# 2017 Columbus Crew SC season

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.

## Competitive
### MLS
#### Standings
##### Eastern Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 3 | Chicago Fire | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 62 | 48 | +14 | 55 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |
| 4 | Atlanta United FC | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 70 | 40 | +30 | 55 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |
| 5 | Columbus Crew | 34 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 54 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |
| 6 | New York Red Bulls | 34 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 53 | 47 | +6 | 50 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |
| 7 | New England Revolution | 34 | 13 | 15 | 6 | 53 | 61 | −8 | 45 | |

##### Overall table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 3 | Chicago Fire | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 61 | 47 | +14 | 55 |
| 4 | Atlanta United FC | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 70 | 40 | +30 | 55 |
| 5 | Columbus Crew | 34 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 54 |
| 6 | Portland Timbers | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 60 | 50 | +10 | 53 |
| 7 | Seattle Sounders FC | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 52 | 39 | +13 | 53 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | Pts | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD |
| 34 | 54 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 34 | 17 | +17 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 19 | 32 | −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 |
| Stadium | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | H | A | A |
| Result | D | L | W | W | W | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | L | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | W | L | D | L | W | D | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | D |

#### Match results
### U.S. Open Cup
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos. | Name | MLS | MLS | MLS Cup | MLS Cup | U.S. Open Cup | U.S. Open Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Name | 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 |
Source: Columbus stats

### Disciplinary record

| No. | Pos. | Name | MLS | MLS | MLS Cup | MLS Cup | U.S. Open Cup | U.S. Open Cup | Total | 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 |
Source: Columbus stats

### Clean sheets

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

## Transfers
### In

| Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee/notes | Date |
| DF | Alex Crognale | Maryland Terrapins | Signed as a Homegrown Player. | Dec 20, 2016 |
| DF | Jukka Raitala | Sogndal | Free transfer. | Dec 23, 2016 |
| DF | Jonathan Mensah | Anzhi Makhachkala | Signed as a Designated Player. | Jan 3, 2017 |
| DF | Josh Williams | Toronto FC | Selected in Stage Two of the 2016 MLS Re-Entry Draft. | Jan 5, 2017 |
| DF | Lalas Abubakar | Dayton Flyers | Selected in the first round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. | Jan 13, 2017 |
| 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 |
| MF | Abuchi Obinwa | Hannover 96 | Free transfer. | Jan 25, 2017 |
| 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 |
| DF | Connor Maloney | Penn State Nittany Lions | Selected in the third round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. | Feb 20, 2017 |
| FW | Kekuta Manneh | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Vancouver receives MF Tony Tchani, $300,000 in allocation monies, future considerations. | Mar 30, 2017 |
| MF | Pedro Santos | Braga | Signed as a Designated Player. | Aug 8, 2017 |

### Loan in

| Pos. | Player | Parent club | Length/Notes | Beginning | End | Source |
| MF | Artur | São Paulo | Duration of the 2017 MLS season. | Feb 13, 2017 | November 30, 2017 | |

### Out

| Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee/notes | Date |
| DF | Tyson Wahl | | Retired. | Oct 24, 2016 |
| FW | Conor Casey | | Retired. | Oct 27, 2016 |
| GK | Steve Clark | AC Horsens | Option declined. Signed by Horsens on Jan 17, 2017. | Nov 23, 2016 |
| GK | Matt Pacifici | | Option declined. Retired. | Nov 23, 2016 |
| DF | Corey Ashe | | Option declined. Retired. | Nov 23, 2016 |
| DF | Chad Barson | FC Linköping City | Out of contract. Signed by Linköping City on Apr 7, 2017. | Nov 23, 2016 |
| MF | Cedrick Mabwati | UCAM Murcia | Option declined. Signed by UCAM on Dec 27, 2016. | Nov 23, 2016 |
| DF | Michael Parkhurst | Atlanta United FC | Columbus receives General Allocation Money. | Dec 11, 2016 |
| MF | Mohammed Saeid | Minnesota United FC | Selected by Minnesota in the 2016 MLS Expansion Draft. | Dec 13, 2016 |
| 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 |
| MF | Ethan Finlay | Minnesota United FC | Columbus receives $425,000 in allocation monies. | Aug 9, 2017 |
| DF | Nicolai Næss | Heerenveen | Undisclosed fee. | Aug 29, 2017 |

### Loan out

| Pos. | Player | Loanee club | Length/Notes | Beginning | End |
| MF | Marshall Hollingsworth | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | On a match-by-match basis. | Mar 4, 2017 | Oct 15, 2017 |
| MF | Cristian Martínez | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | On a match-by-match basis. | Mar 4, 2017 | Mar 24, 2017 |
| MF | Rodrigo Saravia | IK Frej | Duration of the 2017 Superettan. | Mar 4, 2017 | Nov 12, 2017 |
| MF | Ben Swanson | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | On a match-by-match basis. | Mar 4, 2017 | Apr 20, 2017 |
| MF | Abuchi Obinwa | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | On a match-by-match basis. | Mar 24, 2017 | Oct 15, 2017 |
| DF | Lalas Abubakar | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | On a match-by-match basis. | Apr 6, 2017 | Jul 4, 2017 |
| MF | Cristian Martínez | FC Cincinnati | Short-term. | May 4, 2017 | May 8, 2017 |
| DF | Connor Maloney | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | On a match-by-match basis. | May 19, 2017 | Jul 4, 2017 |

## Awards
### MLS Player of the Week

| Week | Player | Opponent(s) | Link |
| 11 | Justin Meram | Toronto FC Montreal Impact | |

### Postseason

Crew SC Team Awards
* 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

| Home | Away |
| 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 |