2017 Columbus Crew SC season explained

Club:	Columbus Crew SC
Season:	2017
League:	Major League Soccer
League Result:	Eastern Conference 5th Overall: 5th
Chrtitle:	Owner
Chairman:	Precourt Sports Ventures LLC
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Manager:	Gregg Berhalter
Cup1:	MLS Cup
Cup1 Result:	Conference finals
Cup2 Result:	Fourth round (knocked out by FC Cincinnati)
Cup3:	Trillium Cup
Cup3 Result:	Runners-Up (3–8)
Cup4:	Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup
Cup4 Result:	Champions (2–1)
Cup5:	Carolina Challenge Cup
Cup5 Result:	Champions
League Topscorer:	Ola Kamara (18)
Season Topscorer:	Ola Kamara (19)
Highest Attendance:	21,289 (EC Finals, November 21 vs. Toronto)
Lowest Attendance:	10,318 (May 10 vs. Toronto)
Average Attendance:	15,439
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Socks1:	FFF200
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Prevseason:	2016
Nextseason:	2018

The 2017 Columbus Crew SC season was the club's twenty-second season of existence, and their twenty-second consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. Columbus also competed in the U.S. Open Cup, and took part in the Carolina Challenge Cup during preseason. The season covered the period from October 24, 2016 to the start of the 2018 Major League Soccer season.

Crew SC won the Carolina Challenge Cup by going 2–1–0, defeating Seattle Sounders FC in the final game to clinch the title. On August 26, the club won the Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup with a 2–1 victory over FC Dallas, their second straight year claiming the series and third time in five seasons.

Columbus finished fifth in the Eastern Conference, qualifying for the playoffs for the 14th time in club history. Crew SC eliminated Atlanta United FC and New York City FC, but fell 1–0 on aggregate to Toronto FC in the conference finals.

Non-competitive

Midseason

Competitive

MLS

See main article: 2017 Major League Soccer season.

Standings

Overall table

Match results

Postseason

See main article: 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs.

U.S. Open Cup

See main article: 2017 U.S. Open Cup.

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos.	Name	MLS	MLS Cup	U.S. Open Cup	Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2	DF	Jukka Raitala	28	0	2	0	0	0	30	0
3	DF	Josh Williams	22	3	5	0	1	0	28	3
4	DF	Jonathan Mensah	26	2	5	0	0	0	31	2
7	MF	Artur	24	0	3	1	1	0	28	1
8	MF	Mohammed Abu	20	0	3	0	0	0	23	0
9	MF	Justin Meram	34	13	5	1	1	0	40	14
10	MF	Federico Higuaín	26	9	5	0	1	0	32	9
11	FW	Ola Kamara	34	18	5	1	0	0	39	19
12	FW	Adam Jahn	21	1	3	0	1	0	25	1
14	DF	Waylon Francis	12	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
16	MF	Hector Jiménez	19	0	4	0	1	0	24	0
17	DF	Lalas Abubakar	7	1	3	0	0	0	10	1
18	MF	Cristian Martínez	8	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
19	FW	Kekuta Manneh	19	4	5	0	0	0	24	4
20	MF	Wil Trapp	34	0	5	0	1	0	40	0
21	DF	Alex Crognale	17	0	0	0	1	0	18	0
22	DF	Gastón Sauro	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	GK	Zack Steffen	34	0	5	0	0	0	39	0
25	DF	Harrison Afful	24	0	5	1	0	0	29	1
26	MF	Ben Swanson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	Abuchi Obinwa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF	Niko Hansen	14	1	1	0	1	0	16	1
29	MF	Marshall Hollingsworth	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	GK	Logan Ketterer	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	DF	Connor Maloney	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
32	MF	Pedro Santos	9	0	5	0	0	0	14	0
41	GK	Brad Stuver	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
—	MF	Rodrigo Saravia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who left the club during the season:
5	MF	Dilly Duka	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
6	MF	Tony Tchani	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	MF	Ethan Finlay	19	1	0	0	1	0	20	1
24	DF	Nicolai Næss	18	0	0	0	1	0	19	0

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos.	Name	MLS	MLS Cup	U.S. Open Cup	Total
2	DF	Jukka Raitala	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
3	DF	Josh Williams	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
4	DF	Jonathan Mensah	7	2	2	0	0	0	9	2
7	MF	Artur	1	0	2	0	0	0	3	0
8	MF	Mohammed Abu	3	0	1	0	0	0	4	0
9	MF	Justin Meram	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
10	MF	Federico Higuaín	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
12	FW	Adam Jahn	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
14	DF	Waylon Francis	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
16	MF	Hector Jiménez	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
17	DF	Lalas Abubakar	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	1
18	MF	Cristian Martínez	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
20	MF	Wil Trapp	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
21	DF	Alex Crognale	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
23	GK	Zack Steffen	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
25	DF	Harrison Afful	3	1	0	0	0	0	3	1
32	MF	Pedro Santos	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
Players who left the club during the season:
13	MF	Ethan Finlay	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
24	DF	Nicolai Næss	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

Clean sheets

No.	Name	MLS	MLS Cup	U.S. Open Cup	Total	Games Played
		23	Zack Steffen	9	2	0	11	39
30	Logan Ketterer	0	0	0	0	0
41	Brad Stuver	0	0	0	0	1

Transfers

See also: List of Major League Soccer transfers 2017.

In

Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Fee/notes	Date	Source
DF	Alex Crognale	Maryland Terrapins	Signed as a Homegrown Player.	Dec 20, 2016	^[1]
DF	Jukka Raitala	Sogndal	Free transfer.	Dec 23, 2016	^[2]
DF	Jonathan Mensah	Anzhi Makhachkala	Signed as a Designated Player.	Jan 3, 2017	^[3]
DF	Josh Williams	Toronto FC	Selected in Stage Two of the 2016 MLS Re-Entry Draft.	Jan 5, 2017	^[4]
DF	Lalas Abubakar	Dayton Flyers	Selected in the first round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft.	Jan 13, 2017	^[5]
MF	Niko Hansen	New Mexico Lobos	Selected in the first round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft.	Jan 13, 2017
MF	Mohammed Abu	Strømsgodset	Signed as a Special Discovery Player.	Jan 24, 2017	^[6]
MF	Abuchi Obinwa	Hannover 96	Free transfer.	Jan 25, 2017	^[7]
MF	Cristian Martínez	Chorrillo	Completed permanent transfer.	Jan 25, 2017
GK	Logan Ketterer	Bradley Braves	Selected in the fourth round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft.	Feb 20, 2017	^[8] ^[9]
DF	Connor Maloney	Penn State Nittany Lions	Selected in the third round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft.	Feb 20, 2017	^[10]
FW	Kekuta Manneh	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Vancouver receives MF Tony Tchani, $300,000 in allocation monies, future considerations.	Mar 30, 2017	^[11]
MF	Pedro Santos	Braga	Signed as a Designated Player.	Aug 8, 2017	^[12]

Out

Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee/notes	Date	Source
DF	Tyson Wahl		Retired.	Oct 24, 2016	^[15]
FW	Conor Casey		Retired.	Oct 27, 2016	^[16]
GK	Steve Clark	AC Horsens	Option declined. Signed by Horsens on Jan 17, 2017.	Nov 23, 2016	^[17] ^[18]
GK	Matt Pacifici		Option declined. Retired.	Nov 23, 2016	^[19]
DF	Corey Ashe		Option declined. Retired.	Nov 23, 2016	^[20]
DF	Chad Barson	FC Linköping City	Out of contract. Signed by Linköping City on Apr 7, 2017.	Nov 23, 2016	^[21]
MF	Cedrick Mabwati	UCAM Murcia	Option declined. Signed by UCAM on Dec 27, 2016.	Nov 23, 2016	^[22]
DF	Michael Parkhurst	Atlanta United FC	Columbus receives General Allocation Money.	Dec 11, 2016	^[23]
MF	Mohammed Saeid	Minnesota United FC	Selected by Minnesota in the 2016 MLS Expansion Draft.	Dec 13, 2016	^[24]
MF	Tony Tchani	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Columbus receives FW Kekuta Manneh.	Mar 30, 2017
MF	Dilly Duka	New York Red Bulls	Waived. Signed by NYRB on Aug 10, 2017.	Jul 10, 2017	^[25] ^[26]
MF	Ethan Finlay	Minnesota United FC	Columbus receives $425,000 in allocation monies.	Aug 9, 2017	^[27]
DF	Nicolai Næss	Heerenveen	Undisclosed fee.	Aug 29, 2017	^[28]

Loan out

Pos.	Player	Loanee club	Length/Notes	Beginning	End	Source
MF	Marshall Hollingsworth	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	On a match-by-match basis.	Mar 4, 2017	Oct 15, 2017	^[29] ^[30]
MF	Cristian Martínez	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	On a match-by-match basis.	Mar 4, 2017	Mar 24, 2017	^[31]
MF	Rodrigo Saravia	IK Frej	Duration of the 2017 Superettan.	Mar 4, 2017	Nov 12, 2017	^[32]
MF	Ben Swanson	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	On a match-by-match basis.	Mar 4, 2017	Apr 20, 2017	^[33]
MF	Abuchi Obinwa	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	On a match-by-match basis.	Mar 24, 2017	Oct 15, 2017	^[34]
DF	Lalas Abubakar	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	On a match-by-match basis.	Apr 6, 2017	Jul 4, 2017	^[35] ^[36]
MF	Cristian Martínez	FC Cincinnati	Short-term.	May 4, 2017	May 8, 2017	^[37] ^[38]
DF	Connor Maloney	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	On a match-by-match basis.	May 19, 2017	Jul 4, 2017	^[39]

Awards

Postseason

Crew SC Team Awards^[40]

• Most Valuable Player – Federico Higuaín
• Golden Boot Winner – Ola Kamara
• Defender of the Year – Zack Steffen
• Humanitarian of the Year – Jonathan Mensah
• Kirk Urso Heart Award – Josh Williams
• Crew SC Academy Player of the Year – Jensen Lukacsko

Kits

Type	Shirt	Shorts	Socks	First appearance / Record
Home	Gold	Gold	Gold	Match 1 vs. Chicago Fire / 9-5-7
Away	Black	Black	Black	Match 2 vs. Houston Dynamo / 7-1-5

See also

• Columbus Crew SC
• 2017 in American soccer
• 2017 Major League Soccer season

Notes and References

1. Web site: NEWS: Crew SC signs Alex Crognale as Homegrown Player. ColumbusCrewSC.com.
2. Web site: NEWS: Crew SC adds experienced European defender Jukka Raitala. ColumbusCrewSC.com.
3. Web site: Crew SC acquires Designated Player Jonathan Mensah. ColumbusCrewSC.com.
4. Web site: Crew SC signs defender Josh Williams. ColumbusCrewSC.com.
5. Web site: Crew SC drafts Abubakar, Hansen with Nos. 5 & 9 picks overall. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 18 January 2017.
6. Web site: Crew SC adds defensive midfielder Abu from Norway's topflight. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 25 January 2017.
7. Web site: NEWS: Crew SC signs U.S. Youth international Obinwa, completes permanent transfer for Martinez. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 25 January 2017.
8. Web site: Crew SC selects Maloney & Ketterer 2017 MLS SuperDraft on Tuesday. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 18 January 2017.
9. Web site: Crew SC signs 2017 SuperDraft pick Ketterer. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 21 February 2017.
10. Web site: Crew SC signs 2017 SuperDraft pick Maloney. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 21 February 2017.
11. Web site: Crew SC acquires dynamic foward [sic] Kekuta Manneh in trade with Vancouver. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 2 April 2017.
12. Web site: Crew SC adds 3rd DP in Portuguese midfielder Pedro Santos. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 8 August 2017.
13. Web site: Crew SC acquires Brazilian midfielder Artur on loan. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 13 February 2017.
14. Web site: Report: Artur to return to Brazil after Sao Paulo reject Crew SC offer. MLSSoccer.com. 2 December 2017.
15. Web site: Crew SC defender Tyson Wahl to retire after 2016 MLS season. ColumbusCrewSC.com.
16. Web site: Crew SC forward Conor Casey retires after 10-year career. ColumbusCrewSC.com.
17. Web site: Crew SC exercises 5 options, brings current roster to 20. ColumbusCrewSC.com.
18. Web site: AC Horsens forstærker truppen med Steve Clark. ACHorsens.dk. da. AC Horsens reinforces the squad with Steve Clark. 2017-01-30. 2017-01-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20170118051823/http://www.achorsens.dk/ac-horsens-forstaerker-truppen-med-steve-clark. dead.
19. Web site: Zeigler. Cyd. Former MLS player Matt Pacifici comes out as gay by introducing his boyfriend to the world. OutSports.com. SB Nation. January 24, 2019. January 20, 2019.
20. Web site: Houston Dynamo to honor Corey Ashe at March 11 game vs. Columbus Crew SC. HoustonDynamo.com. 20 March 2017.
21. Web site: Trio Klar for City!. Svenskalag.se. 13 April 2017. sv. Trio ready for City!.
22. Web site: Cedrick se incorpora al UCAM Murcia. UCAMDeportes.com. es. Cedrick joins UCAM Murcia.
23. Web site: NEWS: Crew SC receives GAM from Atlanta in trade for Parkhurst. ColumbusCrewSC.com.
24. Web site: Saeid selected by Minnesota United in MLS Expansion Draft 2016. ColumbusCrewSC.com.
25. Web site: Crew SC waives Dilly Duka. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 10 July 2017.
26. Web site: New York Red Bulls Sign Midfielder Dilly Duka. NewYorkRedBulls.com. 23 August 2017.
27. Web site: TRADE - Crew SC acquires TAM & GAM in trade with Minnesota United FC. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 9 August 2017. 10 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170810051940/https://www.columbuscrewsc.com/post/2017/08/09/trade-crew-sc-acquires-tam-gam-trade-minnesota-united-fc?autoplay=true. dead.
28. Web site: Crew SC transfers Nico Naess to SC Heerenveen in the Netherlands' Eredivisie. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 30 August 2017.
29. Web site: Crew SC completes 5 roster transactions ahead of regular season opener. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 4 March 2017.
30. Web site: HOUNDS TIE OTTAWA IN SEASON FINALE, 1-1. Riverhounds.com. 16 October 2017.
31. Web site: HOUNDS FINALIZE ROSTER AHEAD OF SEASON OPENER. Riverhounds.com. 27 July 2017.
32. Web site: Dramatik utan dess like. Laget.se/IKFrejTaby. 15 November 2017. sv. Drama without it alike.
33. Web site: Crew SC places Swanson on Season-Ending Injury List. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 27 July 2017.
34. Web site: Riverhounds seek strong start despite challenging opening matchup. TribLive.com. 25 March 2017.
35. Web site: RIVERHOUNDS ADD ABUBAKAR ON LOAN FROM CREW SC. Riverhounds.com. 27 July 2017.
36. Web site: Minnesota United 0-1 Columbus Crew SC. MLSSoccer.com. 27 July 2017.
37. Web site: FCC Signs Crew's Cristian Martinez. FCCincinnati.com. 10 May 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170512062639/http://www.fccincinnati.com/news_article/show/789083. 12 May 2017. dead.
38. Web site: Update on FC Cincinnati's roster. Cincinnati.com. 10 May 2017.
39. Web site: RIVERHOUNDS RECEIVE MALONEY ON LOAN FROM CREW SC. Riverhounds.com. 27 July 2017.
40. Web site: 2017 Team Awards. ColumbusCrewSC.com. 9 December 2017. 8 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171208163511/https://www.columbuscrewsc.com/2017teamawards. dead.