2012 Columbus Crew season

Columbus Crew
2012 season
Owner	Clark Hunt
Head coach	Robert Warzycha
Major League Soccer	Conference: 6th ; Overall: 10th
MLS Cup	DNQ
U.S. Open Cup	Third round
Trillium Cup	Winners (5 - 2)
Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup	Winners (2 - 1)
Carolina Challenge Cup	Third place
Highest home attendance	19,674 vs. Real Salt Lake; (30 June 2012, Major League Soccer)
Lowest home attendance	10,049 vs. Toronto FC; (22 August 2012, Major League Soccer)
Average home league attendance	14,397
Home colors	Away colors
	← 2011 2013 →

The 2012 Columbus Crew season was the club's nineteenth year of existence, as well as their seventeenth season in Major League Soccer, and their seventeenth consecutive season in the top-flight of American soccer.

Columbus opened their 2012 campaign against the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on March 10, 2012.^[2]

Background

Review

^[3] The Crew missed the playoffs in 2012 for the first time since 2007, marking a further step backwards from the height of 2008. The roster moves which took place leading into the season were ultimately unsuccessful, with both high-profile signings^[4] - Milovan Mirosevic and Olman Vargas - playing only a single season for the club.

The lackluster performance of Vargas and Mirosevic led the team to a series of midseason signings, which nearly salvaged the season. Costa Rican forward Jairo Arrieta joined the team in June, while Argentine midfielder Federico Higuain signed a Designated Player contract a month later. The tandem revitalized the Crew's offense, leading to a 4-game winning streak and thoughts of post-season glory. After this initial honeymoon, however, the team's performance declined; the team just missed out on a playoff berth.

After the season, coach Robert Warzycha began yet another rebuilding effort, jettisoning several veteran players including William Hesmer, Sebastian Miranda and Emilio Renteria.

The year's most significant event, however, had nothing to do with on-field performance. Rookie midfielder Kirk Urso collapsed and died on August 5 from a genetic heart defect (arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy), providing an emotional rallying cry for the remainder of the season and beyond.

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Squad correct as of March 23, 2012.^[5]


No.	Pos.	Player	Nation
1	GK	William Hesmer	United States
2	DF	Rich Balchan	United States
3	DF	Josh Williams	United States
4	DF	Carlos Mendes	United States
5	DF	Danny O'Rourke	United States
6	MF	Tony Tchani	Cameroon
7	MF	Bernardo Añor	Venezuela
9	FW	Justin Meram	United States
10	MF	Milovan Mirošević	Chile
11	MF	Dilly Duka	United States
12	MF	Eddie Gaven	United States
13	MF	Ethan Finlay	United States
14	DF	Chad Marshall (Captain)	United States
15	MF	Kirk Urso	United States
16	DF	Eric Gehrig	United States
17	FW	Olman Vargas	Costa Rica
18	FW	Ben Speas (HGP)	United States
19	FW	Tom Heinemann	United States
20	FW	Emilio Rentería	Venezuela
21	DF	Sebastián Miranda	Chile
22	MF	Cole Grossman	United States
23	DF	Korey Veeder	United States
26	DF	Julius James	Trinidad and Tobago
27	FW	Aaron Horton (HGP)	United States
28	GK	Matt Lampson (HGP)	United States
29	DF	Shaun Francis	Jamaica
30	GK	Andy Gruenebaum	United States
32	DF	Nemanja Vuković	Montenegro
34	FW	Aaron Schoenfeld	United States
36	DF	Aubrey Perry	United States
37	MF	Kevan George	Trinidad and Tobago
—	FW	Jairo Arrieta	Costa Rica

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Robert Warzycha
Assistant Coach	Ricardo Iribarren
Assistant Coach	Mike Lapper
Goalkeeper Coach	Scoop Stanisic
General Manager	Mark McCullers
Technical Director	Brian Bliss
Director of Team Operations	Tucker Walther
Strength/Fitness Coach	Mike Tremble
Athletic Trainer	David Lagow
Equipment Manager	Rusty Wummel

Source: Columbus Crew Official Website

Competitions

Preseason

February 8, 2012	Columbus Crew	1–2	Malmö	Bradenton, Florida USA
11:00 EST	Renteria 1'	Report	Ranegie 24' Durmaz 29'	Stadium: IMG Academy

February 11, 2012	Columbus Crew	6–0	United States U-17	Bradenton, Florida USA
10:00 EST	Gaven 8', 15' Mirosevic 27' (pen.) Renteria 33' Meram 51' Vargas 57'	Report		Stadium: IMG Academy

February 11, 2012	Columbus Crew	4–0	United States U-17	Bradenton, Florida USA
12:00 EST	George 3' Horton 21' Heinemann 39', 53'	Report		Stadium: IMG Academy

February 15, 2012	Seattle Sounders FC	2–0	Columbus Crew	Bradenton, Florida USA
11:00 EST	Hurtado 10' 13' Alonso 12' Montero 54' Gonzalez 68' Sanyang 82' Cato 114'	Report	Anor 29' Tchani 38' Anor 60' Heinemann 118'	Stadium: IMG Academy

Carolina Challenge Cup

February 25, 2012	Charleston Battery	2–2	Columbus Crew	Charleston, South Carolina USA
19:15 EST	Falvey 30' Kelly 40' Flatley 42' Cuevas 89'	Report	Gaven 6' Mendes 45' Mirosevic 58' Tchani 61' Mendes 89'	Stadium: Blackbaud Stadium

February 29, 2012	Columbus Crew	0–1	Chicago Fire	Charleston, South Carolina USA
17:00 EST	Tchani 73'	Report	Sanyang 38' Segares 75' Puppo 80'	Stadium: Blackbaud Stadium

February 29, 2012	D.C. United	cancelled	Columbus Crew	Charleston, South Carolina USA
17:00 EST				Stadium: Blackbaud Stadium

MLS

Standings

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
4	Chicago Fire	34	17	11	6	46	41	+5	57	MLS Cup Knockout Round
5	Houston Dynamo	34	14	9	11	48	41	+7	53	MLS Cup Knockout Round
6	Columbus Crew	34	15	12	7	44	44	0	52
7	Montreal Impact	34	12	16	6	45	51	−6	42
8	Philadelphia Union	34	10	18	6	37	45	−8	36

Source: MLS

Overall table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
8	LA Galaxy (C)	34	16	12	6	59	47	+12	54	CONCACAF Champions League
9	Houston Dynamo	34	14	9	11	48	41	+7	53	CONCACAF Champions League
10	Columbus Crew	34	15	12	7	44	44	0	52
11	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	11	13	10	35	41	−6	43
12	Montreal Impact	34	12	16	6	45	51	−6	42	CONCACAF Champions League

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored
(C) MLS Cup Champion

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	52	15	12	7	44	44	0	11	3	3	28	21	+7	4	9	4	16	23	−7

Last updated: 28 October 2012
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

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	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H
Result	L	W	W	L	L	T	L	T	W	T	W	W	T	L	W	L	L	W	W	L	T	T	W	W	W	W	L	L	W	L	W	T	L	W
Position	18	13	8	11	16	16	17	17	16	17	16	15	16	16	11	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

Updated to match(es) played on October 28, 2012. Source: MLS
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; L = Loss; T = Tie

Match results

March 10, 2012 1	Colorado Rapids	2–0	Columbus Crew	Commerce City, CO
18:00 EDT	Moor 44' Amarikwa 89'	Report	Mirosevic 40' Vargas 72' Wynne 80' Renteria 80'	Stadium: Dick's Sporting Goods Park Attendance: 14,746 Referee: Hilario Grajeda

March 24, 2012 2	Columbus Crew	2–0	Montreal Impact	Columbus, OH
16:00 EDT	Mirosevic 30' Vargas 66' Urso 69' Francis 85'	Report	Brovsky 19' Nyassi 29' Gardner 34' Warner 52'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 18,197 Referee: Mark Geiger

March 31, 2012 3	Toronto FC	0–1	Columbus Crew	Toronto, Ontario
14:00 EDT	de Guzman 74'	Report	Gaven 45' Anor 56' Schoenfeld 86'	Stadium: BMO Field Attendance: 18,944 Referee: Geoff Gamble

April 7, 2012 4	Columbus Crew	1–4	New York Red Bulls	Columbus, OH
15:00 EDT	Anor 53' Marshall 89'	Report	Cooper 3', 13' Henry 40', 90' Keel 60'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 11,516 Referee: Mark Kadlecik

April 14, 2012 5	Philadelphia Union	1–0	Columbus Crew	Chester, PA
15:30 EDT	Gómez 25' 38' Carroll 45+3' Farfan 71' Martínez 85'	Report	Gehrig 70' Gaven 78'	Stadium: PPL Park Attendance: 18,526 Referee: Michael Kennedy

April 21, 2012 6	Columbus Crew	2–2	Houston Dynamo	Columbus, OH
19:30 EDT	Tchani 17' Gaven 63', 74'	Report	Hainault 55' Bruin 59' Ching 88'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 10,479 Referee: Chris Penso

April 28, 2012 7	Columbus Crew	0–1	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Columbus, OH
19:30 EDT	Chad Marshall 81' Danny O'Rourke 87'	Report	Jordan Harvey 50' Gershon Koffie 67' Lee Young-Pyo 74'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 11,978 Referee: Elias Bazakos

May 5, 2012 8	Portland Timbers	0–0	Columbus Crew	Portland, OR
22:30 EDT	Lovel Palmer 50' Franck Songo'o 75' Diego Chara 77'	Report	Sebastián Miranda 57'	Stadium: JELD-WEN Field Attendance: 20,438 Referee: Edvin Jurisevic

May 12, 2012 9	Columbus Crew	2–1	FC Dallas	Columbus, OH
19:30 EDT	Justin Meram 52' Justin Meram 67' Sebastian Miranda 72' Milovan Mirosevic 80'	Report	Fabian Castillo 74' Zach Loyd 43' Andrew Jacobson 45' Fabian Castillo 60' Zach Loyd 63'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 11,120 Referee: Baldomero Toledo

May 19, 2012 10	San Jose Earthquakes	1–1	Columbus Crew	Santa Clara, CA
22:30 EDT		Report		Stadium: Buck Shaw Stadium Attendance: 10,256 Referee: Juan Guzman

May 23, 2012 11	Seattle Sounders FC	0–2	Columbus Crew	Seattle, WA
22:00 EDT	Justin Meram 15' Dilly Duka 47' Carlos Mendes 71' Emilio Renteria 76'	[1]	Marc Burch 85' Osvaldo 88'	Stadium: CenturyLink Field Attendance: 38,311 Referee: Geoff Gamble

May 26, 2012 12	Columbus Crew	2–1	Chicago Fire	Columbus, OH
19:00 EDT	Eddie Gaven 9' Emilio Renteria 43' Bernardo Anor 67'	[2]	Austin Berry 72'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 16,024 Referee: Allen Chapman

June 16, 2012 13	New England Revolution	0–0	Columbus Crew	Foxborough, Massachusetts
19:30 EDT	A.J. Soares 21' Jose Moreno 43'	Report	Sebastian Miranda 62'	Stadium: Gillette Stadium Attendance: 12,218 Referee: Hilario Grajeda

June 23, 2012 14	Chicago Fire	2–1	Columbus Crew	Bridgeview, IL
20:30 EDT	Pappa 2' Oduro 26' Segares 29' Gargan 85'	Report	Tchani 36' George 66' Schoenfeld 90'	Stadium: TOYOTA Park Attendance: 17,144 Referee: Armando Villarreal

June 30, 2012 15	Columbus Crew	2–0	Real Salt Lake	Columbus, OH
20:00 EDT	Tchani 16' Vuković 38' Gaven 43' George 82'	Report	Espíndola 57' Steele 67'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 19,674 Referee: Geoff Gamble

July 8, 2012 16	Montreal Impact	2–1	Columbus Crew	Montreal, QC
19:30 EDT	Nyassi 44' Warner 68' Valentin 78' Bernier 89'	Report	Vuković 3' Tchani 39' Mirosevic 64' Renteria 68'	Stadium: Saputo Stadium Attendance: 15,118 Referee: Matthew Foerster

July 14, 2012 17	Columbus Crew	0–2	Sporting Kansas City	Columbus, OH
19:30 EDT	Anor 9' Rentería 69' Birchall 83'	Report	Peterson 7' Joseph 57' Paulo Nagamura 69' Bunbury 82'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 17,588 Referee: Edwin Jurisevic

July 21, 2012 18	Columbus Crew	1–0	D.C. United	Columbus, OH
19:30 EDT	Chris Burchall 46' Sebastian Miranda 67'	Report		Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 17, 150 Referee: Chris Penso

July 28, 2012 19	Sporting Kansas City	1–2	Columbus Crew	Kansas City, KS
20:30 EDT	Kamara 8'	Report	Arrieta 17', 34' Grossman 90' 90+1'	Stadium: LIVESTRONG Sporting Park Attendance: 18,938 Referee: Dave Gantar

August 4, 2012 20	D.C. United	1–0	Columbus Crew	Washington, D.C.
20:40 EDT	Pontius 50' Neal 74'	Report	Duka 24' Meram 28'	Stadium: Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Attendance: 14,640 Referee: Allen Chapman

August 16, 2012 21	Columbus Crew	1–1	LA Galaxy	Columbus, OH
20:05 EDT	Arrieta 48'	Report	Keane 64' Marcelo Sarvas 88'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 17,019 Referee: Edwin Jurisevic

August 19, 2012 22	Houston Dynamo	2–2	Columbus Crew	Houston
21:10 EDT	Davis 19' Moffat 82'	Report	Grossman 33' Duka 40' Gaven 58' Higuaín 79'	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Referee: Drew Fischer

August 22, 2012 23	Columbus Crew	2–1	Toronto FC	Columbus, OH
20:30 EDT	Gaven 4' Higuaín 20' 58'	Report	O'Dea 69' Silva 71' Morgan 90'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 10,049 Referee: Sorin Stoica

August 25, 2012 24	Columbus Crew	4–3	New England Revolution	Columbus, OH
20:30 EDT	Higuaín 26', 43' Arrieta 32', 86'	Report	Guy 17' Bengtson 23' Alston 70' Nguyen 80' (pen.)	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 13,651 Referee: Armando Villarreal

August 29, 2012 25	Philadelphia Union	1–2	Columbus Crew	Chester, Pennsylvania
20:00 EDT	Valdés 29' Hoppenot 69'	Summary	Birchall 28' Williams 41' 68' Gaven 90+5'	Stadium: PPL Park Attendance: 16,568 Referee: Yader Reyes

September 1, 2012 26	Columbus Crew	2–1	Montreal Impact	Columbus, OH
20:30 EDT	O'Rourke 18' Marshall 80' Rentería 90+3'	Summary	Warner 24' Di Vaio 73'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 12,522 Referee: Chris Penso

September 5, 2012 27	New England Revolution	2–0	Columbus Crew	Foxborough, Massachusetts
21:00 EDT	Imbongo 53', 53' Marshall 74' (o.g.)	Report	O'Rourke 94+'	Stadium: Gillette Stadium Attendance: 10,345 Referee: Geoff Gamble

September 15, 2012 28	New York Red Bulls	3–1	Columbus Crew	Harrison, New Jersey
20:00 EDT	Henry 9' 93' Cahill 56' McCarty 79'	Report	Mirosevic 3' James 49'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 17,134 Referee: Abiodun Okulaja

September 19, 2012 29	Columbus Crew	1–0	Chivas USA	Columbus, OH
20:30 EDT	Meram 89' 90'	Report	Minda 75' Valencia 86' Correa 90'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 13,874 Referee: Jorge Gonzalez

September 22, 2012 30	Chicago Fire	2–1	Columbus Crew	Bridgeview, Illinois
21:30 EDT	Rolfe 23', 26'	Report	Arrieta 15'	Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 19,172 Referee: Michael Kennedy

September 29, 2012 31	Columbus Crew	3–2	Philadelphia Union	Columbus, OH
20:30 EDT	Arrieta 44', 45+5' O'Rourke 61' Gruenebaum 65' Mirošević 88'	Summary	Okugo 45+3' Cruz 65' (pen.) McInerney 86'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 14,673 Referee: Matthew Foerster

October 7, 2012 32	Columbus Crew	1–1	Sporting Kansas City	Columbus, OH
16:00 EDT	James 67' Gaven 90+1'	Summary	Sapong 10'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 13,566 Referee: Mark Geiger

October 20, 2012 33	D.C. United	3–2	Columbus Crew	Washington, D.C.
20:30 EDT	Nick DeLeon 39' Marcelo Saragosa 59' Lewis Neal 90+1'	Summary	Jairo Arrieta 4' Eddie Gaven 7' Carlos Mendes 26' Jairo Arrieta 41' Josh Williams 59'	Stadium: Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Attendance: 19.647 Referee: Edvin Jurisevic

October 28, 2012 34	Columbus Crew	2–1	Toronto FC	Columbus, OH
16:00 EDT	Higuaín 17', 61' (pen.)	Summary	Wiedeman 27' Dunfield 61'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 15,672 Referee: Drew Fischer

U.S. Open Cup

May 29, 2012 R3	Columbus Crew	1–2	Dayton Dutch Lions	Columbus, Ohio
19:30 EST	Finlay 45+' Vargas 61' (pen.)	Report	Bardsley 33' 81' Bartels 79' Knotek 87'	Stadium: Crew Stadium

MLS Cup Playoffs

The Columbus Crew failed to qualify for the playoffs in this season.

Friendlies

March 17, 2012	Columbus Crew	5–1	Michigan State Spartans	Columbus, Ohio
TBD EST	Mirošević 4', 54' Vargas 33', 58' Urso 59'	Report	Montague 85'	Stadium: Crew Stadium

March 17, 2012	Columbus Crew	1–0	West Virginia Mountaineers	Columbus, Ohio
TBD EST	Horton 49'	Report		Stadium: Crew Stadium

July 24, 2012	Columbus Crew	2–1	Stoke City F.C.	Columbus, Ohio
7:30 EST	Horton 71' Speas 87'	Report	Walters 23'	Stadium: Crew Stadium Attendance: 8,976

Statistics

Transfers

In

Out

Loan in

Loan out

Miscellaneous

Allocation ranking

Columbus is in the #10 position in the MLS Allocation Ranking. The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking.^[6]

International roster spots

Columbus has 8 MLS International Roster Slots for use in the 2012 season. Each club in Major League Soccer is allocated 8 international roster spots and no Columbus trades have been reported.

Future draft pick trades

Future picks acquired: *2015 MLS SuperDraft Round 4 pick from Houston Dynamo.
Future picks traded: *2013 MLS Supplemental Draft conditional pick to Montreal Impact.

References

^ "All-Time Attendance | Columbus Crew SC". Archived from the original on December 10, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
^ "Columbus Crew Schedule".
^ "Massive Report > Data > Season".
^ Merz, Craig (March 10, 2012). "Crew vow to be more aggressive after subpar showing". mlssoccer. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
^ "Players | Columbus Crew". TheCrew.com. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
^ 2011 MLS Roster Rules | Major League Soccer Archived 2011-04-30 at the Wayback Machine

[1] "All-Time Attendance | Columbus Crew SC". Archived from the original on December 10, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.

[schedule-2] "Columbus Crew Schedule".

[3] "Massive Report > Data > Season".

[4] Merz, Craig (March 10, 2012). "Crew vow to be more aggressive after subpar showing". mlssoccer. Retrieved October 6, 2024.

[roster-5] "Players | Columbus Crew". TheCrew.com. Retrieved March 23, 2012.

[mlssoccer.com-6] 2011 MLS Roster Rules | Major League Soccer Archived 2011-04-30 at the Wayback Machine

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