Trapp at holding midfield and goalkeeper Steve Clark.

Ultimately, however, the team's quest for its first hardware since 2009 came up empty. It was eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup after two games, falling once again to the Chicago Fire. The mid season doldrums ruled the club out of contention for Supporters Shield (won dramatically on the last day of the season by Seattle). Finally, the team was comprehensively outplayed in the playoffs by the New England Revolution, defeated 7–3 on aggregate over a two-game series. The team finished their last playoff game with only nine players on the field after ejections to Ethan Finlay and Justin Meram.

Off the field, new owner Anthony Precourt made sweeping changes. Long-serving General Manager Mark McCullers left the organization in the spring, replaced by Andy Loughnane after a nationwide search. While there was widespread criticism of the team's new television contract with Time Warner Sportschannel Ohio, the team continued its success at the turnstile. Three years after team attendance plummeted to less than 12,000, the team enjoyed five sellout crowds during 2014 and finished the year with the highest total attendance in the history of Crew Stadium.

The most significant change, however, was the revelation of a new team identity. The team's logo, unchanged since 1996, was jettisoned in favor of a new design that tried to better reflect the team's relationship to central Ohio. The name of the team was also changed slightly, becoming Columbus Crew SC. These changes were nearly unanimously applauded, in sharp contrast to the reaction to a new MLS logo that was also unveiled during the course of the season.^[1]

As of October 6, 2014^[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  USA Steve Clark 2 DF  USA Tyson Wahl 3 DF  USA Josh Williams 4 DF  USA Michael Parkhurst (Captain) 5 DF  AUT Emanuel Pogatetz (INT) 6 MF  CMR Tony Tchani 7 MF  VEN Bernardo Añor (INT) 9 FW  IRQ Justin Meram 10 FW  ARG Federico Higuaín (INT; DP) 11 MF  USA Daniel Paladini 12 MF  USA Hector Jiménez 13 MF  USA Ethan Finlay 14 DF  CRC Waylon Francis (INT)

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 DF  USA Eric Gehrig 17 FW  USA Ben Speas (HGP; SUP) 18 FW  USA Aaron Schoenfeld 19 FW  CRC Jairo Arrieta (INT) 20 MF  USA Wil Trapp (HGP; SUP) 21 DF  USA Chad Barson (HGP) 22 DF  USA Ben Sweat (SUP) 24 DF  URU Agustín Viana 25 MF  USA Romain Gall (SUP) 28 GK  USA Matt Lampson (HGP) 29 FW  USA Adam Bedell (SUP) 30 MF  GHA Fifi Baiden (INT; SUP) 31 DF  USA Matt Wiet (HGP; SUP)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 MF  TRI Kevan George (on loan to Dayton Dutch Lions) 27 MF  USA Ross Friedman (HGP; SUP) (on loan to Dayton Dutch Lions) 33 MF  USA Matt Walker (HGP; SUP) (on loan to Dayton Dutch Lions) 41 GK  USA Brad Stuver (SUP) (on loan to Dayton Dutch Lions)

Position	Staff
President, Precourt Sports Ventures	Dave Greeley
President of Business Operations	Andy Loughnane
Director of Soccer Operations	Asher Mendelsohn
Sporting Director/Head Coach	Gregg Berhalter
Assistant Coach	Robert Maaskant
Assistant Coach	Josh Wolff
Assistant Coach	Pat Onstad
Strength/Conditioning Coach	Brook Hamilton
Head Athletic Trainer	Craig Devine
Assistant Trainer	Steve Purcell
Director of Team Operations	Tucker Walther
Team Operations Assistant	Ron Meadors
Equipment Manager	John Velasco

The Crew started preseason in Columbus and played games in Florida before returning to Ohio. The Crew brought in the following trialists during training camp: Konrad Warzycha and Patrick Slogic.

Unsigned draft picks Ben Sweat, Fifi Baiden and Adam Bedell also joined the team for preseason.

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Major League Soccer	March 8, 2014	October 26, 2014	Matchday 1	7th	34	14	10	10	52	42	+10	041.18
MLS Cup Playoffs	November 1, 2014	November 9, 2014	Conference Semifinals	Conference Semifinals	2	0	0	2	3	7	−4	000.00
U.S. Open Cup	June 17, 2014	June 25, 2014	Fourth Round	Fifth Round	2	1	0	1	4	5	−1	050.00
Total					38	15	10	13	59	54	+5	039.47

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D.C. United	34	17	9	8	52	37	+15	59	MLS Cup Conference Semifinals
2	New England Revolution	34	17	13	4	51	37	+14	55
3	Columbus Crew SC	34	14	10	10	52	42	+10	52
4	New York Red Bulls	34	13	10	11	55	50	+5	50	MLS Cup Knockout round
5	Sporting Kansas City	34	14	13	7	48	41	+7	49

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
5	New England Revolution	34	17	13	4	51	46	+5	55
6	FC Dallas	34	16	12	6	55	45	+10	54
7	Columbus Crew	34	14	10	10	52	42	+10	52
8	New York Red Bulls	34	13	10	11	55	50	+5	50
9	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	12	8	14	42	40	+2	50	CONCACAF Champions League

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
34	52	14	10	10	52	42	+10	9	4	4	27	15	+12	5	6	6	25	27	−2

Last updated: 19 October 2014
Source: Columbus Crew
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

Under "Apps" for each section, the first number represents the number of starts, and the second number represents appearances as a substitute.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		MLS		MLS Cup Playoffs		U.S. Open Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	USA	Steve Clark	38	0	34+0	0	2+0	0	2+0	0
2	DF	USA	Tyson Wahl	21	0	15+3	0	2+0	0	1+0	0
3	DF	USA	Josh Williams	16	0	13+1	0	0+1	0	1+0	0
4	DF	USA	Michael Parkhurst	37	0	32+1	0	2+0	0	1+1	0
5	DF	AUT	Emanuel Pogatetz	2	0	0+2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
6	MF	CMR	Tony Tchani	37	1	33+0	0	2+0	1	2+0	0
7	MF	VEN	Bernardo Añor	30	8	18+9	6	0+1	0	2+0	2
9	FW	IRQ	Justin Meram	36	9	19+13	8	2+0	1	1+1	0
10	FW	ARG	Federico Higuaín	30	12	28+1	11	1+0	1	0+0	0
11	MF	USA	Daniel Paladini	5	0	3+1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
12	MF	USA	Hector Jiménez	28	1	19+5	1	2+0	0	2+0	0
13	MF	USA	Ethan Finlay	32	11	21+8	11	2+0	0	1+0	0
14	DF	CRC	Waylon Francis	26	0	24+0	0	2+0	0	0+0	0
16	DF	USA	Eric Gehrig	24	0	14+6	0	1+1	0	2+0	0
17	FW	USA	Ben Speas	16	1	8+5	1	0+1	0	2+0	0
18	FW	USA	Aaron Schoenfeld	16	3	7+8	3	1+0	0	0+0	0
19	FW	CRC	Jairo Arrieta	27	7	14+9	5	1+1	0	0+2	2
20	MF	USA	Wil Trapp	31	1	28+0	1	2+0	0	0+1	0
21	DF	USA	Chad Barson	15	0	8+5	0	0+0	0	1+1	0
22	DF	USA	Ben Sweat	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
23	MF	TRI	Kevan George	5	0	2+2	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
24	DF	URU	Agustín Viana	4	1	4+0	1	0+0	0	0+0	0
25	MF	USA	Romain Gall	3	0	3+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
27	MF	USA	Ross Friedman	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
28	GK	USA	Matt Lampson	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
29	FW	USA	Adam Bedell	18	2	7+9	2	0+1	0	1+0	0
30	MF	GHA	Fifi Baiden	1	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
31	DF	USA	Matt Wiet	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
33	MF	USA	Matt Walker	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
41	GK	USA	Brad Stuver	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
			Own Goal	0	1	-	1	-	0	-	0
Players who left Columbus during the season:
5	DF	CRC	Giancarlo González	17	1	17+0	1	0+0	0	0+0	0
8	FW	GHA	Dominic Oduro	11	0	6+5	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
25	MF	ESP	Álvaro Rey	2	0	0+2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
26	FW	USA	Ryan Finley	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
40	GK	USA	Daniel Withrow	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0

No.	Pos.	Name	MLS		MLS Cup Playoffs		U.S. Open Cup		Total
1	GK	Steve Clark	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
2	DF	Tyson Wahl	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
3	DF	Josh Williams	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
4	DF	Michael Parkhurst	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1
5	DF	Emanuel Pogatetz	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	MF	Tony Tchani	7	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
7	MF	Bernardo Añor	5	0	1	0	0	0	6	0
9	FW	Justin Meram	2	0	2	1	0	0	4	1
10	FW	Federico Higuaín	8	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
11	MF	Daniel Paladini	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1
12	MF	Hector Jiménez	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
13	MF	Ethan Finlay	2	0	0	1	0	0	2	1
14	DF	Waylon Francis	4	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
16	DF	Eric Gehrig	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
17	FW	Ben Speas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	FW	Aaron Schoenfeld	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
19	FW	Jairo Arrieta	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
20	MF	Wil Trapp	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
21	DF	Chad Barson	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
22	DF	Ben Sweat	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	MF	Kevan George	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	DF	Agustín Viana	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
25	MF	Romain Gall	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	Ross Friedman	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	GK	Matt Lampson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	FW	Adam Bedell	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
30	MF	Fifi Baiden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	DF	Matt Wiet	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	MF	Matt Walker	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
41	GK	Brad Stuver	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who left Columbus during the season:
5	DF	Giancarlo González	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
8	FW	Dominic Oduro	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
25	MF	Álvaro Rey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	FW	Ryan Finley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
40	GK	Daniel Withrow	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

No.	Name	MLS	MLS Cup Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup	Total	Games Played
		1	Steve Clark	8	0	0	8	38
28	Matt Lampson	0	0	0	0	0
41	Brad Stuver	0	0	0	0	0
Players who left Columbus during the season:
40	Daniel Withrow	0	0	0	0	0

Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Fee/notes	Date	Source
DF	Ross Friedman	Harvard Crimson	Signed to a homegrown contract	January 8, 2014	[4]
MF	Matt Walker	Xavier Musketeers	Signed to a homegrown contract	January 8, 2014	[4]
DF	Michael Parkhurst	FC Augsburg	Rights traded from New England Revolution for a first round draft pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft	January 13, 2014	[5]
MF	Hector Jiménez	LA Galaxy	Traded with a first round draft pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft for a second round draft pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft and allocation money	January 14, 2014	[6]
DF	Ben Sweat	South Florida Bulls	Drafted in round 1 of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft	February 14, 2014	[7]
MF	Fifi Baiden	UC Santa Barbara Gauchos	Drafted in round 3 of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft	February 14, 2014	[7]
DF	Giancarlo González	Vålerenga Fotball	Signed via discovery	February 21, 2014	[8]
FW	Adam Bedell	Detroit Mercy Titans	Drafted in round 3 of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft	March 5, 2014	[9]
MF	Álvaro Rey	Toronto FC	Traded for Dominic Oduro	June 6, 2014	[10]
MF	Romain Gall	FC Lorient II	Acquired via weighted lottery	August 7, 2014	[11]
DF	Emanuel Pogatetz	FC Augsburg	Signed via discovery	September 9, 2014	[12]
FW	Kei Kamara	Middlesbrough F.C.	Signed via allocation ranking	October 7, 2014	[13]
MF	Ben Swanson	Columbus Crew Academy	Signed to a homegrown contract	October 16, 2014	[14]
FW	Mohammed Saeid	Örebro SK	Free transfer	October 29, 2014	[15]
MF	Bernardo Añor	Columbus Crew	Signed to a new contract	December 2, 2014	[16]
FW	Justin Meram	Columbus Crew	Signed to a new contract	December 2, 2014	[16]
MF	Kristinn Steindorsson	Halmstads BK	Free transfer	December 11, 2014	[17]

Pos.	Player	Parent club	Length/Notes	Beginning	End	Source
GK	Daniel Withrow	MLS Pool	Short term agreement	June 17, 2014	June 26, 2014	[18]

Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee/notes	Date	Source
MF	Shawn Sloan	Oakland County FC	Released	February 14, 2014	[7]
GK	Daniel Withrow	MLS Pool	Released	March 1, 2014	[19]
FW	Ryan Finley	Chivas USA	Traded for a second round draft pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft	May 8, 2014	[20]
FW	Dominic Oduro	Toronto FC	Traded for Álvaro Rey	June 6, 2014	[10]
MF	Álvaro Rey	AD Alcorcón	Mutually agreed to terminate contract	July 15, 2014	[21]
DF	Giancarlo González	Palermo FC	Transfer, terms undisclosed	August 26, 2014	[22]
DF	Matt Wiet	Retired	Option declined	November 18, 2014	[23]
DF	Ross Friedman	Retired	Option declined	November 18, 2014	[23]
MF	Fifi Baiden	Retired	Option declined	November 18, 2014	[23]
MF	Daniel Paladini	Retired	Option declined	November 18, 2014	[23]
MF	Agustín Viana	Danubio F.C.	Option declined	November 18, 2014	[23]
MF	Matt Walker	AFC Cleveland	Option declined	November 18, 2014	[23]
FW	Jairo Arrieta	Orlando City SC	Option declined; Selected in the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft	November 18, 2014	[23]
DF	Eric Gehrig	Orlando City SC	Contract expired; Selected in the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft	November 18, 2014	[23]
MF	Bernardo Añor	Columbus Crew	Contract expired	November 18, 2014	[23]
FW	Justin Meram	Columbus Crew	Contract expired	November 18, 2014	[23]
DF	Josh Williams	New York City FC	Traded for allocation money	December 8, 2014	[24]
MF	Bernardo Añor	Sporting Kansas City	Traded for allocation money	December 8, 2014	[25]

Pos.	Player	Loanee club	Length/Notes	Beginning	End	Source
FW	Ryan Finley	Dayton Dutch Lions	Columbus retains right to recall at any time	March 12, 2014	May 8, 2014	[26]
DF	Ross Friedman	Dayton Dutch Lions	Columbus retains right to recall at any time	March 12, 2014	End of Season	[26]
MF	Kevan George	Dayton Dutch Lions	Columbus retains right to recall at any time	March 12, 2014	End of Season	[26]
GK	Brad Stuver	Dayton Dutch Lions	Columbus retains right to recall at any time	March 12, 2014	End of Season	[26]
MF	Matt Walker	Dayton Dutch Lions	Columbus retains right to recall at any time	March 12, 2014	End of Season	[26]

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. The picks for the Columbus Crew are listed below:

2014 Columbus Crew SuperDraft Picks[27]
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1	14	Ben Sweat	DF	South Florida
3	42	Fifi Baiden	MF	UC Santa Barbara
3	45	Adam Bedell	FW	Detroit Mercy

MLS Team of the Week

Week	Starters	Bench	Opponent(s)	Link
1	Michael Parkhurst Federico Higuaín Gregg Berhalter (Coach)	Josh Williams Wil Trapp	D.C. United	[28]
3	Bernardo Añor	Giancarlo González	Philadelphia Union	[29]
4	Federico Higuaín	Steve Clark	Seattle Sounders FC	[30]
6	Federico Higuaín		San Jose Earthquakes	[31]
7		Wil Trapp	D.C. United	[32]
8	Steve Clark		New York Red Bulls	[33]
11	Federico Higuaín		Portland Timbers	[34]
12	Federico Higuaín		Chicago Fire	[35]
14	Michael Parkhurst	Steve Clark Ethan Finlay	Real Salt Lake D.C. United	[36]
17	Ethan Finlay		Colorado Rapids	[37]
19	Bernardo Añor		Montreal Impact	[38]
20	Giancarlo González	Steve Clark	New England Revolution	[39]
23	Steve Clark Giancarlo González Tony Tchani	Justin Meram	LA Galaxy	[40]
24	Justin Meram	Steve Clark	Houston Dynamo	[41]
26	Justin Meram		Chivas USA	[42]
28	Steve Clark Eric Gehrig Tony Tchani		New England Revolution	[43]
29	Ethan Finlay		Montreal Impact	[44]
31	Tony Tchani	Hector Jiménez	Philadelphia Union	[45]
32	Ethan Finlay Wil Trapp Gregg Berhalter (Coach)	Tony Tchani Aaron Schoenfeld	New York Red Bulls	[46]
33	Waylon Francis	Tony Tchani	Philadelphia Union	[47]

Home

Away

Away Alternate

Type	Shirt	Shorts	Socks	First appearance / Info
Home	Yellow	Yellow	Yellow
Away	White / Black-Yellow	White	Black
Away Alt.	White / Black-Yellow	White	White	MLS, March 8 against D.C. United