# 2008 Columbus Crew season

The 2008 Columbus Crew season was the club's thirteenth season of existence and their thirteenth consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. Columbus also competed in the U.S. Open Cup and the MLS Cup Playoffs. The season covered the period from November 14, 2007 to the start of the 2009 Major League Soccer season.

## Background

The Crew's rebuilding under Sigi Schmid paid immense dividends in 2008, as the team won the Supporters Shield and their first MLS Cup championship. Argentine midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto won the league MVP award, capping an incredible season with his three-assist performance in the championship game.

## Roster

    As of match played November 23, 2008
| No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of birth (age) | Signed in | Previous club | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||
| 1 | William Hesmer | GK | (1981-11-23)November 23, 1981 (aged 27) | 2007 | Kansas City Wizards | 54 | 0 |
| 18 | Kenny Schoeni | GK | (1984-01-04)January 4, 1984 (aged 24) | 2008 | MLS pool goalkeeper | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Andy Gruenebaum | GK | (1982-12-30)December 30, 1982 (aged 25) | 2006 | Kentucky Wildcats | 16 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||
| 2 | Frankie Hejduk | DF | (1974-08-05)August 5, 1974 (aged 34) | 2003 | Bayer 04 Leverkusen | 119 | 7 |
| 4 | Gino Padula | DF | (1976-07-11)July 11, 1976 (aged 32) | 2008 | Montpellier | 18 | 0 |
| 5 | Danny O'Rourke | DF | (1983-05-31)May 31, 1983 (aged 25) | 2007 | New York Red Bulls | 61 | 0 |
| 6 | Andy Iro | DF | (1984-11-26)November 26, 1984 (aged 23) | 2008 | UC Santa Barbara Gauchos | 23 | 1 |
| 8 | Duncan Oughton | DF | (1977-06-14)June 14, 1977 (aged 31) | 2001 | Cal State Fullerton Titans | 132 | 3 |
| 13 | Andrew Peterson | DF | (1984-12-02)December 2, 1984 (aged 23) | 2007 | Cleveland City Stars | 3 | 0 |
| 14 | Chad Marshall | DF | (1984-08-22)August 22, 1984 (aged 24) | 2004 | Stanford Cardinal | 132 | 10 |
| 23 | Ezra Hendrickson | DF | (1972-01-16)January 16, 1972 (aged 36) | 2006 | Chivas USA | 61 | 2 |
| 24 | Jed Zayner | DF | (1984-12-13)December 13, 1984 (aged 23) | 2006 | Indiana Hoosiers | 10 | 0 |
| 27 | Ryan Junge | DF | (1984-09-07)September 7, 1984 (aged 24) | 2007 | Cleveland City Stars | 8 | 0 |
| Midfielders |||||||||
| 3 | Brad Evans | MF | (1985-04-20)April 20, 1985 (aged 23) | 2007 | UC Irvine Anteaters | 36 | 6 |
| 12 | Eddie Gaven | MF | (1986-10-25)October 25, 1986 (aged 22) | 2006 | MetroStars | 88 | 13 |
| 15 | Stefani Miglioranzi | MF | (1977-09-20)September 20, 1977 (aged 31) | 2007 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 38 | 3 |
| 16 | Brian Carroll | MF | (1981-07-20)July 20, 1981 (aged 27) | 2008 | D.C. United | 36 | 1 |
| 17 | Emmanuel Ekpo | MF | (1987-12-20)December 20, 1987 (aged 20) | 2008 | Enyimba International | 22 | 3 |
| 19 | Robbie Rogers | MF | (1987-04-12)April 12, 1987 (aged 21) | 2007 | SC Heerenveen | 44 | 11 |
| 20 | Brian Plotkin | MF | (1984-08-03)August 3, 1984 (aged 24) | 2008 | Chicago Fire | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Adam Moffat | MF | (1986-04-15)April 15, 1986 (aged 22) | 2007 | Cleveland City Stars | 9 | 2 |
| 26 | Cory Elenio | MF | (1986-08-14)August 14, 1986 (aged 22) | 2008 | Evansville Purple Aces | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | Kevin Burns | MF | (1985-03-26)March 26, 1985 (aged 23) | 2008 | Rochester Raging Rhinos | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Stanley Nyazamba | MF | (1983-01-06)January 6, 1983 (aged 25) | 2008 | Richmond Kickers | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards |||||||||
| 7 | Guillermo Barros Schelotto | FW | (1973-05-04)May 4, 1973 (aged 35) | 2007 | Boca Juniors | 53 | 12 |
| 9 | Jason Garey | FW | (1984-07-19)July 19, 1984 (aged 24) | 2006 | Maryland Terrapins | 48 | 10 |
| 10 | Alejandro Moreno | FW | (1979-07-08)July 8, 1979 (aged 29) | 2007 | Houston Dynamo | 58 | 17 |
| 11 | Pat Noonan | FW | (1980-08-02)August 2, 1980 (aged 28) | 2008 | Aalesund | 11 | 1 |
| 25 | George Josten | FW | (1986-05-12)May 12, 1986 (aged 22) | 2008 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | Ricardo Pierre-Louis | FW | (1984-11-02)November 2, 1984 (aged 24) | 2008 | Lee Flames | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Steven Lenhart | FW | (1986-08-28)August 28, 1986 (aged 22) | 2008 | Azusa Pacific Cougars | 14 | 6 |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Columbus Crew | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 50 | 36 | +14 | 57 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 2 | Chicago Fire | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 44 | 33 | +11 | 46 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 3 | New England Revolution | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 43 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 4 | Kansas City Wizards | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 42 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 5 | New York Red Bulls | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 42 | 48 | −6 | 39 | MLS Cup Playoffs |

##### Overall table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Columbus Crew (C, S) | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 50 | 36 | +14 | 57 | CONCACAF Champions League |
| 2 | Houston Dynamo | 30 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 45 | 32 | +13 | 51 | CONCACAF Champions League |
| 3 | Chicago Fire | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 44 | 33 | +11 | 46 | North American SuperLiga |
| 4 | Chivas USA | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 40 | 41 | −1 | 43 | North American SuperLiga |
| 5 | New England Revolution | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 43 | North American SuperLiga |

#### 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 |
| 30 | 57 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 50 | 36 | +14 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 30 | 15 | +15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 21 | −1 |

#### 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 |
| Stadium | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | T | L | L | L | W | T | W | T | L | T | W | L | W | W | W | W | T | W | W | W | T | L | W |

#### Match results
### U.S. Open Cup
## Reserve League
### Overall table

| Pos | Club | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Houston Dynamo Reserves (C) | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 15 | +18 | 29 |
| 2 | Kansas City Wizards Reserves | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 31 | 13 | +18 | 26 |
| 3 | Real Salt Lake Reserves | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 23 |
| 4 | Chicago Fire Reserves | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 25 | 22 | +3 | 17 |
| 5 | D.C. United Reserves | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 21 | −2 | 16 |
| 5 | Toronto FC Reserves | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 19 | −7 | 16 |
| 7 | Chivas USA Reserves | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 21 | −2 | 15 |
| 7 | San Jose Earthquakes Reserves | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 22 | −4 | 15 |
| 7 | FC Dallas Reserves | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 24 | −5 | 15 |
| 10 | Columbus Crew Reserves | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 14 |
| 11 | Colorado Rapids Reserves | 12 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 21 | −5 | 14 |
| 12 | New York Red Bulls Reserves | 12 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 16 | 23 | −7 | 11 |
| 13 | New England Revolution Reserves | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 16 | −5 | 8 |
| 14 | Los Angeles Galaxy Reserves | 12 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 23 | −8 | 6 |

### Match results
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos. | Name | MLS | MLS | MLS Playoffs | MLS Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | U.S. Open Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | William Hesmer | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Frankie Hejduk | 24 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 2 |
| 3 | MF | Brad Evans | 26 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 6 |
| 4 | DF | Gino Padula | 14 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Danny O'Rourke | 28 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Andy Iro | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | Guillermo Barros Schelotto | 27 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 7 |
| 8 | DF | Duncan Oughton | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Jason Garey | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 4 |
| 10 | FW | Alejandro Moreno | 27 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 10 |
| 11 | FW | Pat Noonan | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| 12 | MF | Eddie Gaven | 24 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 4 |
| 13 | DF | Andrew Peterson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | Chad Marshall | 29 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 6 |
| 15 | MF | Stefani Miglioranzi | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Brian Carroll | 30 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 1 |
| 17 | MF | Emmanuel Ekpo | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 3 |
| 18 | GK | Kenny Schoeni | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | Robbie Rogers | 27 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 33 | 8 |
| 20 | MF | Brian Plotkin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | Adam Moffat | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| 23 | DF | Ezra Hendrickson | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | Jed Zayner | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | George Josten | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | Cory Elenio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | Ryan Junge | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | Ricardo Pierre-Louis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | Andy Gruenebaum | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | Kevin Burns | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | FW | Steven Lenhart | 10 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 6 |
| 37 | MF | Stanley Nyazamba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who left the club during the season: |||||||||||
| 4 | DF | Leonard Griffin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | Guilherme Só | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | Nicolás Hernández | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | Ryan Miller | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source: Columbus stats

### Disciplinary record

| No. | Pos. | Name | MLS | MLS | MLS Playoffs | MLS Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | U.S. Open Cup | Total | Total |
| 2 | DF | Frankie Hejduk | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| 3 | MF | Brad Evans | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | DF | Gino Padula | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Danny O'Rourke | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 6 | DF | Andy Iro | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | Guillermo Barros Schelotto | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | DF | Duncan Oughton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Jason Garey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Alejandro Moreno | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | Pat Noonan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | Eddie Gaven | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | Chad Marshall | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | Stefani Miglioranzi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Brian Carroll | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | Emmanuel Ekpo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | Robbie Rogers | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | Adam Moffat | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | Ezra Hendrickson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | Jed Zayner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Source: Columbus stats

### Clean sheets

| No. | Name | MLS | MLS Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total | Games Played |
| No. | Name | 1 | William Hesmer | 10 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 34 |
| 18 | Kenny Schoeni | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Andy Gruenebaum | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Source: Columbus stats