A battle of top teams in the Eastern conference saw Columbus Crew SC defender Harrison Afful earn a nod on MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Week for Week 15. Afful’s performance against the New York Red Bulls on a stormy Saturday evening helped the Black & Gold secure a point.
Afful played an important part in Crew SC’s dominant first half with an assist on Columbus’ goal — registering his first regular-season helper since June 17, 2017. Afful crossed from the endline to forward Gyasi Zardes, who headed it past Red Bulls’ goalkeeper Luis Robles. The Ghana native created four goal-scoring chances in the match and finished with 33 passes, one shot on goal and 54 touches on the ball.
This is Afful’s first MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week recognition for the 2018 season. The defender has 32 shots this season for Crew SC — doubling his 2017 total of 16— with eight shots on goal and has already registered one goal, surpassing his tally from the 2017 MLS regular season.
Next up, Crew SC hosts Atlanta United FC at MAPFRE Stadium on Wednesday June 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Crew SC takes a well-deserved break before continuing the season on the road at Los Angeles FC on Saturday June 23. The match kicks off at Banc of California Stadium at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Crew SC's 2018 MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Week honorees:
Week 1: Lalas Abubakar (D), Federico Higuain (M), Milton Valenzuela (D)
Week 2: Gyasi Zardes (F - Bench)
Week 3: N/A
Week 4: Gregg Berhalter (coach), Federico Higuain (M), Cristian Martinez (M), Pedro Santos (M - bench), Milton Valenzuela (D) Week 5: N/A
Week 6: N/A
Week 7: N/A
Week 8: N/A
Week 9: Mike Grella (M - bench)
Week 10: Lalas Abubakar (D), Milton Valenzuela (D - bench)
Week 11: Gregg Berhalter (coach), Gyasi Zardes (F), Zack Steffen (GK - bench)
Week 12: Jonathan Mensah (D)
Week 13: Artur (M), Josh Williams (D)
Week 14: Federico Higuain (M)
Week 15: Harrison Afful (D)
