2014 Columbus Crew season

Review

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 the Seattle Sounders. 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 US 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.

Roster

Major League Soccer team are limited to eight players without U.S. citizenship, a permanent resident (green card holder), or the holder of other special status (e.g., refugee or asylum status). These international roster slots can be traded. Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth. Squad correct as of June 30, 2014.

Standings

Eastern Conference

Overall table

Updated to matches played on October 26, 2014 11:36 PM, EDT. Source: MLSSoccer.com
Notation Key:

(SS) = Supporters Shield winner (E1) = Eastern Conference champion (W1) = Western Conference champion

¹ The highest ranked U.S.-based MLS club qualifies to the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League seeding Pot A (Canadian teams normally do not qualify for the Champions League through MLS, qualifying instead via the Canadian Championship, however see note 4.) The other U.S. representatives in the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League are:

Winner of the 2014 MLS Cup (Pot A) ²

Regular Season Conference Winner that is not the Supporters' Shield Champion (Pot B) ³

Winner of the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (Pot B) ⁴

⁵ If the same team qualifies multiple times and/or if a Canadian team occupies one or more of the MLS qualifying places, then the American MLS team(s) with the best regular-season record not otherwise qualified are entered.

⁶ For this season only, the highest placed Canadian team will be awarded Canada's place in the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League, as a result of the rescheduling of the Canadian Championship in 2015.

⁷ Montreal Impact qualified for the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League as winners of the 2014 Canadian Championship.

Results summary

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

Results by round

Last updated: October 26, 2014.
Source: [1]
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: T = Tie; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Conference Semifinals

New England Revolution won 7–3 on aggregate

Appearances

Numbers outside parentheses denote appearances as starter. Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute. Players with no appearances are not included in the list. As of match played September 27, 2014

Goals and assists

As of match played September 27, 2014

Disciplinary record

As of match played September 27, 2014

Transfers

The pre-season transfer market was primarily spent strengthening the defensive line that saw the exit of Chad Marshall (Seattle Sounders) and Andy Gruenebaum (Sporting KC). Steve Clark (GK), Waylon Francis (LB), Giancarlo González (CB), and USMNT Standout Michael Parkhurst would be the new starting defensive team along with long-time defender Josh Williams.

Jairo Arrieta has his option declined on 22 November 2013, but was later re-signed on 18 December 2013.

Loan in

Kelechi Iheanacho Nigeria

Recognition

MLS Player of the Week

MLS Save of the Week

MLS Team of the Week