The 2010 Columbus Crew season was the club's 15th season of existence and their 15th consecutive season in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, the top flight of soccer in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The first match of the season was on March 27 against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

. It was the second season under head coach

Robert Warzycha Robert Warzycha (; born 20 August 1963) is a Polish former professional football manager and player. A right winger, Warzycha had a long career in Europe, playing for teams in Poland, Hungary and England with Everton in the Premier League. He ...

Background

Review

Prior to the start of the 2010 MLS season, the Crew began play in the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

, with a quarterfinal-fixture against Group B winner,

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

of Mexico. During group stage, the Crew finished in a second place in their group with an even 2-2-2 record, narrowly edging the Costa Rican champions

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. Their colours are burgundy and white. It ...

to become the only American club in the knockout stage. On February 22, 2010; Columbus hosted Toluca before 4,500 people at Crew Stadium for the first leg. For the match, Columbus would be missing veteran striker

Guillermo Barros Schelotto Guillermo Barros Schelotto (; born 4 May 1973) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of Vélez Sarsfield. Barros Schelotto played 16 years of his professional career in the Argent ...

and defender

Frankie Hejduk Frank Daniel "Frankie" Hejduk (born August 5, 1974) is an American former soccer player who played as a wingback and midfielder. At the club level he represented the Tampa Bay Mutiny, Bayer Leverkusen, St. Gallen, Columbus Crew, and the LA Ga ...

. In the match,

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

-international

Sinha Sinha is a surname which originates in the Indian subcontinent. The surname is commonly used by many communities including the Bengali Kayastha and the Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of the Hindi Belt, and is common in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangla ...

opened the scoring giving Los Rojos a critical away goal and the lead over the Crew. Following the goal near misses from

Steven Lenhart Steven Lenhart (born August 28, 1986) is a former American soccer player who is currently an assistant coach with the Westmont Warriors in NCAA Division II Career College and amateur Lenhart grew up in Yorba Linda, California, and attended Es ...

and

Eddie Gaven Eddie Gaven (born October 25, 1986) is an American former soccer player who played 11 seasons in Major League Soccer, primarily with the Columbus Crew. In July 2012, Gaven became the youngest player to play in 250 MLS matches at 25 years and 257 ...

later on in the half almost drew things level. Shortly before halftime, however, Antonio Ríos doubled the lead for Toluca giving them a very strong advantage. However, the Rojos would relinquish their lead in the second half. Lenhart would bag a pair of goals in the 66th and 83rd minute of play to draw the match back on parity, and the Crew would head to

tied at two on aggregate.

Roster

''As of Aug 5, 2010.''

Technical Staff

Non-competitive

Preseason

The Crew started preseason in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

and played games in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

before returning to

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. The Crew brought in the following trialists during training camp

Ray Burse Ray Burse Jr. (born October 2, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. Career College and amateur Burse was born in Prospect, Kentucky. He attended St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky, and ...

, Hugo Acosta, Kamil Witkowski,

Doudou Touré Doudou Touré (born December 29, 1991) is a Mauritanian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Career Youth Touré grew up in Nouakchott, before moving to the United States in 1998, settling with his family in Atlanta, Georgia. He atte ...

, Yevhen Bredun,

Sergei Kosov Sergey Andreyevich Kosov (; born 31 January 1986) is a former Russian professional footballer. Club career In 2010, he made an excellent debut for FK Šiauliai and was one of the best goalkeepers in Lithuanian A Lyga. After the expiry of the co ...

, Ireneusz Kowalski, Carlos Diaz, Conor O'Brien and

Miloš Kocić Miloš Kocić ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Koцић; born June 4, 1985) is a Serbian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Career Youth and college Kocić was born in Socialis ...

. Unsigned draft picks

Dilly Duka Dilaver Duka (born September 15, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for FC Motown in the National Premier Soccer League. Career Youth and college Duka grew up in Montville, New Jersey, to an Albanian family ...

Bright Dike Chinedu "Bright" Dike (born 2 February 1987) is a retired footballer who played as a forward. Born in the United States, he played for the Nigeria national team. Career College and amateur Born in Edmond, Oklahoma, Dike attended Edmond Nort ...

, Shaun Francis and Othaniel Yanez also joined the team for preseason.

Midseason

The Crew played some friendly matches during the season to keep fit during bye weeks or to get reserve players minutes. Saidi Isaac, Douglas Reisinger, Michael Amicone were guest players against

Marshall Thundering Herd The Marshall Thundering Herd is the intercollegiate athletic collection of teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which are memb ...

, assistant coach

Mike Lapper Michael Steven Lapper (born August 28, 1970, in Redondo Beach, California, Redondo Beach, California) is an American retired Association football, soccer Defender (association football), defender. During his fifteen-year playing career, most of ...

subbed in against

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

, John Owoeri was a guest player against

Duquesne Dukes The Duquesne Dukes are the athletic teams of Duquesne University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Dukes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Football and bowling, however ...

, and draft pick Kwaku Nyamekye joined the team for the match against

Dayton Dutch Lions The Dayton Dutch Lions are an American soccer team based in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2009, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. From 2011 to 2014, the team played in the USL Professiona ...

Competitive

Overview

MLS

Standings

= Eastern Conference

= Overall table

Results summary

Results by round

Match results

MLS Playoffs

Conference Semifinals

CONCACAF Champions League

2009-10 Championship Round

= Quarterfinals

2010-11 Group Stage

U.S. Open Cup

Prior to 2010, the Columbus Crew had been to the U.S. Open Cup final twice in 1998 and 2002 and only won the cup once in 2002. On June 29, 2010, the Crew began the competition in the third round hosting the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

of the D2 Pro League at

Columbus Crew Stadium Historic Crew Stadium, previously known as Columbus Crew Stadium and Mapfre Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It primarily served as the home stadium of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 1999 u ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. The Crew's Andy Iro scored first in the 30th minute by heading in a

corner kick A corner kick, commonly known as a corner, is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defe ...

from teammate Eddie Gavin. Later, in the second half, Rochester evened the score at one when substitute

Darren Spicer Darren Spicer (born August 27, 1983) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. Career Youth and College Spicer attended Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, California, played club soccer with the Newport ...

scored from 17 yards out. The Rhinos'

Alfonso Motagalvan Felix Alfonso Motagalvan (born February 11, 1987) is an American soccer player. Playing career Youth and college Motagalvan was born in Santa Rosa, California, grew up in Gilroy, California, and attended Gilroy High School where he was a ...

was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the 84th minute for a dangerous tackle on

Emilio Rentería Emilio Rentería García (born October 9, 1984) is a Venezuelan footballer as a forward. Career Club Rentería began his professional career in Spain, where he competed in the Spanish second division with Levante UD from 2001 to 2004. He then r ...

forcing Rochester to play the final minutes of the game with just ten men on the field. The score remained level until the 4th minute of

stoppage time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the ga ...

when

scored on a "half volley" giving Columbus the victory. A week later on July 6, Columbus faced the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

of the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals. The match was hosted by Columbus, again at Crew Stadium. In the 37th minute,

was fouled in the penalty area while going for a cross and the referee signalled for a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

. Emilio Rentería took the penalty kick and drove a right-footed shot into the back of the net making the score 1–0. Columbus extended their lead in the 70th minute on a goal from Steven Lenhart, and again in the 87th minute when Eddie Gavin scored off of a pass from

Emmanuel Ekpo Emmanuel Ekpo (born 20 December 1987) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a attacking midfielder and winger. Career Professional Ekpo spent his early years in the youth system of Calabar Rovers, before going on to play ...

. The Crew won 3–0 earning their first U.S. Open Cup semifinal appearance since 2002. On September 1, 2010, the Columbus Crew visited Washington, D.C. to face MLS club D.C. United in their semifinal match at

RFK Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. located on East Capitol Street near the Anacostia River. Opened in 1 ...

. Pablo Hernández scored in the 17th minute on a penalty kick to give D.C. an early lead at 1–0. D.C. United almost kept that lead for the victory until the 89th minute when United's

Marc Burch Marc Burch (born May 7, 1984, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American former professional soccer player. Career College and amateur Burch played college soccer at the University of Evansville for three seasons from 2002 to 2004, scoring seven goals ...

deflected a shot by Columbus's Andy Iro into the net for an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

, tying the score and sending the match into

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. In the 98th minute, the Crew's Steven Lenhart dribbled the ball into the 18-yard box and was tripped by D.C. United's

Carey Talley Carey Talley (born August 26, 1976) is an American former professional soccer player. Career College Talley played high school soccer for Houston High School in Germantown, Tennessee. His team won the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Associ ...

to draw a penalty.

took the penalty kick and scored the game-winning goal. The 2–1 final score secured the Columbus Crew's spot in the final.

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Under "Apps" for each section, the first number represents the number of starts, and the second number represents appearances as a substitute. , - , colspan=12 align=center, ''Players who left Columbus during the season:''

Disciplinary record

Clean sheets

Transfers

In

Loans in

Out

MLS Draft picks

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. The picks for the Columbus Crew are listed below:

Awards

MLS Player of the Week

MLS Save of the Week

2010 MLS All-Star Game

;Starters * DF

Chad Marshall Chad Marshall (born August 22, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player. During his 16-year career, he played for Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer. Regarded as one of the league's greatest players of a ...

* FW

Crew Team Awards

* Most Valuable Player –

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2010/10/25/2010-crew-team-award-winners/23757992007/ * Defensive Player of the Year –

* Scoring Champion –

* Man of the Year –

* Coach's Award – Andy Iro * Newcomer of the Year – Shaun Francis * Goal of the Year –

William Hesmer William Russell Hesmer Jr. (born November 23, 1981) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. Early career and college Born in Wilson, North Carolina, Hesmer played soccer at Hunt High School as "an all-state c ...

* Humanitarian of the Year –

Jason Garey Jason Garey (born July 19, 1984) is an American soccer player. Career Youth and College Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Garey, who grew up in Gonzales, Louisiana, attended St. Amant High School and played for the Baton Rouge Soccer Club. He co ...

* Hardest Working Man of the Year –

* Comeback Player of the Year – Andy Gruenebaum * Fan's Choice –

* Jim Nelson Fan of the Year – Herb Bresler * Academy U15/U16 Player of the Year –

Wil Trapp William Alexander Trapp (born January 15, 1993) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defensive midfielder for Major League Soccer club Minnesota United. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Trapp graduated from Lincoln High Schoo ...

* Academy U17/U18 Player of the Year – Aaron Horton * Academy U19/U20 Player of the Year – Brandon Silva

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2010 Columbus Crew Season Columbus Crew seasons

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...