2018 Columbus Crew SC season

The 2018 Columbus Crew SC season was the club's twenty-third season of existence, and their twenty-third 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 Pacific Rim Cup and Carolina Challenge Cup during preseason. The season covered the period from November 30, 2017 to the start of the 2019 Major League Soccer season.

Columbus Crew SC

2018 season
Owner	Precourt Sports Ventures LLC
Head coach	Gregg Berhalter
Major League Soccer	Conference: 5th Overall: 10th
MLS Cup Playoffs	Conference Semifinals (knocked out by New York Red Bulls)
U.S. Open Cup	Fourth Round (knocked out by Chicago Fire)
Trillium Cup	Champions (5–3)
Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup	Champions (0–0)[nb 1]
Pacific Rim Cup	Third Place
Carolina Challenge Cup	Champions
Top goalscorer	League: Gyasi Zardes (19) All: Gyasi Zardes (20)
Highest home attendance	19,121 (September 22 vs. Colorado)
Lowest home attendance	4,992 (June 6 vs. Chicago, USOC)
Average home league attendance	12,447
Home colors Away colors

Columbus finished in third place in the inaugural Pacific Rim Cup during preseason. Facing a pair of Japanese opponents, Crew SC were defeated by Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo in the semifinals, but bounced back with a victory over Iwaki FC in the consolation game. Columbus then took part in the Carolina Challenge Cup, winning that title for the second consecutive season. Crew SC won all three matches in the tournament, claiming the CCC championship for the third time in club history.

Columbus additionally won each of their midseason rivalry matches, defeating Toronto FC across two games for the Trillium Cup and dispatching FC Dallas on tiebreakers to defend the Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup. Against Toronto, Columbus was trailing in the aggregate series by a 3–2 line inside of the final 30 minutes of the season series; the Crew put in three late goals to tie the match and win the cup. The match against Dallas ended in a scoreless draw, with Columbus retaining the cup based on the head to head goals tiebreaker. Crew SC won the Pioneer Cup for the seventh time that it had been contested.

Columbus qualified for the playoffs for the second consecutive season, again finishing in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Just as in 2017, Crew SC was victorious in a penalty shootout on the road in the knockout round, this time advancing past D.C. United with goalkeeper Zack Steffen making two saves. However, Columbus was eliminated in the conference semifinals by New York Red Bulls after suffering a 3–0 defeat in the second leg. In the U.S. Open Cup, Crew SC were eliminated in the fourth round by Chicago Fire, with the tie coming down to a penalty shootout. Crew SC goalkeeper Logan Ketterer had his shot saved in the eleventh round of kicks.

Background

The original logo of the Save the Crew movement

Overshadowing the season for Columbus was a threat by owner Anthony Precourt to move the team to Austin, Texas; Precourt had announced the proposed move in October 2017, five days before the team's final regular season game.[1] The #SavetheCrew movement had been created in the aftermath of this proposed move.

Two days after the 2018 regular season began, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the City of Columbus filed a lawsuit against Precourt, citing a 1996 state law that prevents sports teams that benefited from public facilities or financial assistance from relocating to another city without a six-month notice and attempting to sell the team to a local ownership group.[2] The lawsuit worked its way through the courts throughout the 2018 season.

On October 12, 2018, with two games remaining in the regular season, the owner of the Cleveland Browns (Jimmy Haslam) released a statement stating he, along with other local groups, was in the process of buying the Crew.[3] MLS later released a statement stating their willingness to keep the Crew in Columbus, and that Precourt would get the rights to start a team in Austin if the deal went through.[4]

Roster

As of match played November 11, 2018[5]

No.	Name	Nationality	Position(s)	Date of birth (age)	Signed in	Previous club	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
12	Ben Lundgaard		GK	September 2, 1995 (aged 23)	2018	Virginia Tech Hokies	0	0
23	Zack Steffen		GK	April 2, 1995 (aged 23)	2016	SC Freiburg	71	0
24	Jon Kempin		GK	April 8, 1993 (aged 25)	2018	LA Galaxy	5	0
30	Logan Ketterer		GK	November 9, 1993 (aged 25)	2017	Bradley Braves	1	0
Defenders
3	Josh Williams		CB	April 18, 1988 (aged 30)	2017	Toronto FC	126	7
4	Jonathan Mensah		CB	July 13, 1990 (aged 28)	2017	Anzhi Makhachkala	61	3
17	Lalas Abubakar		CB	December 25, 1994 (aged 23)	2017	Dayton Flyers	35	2
19	Milton Valenzuela		LB, RB	August 13, 1998 (aged 20)	2018	Newell's Old Boys (loan)	34	1
21	Alex Crognale		CB	August 27, 1994 (aged 24)	2017	Maryland Terrapins	24	1
22	Gastón Sauro		CB	February 23, 1990 (aged 28)	2015	Basel	31	0
25	Harrison Afful		RB, DM	July 24, 1986 (aged 32)	2015	ES Tunis	108	6
31	Connor Maloney		RB	May 18, 1995 (aged 23)	2017	Penn State Nittany Lions	4	0
Midfielders
2	Ricardo Clark		DM	February 10, 1983 (aged 35)	2018	Houston Dynamo	13	1
6	Wil Trapp		DM	January 15, 1993 (aged 25)	2013	Akron Zips	177	2
7	Pedro Santos		RM, LM	April 22, 1988 (aged 30)	2017	Braga	47	1
8	Artur		DM	March 11, 1996 (aged 22)	2018	São Paulo	63	1
9	Justin Meram		LM, RM	December 4, 1988 (aged 29)	2018	Orlando City	225	43
10	Federico Higuaín		AM	October 25, 1984 (aged 34)	2012	Colón	196	58
13	Mike Grella		LM, RM	January 23, 1987 (aged 31)	2018	New York Red Bulls	12	1
16	Hector Jiménez		AM, LM, LB, RB	November 3, 1988 (aged 30)	2014	LA Galaxy	116	1
18	Cristian Martínez		LM, RM	February 6, 1997 (aged 21)	2017	Chorrillo	31	3
20	Eduardo Sosa		AM	June 20, 1996 (aged 22)	2018	Zamora	11	1
26	Luis Argudo		LM, RM, AM, DM	December 13, 1995 (aged 22)	2018	Wake Forest Demon Deacons	21	0
28	Niko Hansen		LM, RM	September 14, 1994 (aged 24)	2017	New Mexico Lobos	40	4
Forwards
11	Gyasi Zardes		ST	September 2, 1991 (aged 27)	2018	LA Galaxy	36	20
14	Adam Jahn		ST	January 5, 1991 (aged 27)	2016	San Jose Earthquakes	46	7
27	Edward Opoku		FW, RM, LM	August 1, 1996 (aged 22)	2018	Virginia Cavaliers	6	0
32	Patrick Mullins		ST	February 5, 1992 (aged 26)	2018	D.C. United	13	1

Non-competitive

Preseason

On October 5, 2017, Crew SC were announced as a participant in the 2018 Carolina Challenge Cup, the fifth time that the club was to participate in the tournament. Columbus entered the event as defending champions.[6] On November 13, 2017, the club announced that they would also take part in the inaugural Pacific Rim Cup during preseason. Crew SC were joined by Vancouver Whitecaps FC from MLS, as well as Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo and Iwaki FC from Japan.[7] Columbus was drawn against Consadole Sapporo, with the winner advancing to the championship match and the loser going to the third place match.

January 31 Friendly	Columbus Crew SC	2–1	Colorado Rapids	Casa Grande, AZ
	Zardes  2' Argudo  58'	Report	Ford  20',  35' Serna  82'	Stadium: Grande Sports Academy

February 4 Friendly	Columbus Crew SC	2–1	Seattle Sounders FC	Tucson, AZ
	Biros  5' Jahn  78'	Report	Rodríguez  28' Saari  81'	Stadium: Mulcahy Soccer Stadium

February 9 Pacific Rim Cup	Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo	3–2	Columbus Crew SC	Halawa, HI
1:00 AM EST	Reis  25' Hayasaka  45' Miyoshi  48'	Report	Zardes  13', 39' (pen.)	Stadium: Aloha Stadium Referee: Robert Sibiga

February 10 Pacific Rim Cup	Iwaki FC	3–5	Columbus Crew SC	Halawa, HI
9:00 PM EST	Hisanaga  34' Hiraoka  66' Yoshida  77'	Report	Zardes  33' Higuaín  48' (pen.) Abubakar  52' Crognale  71' Opoku  73' Argudo  90'	Stadium: Aloha Stadium Referee: Allen Chapman

February 17 Carolina Challenge Cup	Atlanta United	1–3	Columbus Crew SC	Charleston, SC
5:00 PM EST	González Pírez  54' J. Martínez  90'	Report	Pedro Santos  13' Abubakar  31' Martínez  33' J. Martínez  71' (o.g.)	Stadium: MUSC Health Stadium

February 21 Carolina Challenge Cup	Charleston Battery	1–2	Columbus Crew SC	Charleston, SC
5:00 PM EST	Svantesson  32'	Report	Zardes  56', 82'	Stadium: MUSC Health Stadium Referee: José Carlos Rivero

February 24 Carolina Challenge Cup	Columbus Crew SC	2–0	Minnesota United	Charleston, SC
5:00 PM EST	Higuaín  32' Zardes  37' Jonathan  59'	Report	Boxall  65'	Stadium: MUSC Health Stadium

Midseason

July 3 Friendly	Columbus Crew SC	2–0	Saprissa	Columbus, OH
7:00 PM EDT	Zardes  28' Williams  34'	Report		Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 7,023 Referee: Brandon Artis
Note: Match was played with 30-minute halves.[8]

Competitive

MLS

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
3	New York City FC	34	16	10	8	59	45	+14	56	Knockout round
4	D.C. United	34	14	11	9	60	50	+10	51
5	Columbus Crew	34	14	11	9	43	45	−2	51
6	Philadelphia Union	34	15	14	5	49	50	−1	50
7	Montreal Impact	34	14	16	4	47	53	−6	46

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) disciplinary points; 6) away goal differential; 7) away goals scored; 8) home goal differential; 9) home goals scored; 10) coin toss or drawing of lots.

Overall table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification[lower-alpha 1]
8	Portland Timbers	34	15	10	9	54	48	+6	54
9	D.C. United	34	14	11	9	60	50	+10	51
10	Columbus Crew	34	14	11	9	43	45	−2	51
11	Philadelphia Union	34	15	14	5	49	50	−1	50
12	Real Salt Lake	34	14	13	7	55	58	−3	49

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) disciplinary points; 6) away goals scored; 7) away goal differential; 8) coin toss or drawing of lots
Notes:

1. CONCACAF Champions League
   Selection procedure

   • Four US-based teams qualified for the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League. Due to a change in format to the tournament, two qualifiers came from each of the 2017 and 2018 MLS seasons.[9] This combined qualification method was used for the 2019 tournament only. For the 2018 season, the following teams qualified:
     1. The winner of MLS Cup 2018 (Atlanta United FC);
        
     2. The winner of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup (Houston Dynamo)
        
     Thus unlike previous seasons, the Supporters' Shield winner and the regular season conference champion that did not win the Supporters' Shield werw not guaranteed a berth. Each qualifier entered at the second phase of the tournament.
     One Canada-based team qualified for the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League, also entering at the second phase (NOTE: Canadian teams could not qualify through MLS):
     1. The winner of the 2018 Canadian Championship (Toronto FC)

Aggregate table

As Toronto FC won MLS Cup 2017, one of the U.S. berths for the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League had to be reallocated, to the U.S. non-champions with the best aggregate record over the 2017 and 2018 MLS regular seasons. As the top ranked team in the table, Atlanta United FC, also qualified for the Champions League by winning MLS Cup 2018, the Champions League spot via the aggregate table was instead awarded to the second-placed team, the New York Red Bulls.[10][11]

Note: Only U.S. teams are listed in this table.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
5	Sporting Kansas City	68	30	17	21	105	69	+36	111	2019 CONCACAF Champions League[lower-alpha 1]
6	Portland Timbers	68	30	21	17	114	98	+16	107
7	Columbus Crew	68	30	23	15	96	94	+2	105
8	FC Dallas	68	27	19	22	100	92	+8	103
9	Real Salt Lake	68	27	28	13	104	113	−9	94

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) disciplinary points; 6) away goals scored; 7) away goal differential; 8) coin toss or drawing of lots
Notes:

1. As 2017 U.S. Open Cup champions (USA2)

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
34	51	14	11	9	43	45	−2	11	2	4	32	21	+11	3	9	5	11	24	−13

Source: MLS standings
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Ground	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H
Result	W	W	D	W	L	L	L	D	W	D	W	W	W	D	D	D	L	L	W	L	L	W	W	W	L	D	W	D	L	W	D	L	L	W

Source: Columbus schedule
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Match results

On December 19, 2017, the league announced the home openers for every club.[12] Just like in 2016, Columbus opened the season on the road against the defending MLS Cup champions, playing at Toronto FC in the first match of the MLS season. Columbus then opened the season at home on March 10, facing Montreal Impact.

The schedule for the remainder of the 2018 season was released on January 4, 2018.[13] Crew SC played three times against Chicago Fire and Philadelphia Union, twice against every other Eastern Conference club, and once against every Western Conference club.

March 3 1	Toronto FC	0–2	Columbus Crew SC	Toronto, ON
1:00 PM EST		Report	Martínez  24' Higuaín  44' Zardes  46'	Stadium: BMO Field Attendance: 26,633 Referee: Ismail Elfath

March 10 2	Columbus Crew SC	3–2	Montreal Impact	Columbus, OH
1:00 PM EST	Higuaín  12' (pen.) Zardes  15', 90+4' (pen.) Steffen  51'	Report	Krolicki  32' Piatti  59' Edwards  85'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 11,098 Referee: Chris Penso

March 17 3	Philadelphia Union	0–0	Columbus Crew SC	Chester, PA
2:00 PM EDT	Bedoya  76' Rosenberry  89'	Report	Artur  53' Higuaín  78'	Stadium: Talen Energy Stadium Attendance: 15,323 Referee: Nima Saghafi

March 24 4	Columbus Crew SC	3–1	D.C. United	Columbus, OH
6:00 PM EDT	Abubakar  3' Valenzuela  20',  52' Clark  40' Pedro Santos  42'	Report	Asad  30'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 8,443 Referee: Drew Fischer

March 31 5	Columbus Crew SC	1–2	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Columbus, OH
3:00 PM EDT	Zardes  29' Valenzuela  76'	Report	de Jong  10' Shea  51' Kamara  78' Felipe  82'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 8,992 Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero

April 7 6	Chicago Fire	1–0	Columbus Crew SC	Bridgeview, IL
8:30 PM EDT	Kappelhof  6' Nikolić  27',  90+4' Sánchez  90'	Report	Artur  47'	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 11,023 Referee: Jair Marrufo

April 14 7	D.C. United	1–0	Columbus Crew SC	Annapolis, MD
7:00 PM EDT	Segura  1' Arriola  51' Clark  84'	Report	Higuaín  23' Jonathan  84'	Stadium: Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Attendance: 12,396 Referee: Ismail Elfath

April 21 8	Columbus Crew SC	2–2	New England Revolution	Columbus, OH
7:30 PM EDT	Farrell  9' (o.g.) Zardes  43' Higuaín  66'	Report	Dielna  11' Bunbury  14' Zahibo  36' Penilla  45+1' Fagúndez  60' Somi  67' Turner  88'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 11,264 Referee: Chris Penso

April 28 9	Columbus Crew SC	2–1	San Jose Earthquakes	Columbus, OH
7:30 PM EDT	Harrison  28' Hansen  36' Valenzuela  67' Grella  84'	Report	Godoy  3' Hoesen  45',  72' Jungwirth  66'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 11,479 Referee: Fotis Bazakos

May 5 10	Seattle Sounders FC	0–0	Columbus Crew SC	Seattle, WA
4:00 PM EDT	Alonso  30'	Report	Pedro Santos  15' Trapp  54'	Stadium: CenturyLink Field Attendance: 39,515 Referee: Hilario Grajeda

May 9 11	Columbus Crew SC	1–0	Philadelphia Union	Columbus, OH
7:30 PM EDT	Jonathan  27' Zardes  53'	Report	Elliott  77'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 7,683 Referee: Ramy Touchan

May 12 12	Columbus Crew SC	3–0	Chicago Fire	Columbus, OH
7:30 PM EDT	Higuaín  28' (pen.) Zardes  50', 70',  57'	Report	Ellis  27'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 11,108 Referee: Allen Chapman

May 19 13	New England Revolution	0–1	Columbus Crew SC	Foxborough, MA
7:30 PM EDT	Caicedo  13' Delamea  31' Dielna  67' Anibaba  89'	Report	Valenzuela  44' Abubakar  85'	Stadium: Gillette Stadium Attendance: 14,087 Referee: Sorin Stoica

May 27 14	Sporting Kansas City	0–0	Columbus Crew SC	Kansas City, KS
6:00 PM EDT	Besler  90+4'	Report	Higuaín  45+6' Harrison  49'	Stadium: Children's Mercy Park Attendance: 20,697 Referee: Robert Sibiga

June 2 15	Columbus Crew SC	3–3	Toronto FC	Columbus, OH
7:30 PM EDT	Artur  2' Williams  56' Zardes  67' Crognale  81' Higuaín  90' (pen.)	Report	Osorio  8' Vázquez  17' (pen.) Hernandez  21' Ricketts  38',  90+3' Giovinco  57' Bono  86' Fraser  90+2'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 12,305 Referee: Nima Saghafi

June 9 16	Columbus Crew SC	1–1	New York Red Bulls	Columbus, OH
5:00 PM EDT	Zardes  26'	Report	Muyl  57'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 11,246 Referee: Alan Kelly

June 13 17	Columbus Crew SC	0–2	Atlanta United	Columbus, OH
7:30 PM EDT	Trapp  81'	Report	Parkhurst  8' Ambrose  27' Martínez  30' Escobar  72' Villalba  82'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 10,132 Referee: Ted Unkel

June 23 18	Los Angeles FC	2–0	Columbus Crew SC	Los Angeles, CA
10:30 PM EDT	Ciman  4' Diomande  8' Atuesta  24'	Report	Abubakar  34' Pedro Santos  61' Higuaín  69' Valenzuela  70'	Stadium: Banc of California Stadium Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Kevin Stott

June 30 19	Columbus Crew SC	2–1	Real Salt Lake	Columbus, OH
7:30 PM EDT	Zardes  6' (pen.) Sosa  23',  66'	Report	Sunny  45+2' Beckerman  56' Rusnák  74' Savarino  90+1'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 16,680 Referee: Drew Fischer

July 7 20	LA Galaxy	4–0	Columbus Crew SC	Carson, CA
10:30 PM EDT	Skjelvik  22' Kamara  42' Ibrahimović  56' (pen.) Pontius  63' Alessandrini  67', 90+3'	Report	Williams  61'	Stadium: StubHub Center Attendance: 21,211 Referee: Hilario Grajeda

July 14 21	New York City FC	2–0	Columbus Crew SC	New York City, NY
7:00 PM EDT	Medina  80' Tinnerholm  90'	Report	Jonathan  20' Zardes  36' Grella  82' Sosa  90+3'	Stadium: Yankee Stadium Attendance: 21,085 Referee: Armando Villarreal

July 21 22	Columbus Crew SC	3–2	Orlando City	Columbus, OH
7:30 PM EDT	Jonathan  26' Zardes  51', 88' (pen.) Pedro Santos  84' Trapp  90+2' Williams  90+5'	Report	Kljestan  16',  43' Schuler  26' Pinho  58' El-Munir  87' Yotún  90+3'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 14,052 Referee: Silviu Petrescu

July 28 23	New York Red Bulls	2–3	Columbus Crew SC	Harrison, NJ
7:00 PM EDT	Collin  21' Jonathan  50' (o.g.) Royer  69'	Report	Jonathan  7' Mullins  24' Davis  31' (o.g.) Valenzuela  56' Steffen  77' Artur  90'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 16,459 Referee: Sorin Stoica

August 11 24	Columbus Crew SC	1–0	Houston Dynamo	Columbus, OH
7:30 PM EDT	Zardes  56',  90+1' Pedro Santos  90+7'	Report	Leonardo  80' Lundqvist  86'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 15,891 Referee: Mark Geiger

August 19 25	Atlanta United	3–1	Columbus Crew SC	Atlanta, GA
4:00 PM EDT	Martínez  31' McCann  45+1' Villalba  76',  86' Almirón  82',  83' Guzan  88'	Report	Zardes  50' Artur  90+4'	Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Stadium Attendance: 45,303 Referee: Jair Marrufo

August 23 26	Chicago Fire	1–1	Columbus Crew SC	Bridgeview, IL
7:00 PM EDT	de Leeuw  55' Nikolić  67' Katai  69' Schweinsteiger  90+1'	Report	Higuaín  65' Hansen  87'	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 8,551 Referee: Armando Villarreal

September 1 27	Columbus Crew SC	2–1	New York City FC	Columbus, OH
8:00 PM EDT	Harrison  61' Meram  63'	Report	Wallace  45' Tajouri-Shradi  53' Sweat  67' Ibeagha  75' Ring  90+3'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 11,991 Referee: Alan Kelly

September 15 28	FC Dallas	0–0	Columbus Crew SC	Frisco, TX
8:00 PM EDT		Report	Clark  53' Abubakar  67'	Stadium: Toyota Stadium Attendance: 16,030 Referee: Hilario Grajeda

September 19 29	Portland Timbers	3–2	Columbus Crew SC	Portland, OR
10:30 PM EDT	Polo  10',  37' Guzmán  18',  34' Abubakar  48' (o.g.)	Report	Hansen  7', 90+3' Sauro  45+1' Trapp  49' Maloney  85'	Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 21,144 Referee: Ted Unkel

September 22 30	Columbus Crew SC	2–1	Colorado Rapids	Columbus, OH
7:30 PM EDT	Zardes  17' Jonathan  44' Higuaín  57'	Report	Gashi  26' Wynne  51' Acosta  81' Smith  90+1'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 19,121 Referee: Allen Chapman

September 29 31	Columbus Crew SC	0–0	Philadelphia Union	Columbus, OH
7:30 PM EDT		Report	Fabinho  85' Bedoya  88'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 12,441 Referee: Drew Fischer

October 6 32	Montreal Impact	3–0	Columbus Crew SC	Montreal, QC
3:00 PM EDT	Taïder  32' (pen.) Silva  44' Piatti  59' Azira  62'	Report	Pedro Santos  45+2' Jonathan  90'	Stadium: Stade Saputo Attendance: 19,015 Referee: Alan Kelly

October 21 33	Orlando City	2–1	Columbus Crew SC	Orlando, FL
3:00 PM EDT	Dwyer  37' Yotún  57' (pen.) Kljestan  90+6' (pen.)	Report	Jonathan  33' Higuaín  54'	Stadium: Orlando City Stadium Attendance: 23,642 Referee: Kevin Stott

October 28 34	Columbus Crew SC	3–2	Minnesota United	Columbus, OH
4:30 PM EDT	Zardes  11', 49', 83'	Report	Calvo  68', 77'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 17,677 Referee: Robert Sibiga

Postseason

November 1 Knockout Round	D.C. United	2–2 (a.e.t.) (2–3 p)	Columbus Crew SC	Washington, D.C.
8:00 PM EDT	Brillant  21' DeLeon  116'	Report	Higuaín  30', 96',  45' Sosa  105+1'	Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 20,600 Referee: Allen Chapman
	Penalties
	Rooney Asad Stieber Acosta DeLeon		Higuaín Trapp Zardes Hansen Mullins

November 4 Semifinals Leg 1	Columbus Crew SC	1–0	New York Red Bulls	Columbus, OH
3:00 PM EST	Valenzuela  31' Zardes  61'	Report	Davis  88'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 12,892 Referee: Nima Saghafi

November 11 Semifinals Leg 2	New York Red Bulls	3–0 (3–1 agg.)	Columbus Crew SC	Harrison, NJ
7:30 PM EST	Muyl  17' Royer  73', 76'	Report		Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 22,789 Referee: Alan Kelly

U.S. Open Cup

June 6 Fourth Round	Columbus Crew SC	2–2 (a.e.t.) (9–10 p)	Chicago Fire	Columbus, OH
7:00 PM EDT	Martínez  10' Sosa  64' Abu  71' Crognale  107' Jahn  114'	Report	Nikolić  45', 109' Ramos  81' McCarty  90+3' Katai  112'	Stadium: Mapfre Stadium Attendance: 4,992 Referee: Marcos de Oliveira
	Penalties
	Valenzuela Jiménez Argudo Abubakar Jahn Martínez Crognale Sosa Abu Opoku Ketterer		Nikolić Katai McCarty Campos Schweinsteiger Bronico Lillard Corrales Ramos Campbell Sánchez

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Federico Higuaín entered the season sitting fifth in club history for most goals, needing three to pass Edson Buddle for fourth all-time.[14] He tallied a penalty kick against Chicago on May 12, cracking the tie with Buddle.[15] Higuaín had also begun the year having appeared 163 times for Crew SC, needing seven appearances to crack the top ten in club history. He started each of the first ten games, leaping Frankie Hejduk for ninth place.[14] By the end of the season, Higuaín moved up the charts in all three categories: eighth all-time in appearances, with 196; third all-time in goals, with 58; and second all-time in assists, with 64.

Upon his return to the club midway through the season, Justin Meram had the chance to add to his previous totals with the club; he sat fifth in appearances, sixth in goals, and tied for seventh in assists. He needed to play 28 times, score ten goals, or tally six assists in order to move up the charts.[14] At the end of the year, Meram still sat fifth in appearances (with 225) and sixth in goals (with 43), but had taken sole possession of seventh in assists (with 36).

Wil Trapp began the season having appeared 144 times in all competitions for Crew SC, needing to play in 27 games to crack the all-time top ten. Although he missed several games while on international duty, Trapp appeared for the 27th time on the season in a draw with Philadelphia on September 29.[16] He initially jumped into the table in a tie for tenth place with Hejduk.[14] By the end of the season, Trapp had appeared in 177 games for the club, enough for sole possession of tenth.

No.	Pos.	Name	MLS		MLS Playoffs		U.S. Open Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2	MF	Ricardo Clark	13	1	0	0	0	0	13	1
3	DF	Josh Williams	21	0	1	0	0	0	22	0
4	DF	Jonathan Mensah	27	1	3	0	0	0	30	1
6	MF	Wil Trapp	30	1	3	0	0	0	33	1
7	MF	Pedro Santos	30	1	3	0	0	0	33	1
8	MF	Artur	32	0	3	0	0	0	35	0
9	MF	Justin Meram	9	1	3	0	0	0	12	1
10	MF	Federico Higuaín	30	6	3	2	0	0	33	8
11	FW	Gyasi Zardes	33	19	3	1	0	0	36	20
12	GK	Ben Lundgaard	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	MF	Mike Grella	12	1	0	0	0	0	12	1
14	FW	Adam Jahn	8	0	0	0	1	1	9	1
16	MF	Hector Jiménez	11	0	1	0	1	0	13	0
17	DF	Lalas Abubakar	23	1	1	0	1	0	25	1
18	MF	Cristian Martínez	14	0	1	0	1	1	16	1
19	DF	Milton Valenzuela	30	1	3	0	1	0	34	1
20	MF	Eduardo Sosa	10	1	0	0	1	0	11	1
21	DF	Alex Crognale	5	1	0	0	1	0	6	1
22	DF	Gastón Sauro	7	0	2	0	1	0	10	0
23	GK	Zack Steffen	29	0	3	0	0	0	32	0
24	GK	Jon Kempin	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
25	DF	Harrison Afful	32	2	3	0	0	0	35	2
26	MF	Luis Argudo	18	0	2	0	1	0	21	0
27	FW	Edward Opoku	5	0	0	0	1	0	6	0
28	MF	Niko Hansen	22	3	1	0	1	0	24	3
30	GK	Logan Ketterer	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
31	DF	Connor Maloney	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
32	FW	Patrick Mullins	10	1	3	0	0	0	13	1
Players who left the club during the season:
5	MF	Mohammed Abu	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	0

Source: Columbus stats

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos.	Name	MLS		MLS Playoffs		U.S. Open Cup		Total
2	MF	Ricardo Clark	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
3	DF	Josh Williams	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
4	DF	Jonathan Mensah	7	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
6	MF	Wil Trapp	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
7	MF	Pedro Santos	4	1	0	0	0	0	4	1
8	MF	Artur	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
10	MF	Federico Higuaín	5	1	1	0	0	0	6	1
11	FW	Gyasi Zardes	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
13	MF	Mike Grella	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
17	DF	Lalas Abubakar	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
18	MF	Cristian Martínez	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
19	DF	Milton Valenzuela	6	0	1	0	0	0	7	0
20	MF	Eduardo Sosa	1	1	1	0	1	0	3	1
21	DF	Alex Crognale	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
22	DF	Gastón Sauro	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
23	GK	Zack Steffen	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
25	DF	Harrison Afful	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
28	MF	Niko Hansen	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
31	DF	Connor Maloney	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Players who left the club during the season:
5	MF	Mohammed Abu	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0

Source: Columbus stats

Clean sheets

Zack Steffen entered the season with the seventh-most clean sheets in club history. He needed to keep two on the season in order to pass Brad Friedel for sixth all-time,[14] which he did just three games into the campaign. Three saves in a scoreless draw with Philadelphia on March 17 moved Steffen up on the all-time chart.[17] He promptly passed Mark Dougherty for fifth place, thanks to a 1–0 victory over the Union on May 9. Steffen finished the season with 22 career shutouts for Crew SC, good for fifth place in club history.

No.	Name	MLS	MLS Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup	Total	Games Played
		12	Ben Lundgaard	0	0	0	0	0
23	Zack Steffen	10	1	0	11	32
24	Jon Kempin	0	0	0	0	5
30	Logan Ketterer	0	0	0	0	1

Source: Columbus stats

Transfers

In

Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Fee/Notes	Date	Source
MF	Artur	São Paulo	Completed permanent transfer.	Dec 6, 2017	[18]
GK	Jon Kempin	LA Galaxy	LA receives a Fourth Round pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.	Dec 13, 2017	[19]
MF	Mike Grella	Colorado Rapids	Colorado receives a Second Round pick in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft.	Dec 15, 2017	[20]
MF	Eduardo Sosa	Zamora	Acquired as a Discovery Signing.	Jan 9, 2018	[21]
FW	Edward Opoku	Virginia Cavaliers	Selected in the Second Round of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft. Signed as a Generation Adidas player.	Jan 19, 2018	[22]
FW	Gyasi Zardes	LA Galaxy	LA receives FW Ola Kamara.	Jan 20, 2018	[23]
MF	Ricardo Clark	Houston Dynamo	Signed as a free agent.	Feb 2, 2018	[24]
MF	Luis Argudo	Wake Forest Demon Deacons	Selected in the Third Round of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.	Mar 1, 2018	[25][26]
GK	Ben Lundgaard	Virginia Tech Hokies	Selected in the First Round of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.	Mar 1, 2018	[27][26]
FW	Patrick Mullins	D.C. United	D.C. receives $150,000 in targeted allocation money.	Jul 11, 2018	[28]
MF	Justin Meram	Orlando City	Orlando receives $750,000 in targeted allocation money, a 2019 international roster slot.	Aug 3, 2018	[29]

SuperDraft

The following players were selected by Columbus in the MLS SuperDraft, but did not sign a contract with the club.

Pos.	Player	College	Notes	Date	Source
MF	Jake Rozhansky	Maryland Terrapins	Selected in the Second Round of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft. Signed with Maccabi Netanya on Jan 11, 2018.	Jan 19, 2018	[30][31]

Loan in

Pos.	Player	Parent club	Length/Notes	Beginning	End	Source
DF	Milton Valenzuela	Newell's Old Boys	Duration of the 2018 MLS season, with an option to purchase at the end of the season. Signed as a Young Designated Player.	Jan 26, 2018	Nov 26, 2018	[32][33]

Out

Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee/Notes	Date	Source
MF	Marshall Hollingsworth		Option declined. Retired.	Dec 1, 2017	[34][35]
FW	Kekuta Manneh	Pachuca	Contract expired. Signed for Pachuca on Dec 26, 2017.	Dec 1, 2017	[34][36]
MF	Abuchi Obinwa	Inter Orlando	Option declined. Signed for Inter for the 2018 Spring UPSL season.	Dec 1, 2017	[34][37]
MF	Rodrigo Saravia	Swope Park Rangers	Option declined. Signed for Swope Park on Jan 8, 2018.	Dec 1, 2017	[34][38]
MF	Ben Swanson		Option declined.	Dec 1, 2017	[34]
DF	Jukka Raitala	Los Angeles FC	Selected by LAFC in the 2017 MLS Expansion Draft.	Dec 12, 2017	[39]
GK	Brad Stuver	New York City FC	Option declined. Traded to NYCFC in exchange for a Fourth Round pick in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft.	Dec 14, 2017	[34][40]
DF	Waylon Francis	Seattle Sounders FC	Option declined. Traded to Seattle in exchange for $50,000 in general allocation money.	Dec 14, 2017	[34][41]
FW	Ola Kamara	LA Galaxy	Columbus receives FW Gyasi Zardes, $400,000 in targeted allocation money, future considerations.	Jan 20, 2018	[23]
MF	Justin Meram	Orlando City	Columbus receives $1,050,000 in allocation money, a 2019 international roster slot.	Jan 29, 2018	[42]
MF	Mohammed Abu	Vålerenga	Columbus receives an undisclosed transfer fee.	Oct 4, 2018	[43]

Loan out

Pos.	Player	Loanee club	Length/Notes	Beginning	End	Source
GK	Ben Lundgaard	Indy Eleven	Duration of the 2018 USL season.	Mar 7, 2018	Oct 21, 2018	[44][45]
DF	Alex Crognale	Orange County SC	On a match-by-match basis.	Mar 15, 2018	May 5, 2018	[46][47]
				May 22, 2018	Jun 2, 2018	[48][49]
				Jun 18, 2018	Nov 4, 2018	[50][51]
FW	Edward Opoku	Saint Louis FC	On a match-by-match basis.	Apr 27, 2018	May 18, 2018	[52][53]
DF	Connor Maloney	Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC	On a match-by-match basis.	May 25, 2018	Jun 30, 2018	[54][55]
FW	Adam Jahn	OKC Energy	On a match-by-match basis.	Jul 24, 2018	Oct 14, 2018	[56][57]
MF	Mohammed Abu	Vålerenga	Duration of the 2018 Eliteserien.	Aug 10, 2018	Oct 4, 2018	[58][43]

Awards

MLS Team of the Week

Week	Starters	Bench	Opponent(s)	Link
1	Lalas Abubakar Federico Higuaín Milton Valenzuela		Toronto FC
2		Gyasi Zardes	Montreal Impact
4	Gregg Berhalter (coach) Federico Higuaín Cristian Martínez Milton Valenzuela	Pedro Santos	D.C. United
9		Mike Grella	San Jose Earthquakes
10	Lalas Abubakar	Milton Valenzuela	Seattle Sounders FC
11	Gregg Berhalter (coach) Gyasi Zardes	Zack Steffen	Philadelphia Union Chicago Fire
12	Jonathan Mensah		New England Revolution
13	Artur Josh Williams		Sporting Kansas City
14	Federico Higuaín		Toronto FC
15	Harrison Afful		New York Red Bulls
18	Eduardo Sosa		Real Salt Lake
21	Wil Trapp		Orlando City
22	Harrison Afful	Patrick Mullins	New York Red Bulls
24	Gyasi Zardes	Federico Higuaín Milton Valenzuela	Houston Dynamo
27	Harrison Afful	Justin Meram	New York City FC
29	Jonathan Mensah		FC Dallas
30	Federico Higuaín	Niko Hansen	Portland Timbers Colorado Rapids
35	Gyasi Zardes		Minnesota United

MLS Player of the Week Week Player Opponent(s) Link 11 Gyasi Zardes Philadelphia Union Chicago Fire 35 Gyasi Zardes Minnesota United

MLS Player of the Month Month Player Stats Link May Zack Steffen 0 GA in 5 matches

MLS Goal of the Week Week Player Opponent Link 21 Wil Trapp Orlando City

2018 MLS All-Star Game GK Zack Steffen[59]

Postseason MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award GK Zack Steffen[60] MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award FW Gyasi Zardes[61] MLS Best XI GK Zack Steffen[62]

Crew SC Team Awards[63] Most Valuable Player – Gyasi Zardes Golden Boot Winner – Gyasi Zardes Defender of the Year – Jonathan Mensah Kirk Urso Heart Award – Connor Maloney Humanitarian of the Year – Wil Trapp Academy Player of the Year – Keegan Hughes

Kits

Home

Away

Type	Shirt	Shorts	Socks	First appearance / Record
Home	Gold	Gold	Gold	Match 1 vs. Toronto / 9–6–7
Away	Black	Black	Black	Match 2 vs. Montreal / 6–6–3
Specialty	White	White	White	Match 8 vs. New England / 0–0–1

See also

• Columbus Crew SC
• 2018 in American soccer
• 2018 Major League Soccer season

References

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51. Merk, Carson (November 4, 2018). "RECORD SEASON FOR ORANGE COUNTY ENDS. PHOENIX RISES". OrangeCountySoccer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
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Notes

1. Retained via the head-to-head goals tiebreaker (16–13)