Columbus Crew SC defenders Harrison Afful and Jonathan Mensah have been nominated for Major League Soccer's Defender of the Year Award alongside 31 other Major League Soccer players.
Afful signed with Crew SC as a Discovery Signing on July 30, 2015. This season, the Ghana native has played and started in 31 matches, totaling two goals and five assists, nearly twice his previous assist career high of three with two of them coming as game-winners. His second goal of the season came against New York City FC and was nominated for MLSsoccer.com’s Goal of the Week.
Mensah was acquired by Crew SC as a Designated Player via a Discovery Signing on January 3, 2017. The Ghana native has scored one goal for Columbus this season and has registered 19 total shots and 33 tackles. Mensah has appeared in 27 games and has twice been named to MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Week.
Players, technical staffers (technical directors, GMs, and coaches) and a select group of national and regional media began the voting process on Monday, Oct. 15, and the award finalists will be announced on Oct. 31.
Read more about all of Crew SC's 13 nominations for year-end awards, as well as the full release from MLS.
