This is a whole Notebook of Mr. Numbers Nerd number-nerdiness. On Tuesday night, Crew legend Chad Marshall won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as a member of the Seattle Sounders. With the Sounders’ 3-1 extra time victory over the Philadelphia Union, Marshall has now completed the domestic title cycle, having won all three U.S. domestic soccer titles: MLS Cup, the Supporters’ Shield, and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Chad Marshall’s domestic title resume:
MLS Cup:
2008 (Columbus)
Supporters’ Shield:
2004 (Columbus)
2008 (Columbus)
2009 (Columbus)
U.S. Open Cup:
2014 (Seattle)
While congratulating Chad on Twitter, it made me curious about how many other players have won trophies with the Crew and can claim a domestic title cycle. The answer? A dozen.
This collection of players can be broken up into three groups. The first group is players who already had the cycle locked down before even setting foot in Columbus, then added to their trophy haul. The second group consists of players who checked off a title category while in Columbus, but completed their cycles with titles won either before or after playing for the Crew. And then the third category would be players who have won the entire cycle in Columbus. So let’s look at the groups!
GROUP ONE: CYCLE ALREADY IN PLACE
Three players already had accomplished the cycle before donning the banana kit and winning a real title that actually mattered.
JOHN HARKES
Harkes won a bunch of stuff for those vile and evil (and any other suitable repugnant anagram) D.C. United teams. In an act of repentance, he came to the Crew and helped the club win its first ever trophy, the 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
MLS Cup:
1996 (D.C. United)
1997 (D.C. United)
Supporters’ Shield:
1997 (D.C. United)
U.S. Open Cup:
1996 (D.C. United)
2002 (Columbus)
TONY SANNEH
Sanneh is another guy who accomplished the cycle with D.C. United before claiming a title in Columbus as a member of the 2004 Supporters’ Shield-winning squad. Mostly infamous for the playoffs, it could also be noted that Sanneh’s stoppage time game-winner in San Jose technically gave the Crew two of the points they needed to claim the Shield on a tie-breaker over Kansas City.
MLS Cup:
1996 (D.C. United)
1997 (D.C. United)
Supporters’ Shield:
1997 (D.C. United)
2004 (Columbus)
U.S. Open Cup:
1996 (D.C United)
2006 (Chicago)
EZRA HENDRICKSON
The long-legged native of St. Vincent and the Grenadines capped his career with a Shield-MLS Cup double as a member of the 2008 Crew. Prior to that, he had already completed the cycle as a member of the LA Galaxy, plus won another MLS Cup with D.C. United. Yuck.
MLS Cup:
2002 (LA Galaxy)
2004 (D.C. United)
2008 (Columbus)
Supporters’ Shield:
1998 (LA Galaxy)
2002 (LA Galaxy)
2008 (Columbus)
U.S. Open Cup:
2001 (LA Galaxy)
GROUP TWO: CREW PART OF CYCLE
These players accomplished the cycle while checking off at least one of the title categories while suiting up for the Crew, although they completed the cycle with titles won before or after their time in Columbus.
EDSON BUDDLE
Buddle won a U.S. Open Cup as a young Crew forward in 2002, and his Crew-record four-goal game helped the team win the 2004 Supporters’ Shield. His 2012 MLS Cup win with the LA Galaxy completed the cycle.
MLS Cup:
2012 (LA Galaxy)
Supporters’ Shield:
2004 (Columbus)
2010 (LA Galaxy)
U.S. Open Cup:
2002 (Columbus)
TOM PRESTHUS
The goalkeeper won a bunch of stuff with despicable D.C. United, but he had to come to the Crew to be a U.S. Open Cup champion. He still calls Columbus home, so winning with the correct team must have made an impression.
MLS Cup:
1997 (D.C. United)
1999 (D.C. United)
Supporters’ Shield:
1997 (D.C. United)
1999 (D.C. United)
U.S. Open Cup:
2002 (Columbus)
MANNY LAGOS
Lagos came to Columbus with a trio of MLS Cup rings, plus a U.S. Open Cup title with the Chicago Fire—against the Crew no less—but he clinched his cycle in Columbus as a member of the 2004 Shield winners.
MLS Cup:
1998 (Chicago)
2001 (San Jose)
2003 San Jose)
Supporters’ Shield:
2004 (Columbus)
U.S. Open Cup:
1998 (Chicago)
BRAD EVANS
Evans won the Shield and MLS Cup as a second-year player with the Crew. He then went to Seattle in the expansion draft and has won the U.S. Open Cup in four out of the last six seasons. He completed the cycle in 2009, but has been hoarding Open Cups ever since.
MLS Cup:
2008 (Columbus)
Supporters’ Shield:
2008 (Columbus)
U.S. Open Cup:
2009 (Seattle)
2010 (Seattle)
2011 (Seattle)
2014 (Seattle)
PAT NOONAN
Noonan is a Massive Champion who completed his cycle in 2008 after previously winning the Open Cup with New England the year before. He was traded part way into 2009, but did play in five Crew games that year prior to be being dealt. Since the Shield is a season-long accomplishment, I’m giving him credit for 2009 as well.
MLS Cup:
2008 (Columbus)
2012 (LA Galaxy)
Supporters’ Shield:
2008 (Columbus)
2009 (Columbus)
U.S. Open Cup:
2007 (New England)
WILLIAM HESMER
We all know that Hesmer manned the net for the Crew’s double-winning team in 2008 and won another Supporters’ Shield in 2009, but not many may know that 2008 completed the cycle for Hesmer. He won the 2004 Open Cup as a rookie with the Kansas City Wizards. Stuck behind Tony Meola and Bo Oshoniyi, Hesmer didn’t see any playing time that season, but he was still a member of the team. As any championship team will tell you, every player counts and is part of the unique championship chemistry.
MLS Cup:
2008 (Columbus)
Supporters’ Shield:
2008 (Columbus)
2009 (Columbus)
U.S. Open Cup:
2004 (Kansas City)
BRIAN PLOTKIN
To build upon that last Hesmer point, Plotkin made this list without ever playing a single minute for the Crew. “Without ever” as in EVER, not just 2008. In fact, not only did he not see game time FOR the Crew in 2008, but he saw game time AGAINST the Crew in 2008. He helped the Chicago Fire knock the Crew out of the Open Cup that year, before being acquired by Columbus. One could argue that he directly helped the Crew to the Shield-MLS Cup double by eliminating Open Cup games from their schedule, thereby narrowing their focus and eliminating travel and wear and tear on the guys.
MLS Cup:
2008 (Columbus)
Supporters’ Shield:
2008 (Columbus)
U.S. Open Cup:
2006 (Chicago)
CHAD MARSHALL
Marshall’s trophy haul was detailed earlier. He almost completed the cycle in 2010 when the Crew lost the U.S. Open Cup final, 2-1, to the Sounders in Seattle. The loss denied Marshall a Massive Cycle, where he would have completed the cycle entirely with the Crew. Only one man has done that. Which brings us to….
GROUP THREE: MASSIVE TITLE CYCLES
This “group” consists of only one man:
DUNCAN EDWARD OUGHTON
To date, he is the only player to complete the domestic title cycle with Crew trophies. The hard-nosed / big-nosed midfielder played the full 90 minutes in the 2002 U.S. Open Cup final. He also scored the Crew’s goal in the season-ending 1-1 draw in Colorado that clinched the 2004 Supporters’ Shield. He was no longer a starting player in 2008, but on the training field and in the locker room, he was a vital component of that championship team. So much so that Crew coach Sigi Schmid singled him out for special mention in his postgame locker room speech, followed by the players showering the Kiwi with celebratory champagne. Oughton won another Shield in 2009, making him the only player to be a part of all five trophies in Crew history. Duncan Oughton: Massive Legend.
MLS Cup:
2008 (Columbus)
Supporters’ Shield:
2004 (Columbus)
2008 (Columbus)
2009 (Columbus)
U.S. Open Cup:
2002 (Columbus)
POSTSCRIPT: NOTABLE NEAR MISSES
There were three players who won trophies in Columbus and won at least six different titles in their MLS careers, but came up one category short of the cycle.
BRIAN CARROLL
Brian Carroll is most famous for having won the Supporters’ Shield four years in a row, to the point that I demanded that it be renamed the Brian Carroll Trophy. He also won MLS Cups with D.C. United and Columbus, but he has yet to win the U.S. Open Cup. When Chad Marshall claimed the cycle on Tuesday with Seattle’s victory over Philadelphia, he simultaneously denied Carroll, who made the final for the very first time.
MLS Cup:
2004 (D.C. United)
2008 (Columbus)
Supporters’ Shield:
2006 (D.C. United)
2007 (D.C. United)
2008 (Columbus)
2009 (Columbus)
U.S. Open Cup:
None. (Finalist in 2014.)
Carroll is one of nine active players who have won a trophy with the Crew but are at least one flavor short of the cycle. The others are:
Jon Busch (MLS Cup)
Andy Gruenebaum (U.S. Open Cup)
Danny O’Rourke (U.S. Open Cup)
Adam Moffat (U.S. Open Cup)
Steven Lenhart (U.S. Open Cup)
Robbie Rogers (U.S. Open Cup)
Chris Wingert (U.S. Open Cup)
Eric Brunner (MLS Cup, U.S. Open Cup)
ALEJANDRO MORENO
Moreno won seven trophies during his MLS career, including three in Columbus, but like Carroll, the Open Cup eluded his grasp. He came closest his rookie year, when he was stymied by none other than the Columbus Crew in the 2002 U.S. Open Cup final. His late potential equalizer was cleared from the goalmouth by Robert Warzycha, preserving the Crew’s 1-0 victory.
MLS Cup:
2002 (LA Galaxy)
2006 (Houston)
2008 (Columbus)
Supporters’ Shield:
2002 (LA Galaxy)
2005 (San Jose)
2008 (Columbus)
2009 (Columbus)
U.S. Open Cup:
None. (Finalist in 2002.)
FRANKIE HEJDUK
Like Moreno, Hejduk also claimed seven trophies during his MLS career but was done in by the U.S. Open Cup. He reached the final in 2010 with the Crew, but Seattle won 2-1. On the brighter side, by the time he retired, he managed to win an incredible five Supporters’ Shields. Maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t rename the thing the Brian Carroll Trophy since Frankie actually has more…for now. (You never know when BC is going to rattle off one of those four-Shield streaks of his.) Here’s Frankie’s trophy haul…
MLS Cup:
2008 (Columbus)
2011 (LA Galaxy)
Supporters’ Shield:
1996 (Tampa Bay)
2004 (Columbus)
2008 (Columbus)
2009 (Columbus)
2011 (LA Galaxy)
U.S. Open Cup:
None. (Finalist in 2010.)
Seven domestic titles, including four of them with the Crew. What a career. It should definitely be recognized in some way.
Oh yeah, it seems the Crew are taking care of that. Saturday night at Crew Stadium, before Columbus takes on the New England Revolution, Hejduk will join Brian McBride as the second inductee into the Crew’s Circle of Honor. You should definitely be there for that.
Who needs the cycle when you’ve got the Circle?
Questions? Comments? Have hunch which, if any, of the Active Nine will be the first to complete their cycle? Feel free to write at sirk65@yahoo.com or via twitter @stevesirk
Steve Sirk’s new book, “Kirk Urso: Forever Massive”, is available at the Crew Gear store or by ordering online HERE. All proceeds go to the Kirk Urso Memorial Fund for congenital heart defect research.
