Columbus Crew SC pinned a pair of high-performing midfielders into MLSsoccer.com's Team of the Week for Week 14 of the 2017 regular-season. Moving into third place all-time among Crew SC scorers was Federico Higuain — who landed on the Team of the Week after scoring against both the Seattle Sounders and the Colorado Rapids, while also adding an assist in the win over the defending MLS Cup champion Sounders.
In a busy week 14, Higuain netted his 44th and 45th career goals with Crew SC, passing club-legend Stern John for sole possession of third on the all-time scoring list. His assist against Seattle was his 40th with the Black & Gold, entering him into the 40/40 Club alongside club-greats Brian McBride and Jeff Cunningham. Since joining the club in 2012, Higuain has made 138 regular-season appearances (133 starts) for the Black & Gold, recording 45 goals and 40 assists, his goal also made him the club's leading scorer against the Sounders — with three goals in four matches against the Western Conference team. Through 14 appearances (all starts) in the 2017 MLS regular season, Higuain has scored six goals and notched five assists, bettering his output of four goals and four assists in 2016.
Club leading-scorer and assist man Justin Meram was named to the Bench for his two-goals, one-assist performance over two games. In 2017, Columbus is 5-0-0 when Meram scores a goal and 6-2-1 when he registers a goal or an assist. Crew SC is 7-7-1 on the season. Meram registered his eighth goal and fifth assist in Wednesday’s match against Seattle, and he then assisted on Higuain's goal at Colorado to lead the team with six assists. With eight goals through 15 regular-season appearances this season, Meram has equaled his career-best output of eight goals from 2014. To date, Meram has tallied 32 goals and 31 assists in 169 regular-season appearances (117 starts). He is currently tied with Ola Kamara as the leading scorer for the Black & Gold in the 2017 MLS regular season.
Crew SC next faces a June 17 match in Atlanta against MLS-expansion side Atlanta United comes next with a 7 p.m. ET kickoff in regular-season action. Crew SC next plays the Montreal Impact at MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday, June 24 with a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff. Enjoy half-off select beers (for supporters ages 21-and-over), Pepsi products, brats and pretzels through the 15th minute.
concession items subject to change
The Black & Gold welcome German Bundesliga-side and DFB Pokal-finalist Eintracht Frankfurt to MAPFRE Stadium for an international friendly on Monday, July 17. The match is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m.
