Columbus Crew Announce Club Awards to Conclude 2016 Season
Columbus Crew SC released the winners of its 2016 club awards as the MLS season comes to a close. Ethan Finlay earned the club’s OhioHealth Humanitarian of the Year
award, while Ola Kamara was named Columbus’ Golden Boot winner.
MLS Soccer News: Columbus Crew SC announced its 2016 club honors following the conclusion of the 2016 Major League Soccer (MLS) season. Midfielder Justin Meram earned the Barbasol Most Valuable Player award and newcomer Ola Kamara received the club’s Golden Boot honors.
Justin Meram – Barbasol Most Valuable Player
Crew SC six-year veteran Justin Meram recorded career-highs in the 2016 season, earning the club’s Barbasol Most Valuable Player honor. The midfielder is the Black & Gold’s longest tenured player and notched a career-best season in a number of statistics. Meram’s team-high 13 assists in 2016 more than doubled his next-best season of five assists in 2015. He also set career-highs in games played (33) and games started (31), making his 150th MLS and Crew SC appearance this campaign and his 100th career start as well. Columbus was undefeated when Meram scored this season with a 3-0-2 record, while recording a 6-2-3 record when the midfielder contributed an assist.
Ola Kamara – Golden Boot Winner
Ola Kamara proved to be a scoring threat in his first Major League Soccer season, scoring 16 goals in just 20 starts to earn him the club’s Golden Boot award. Kamara became just the fifth player in Crew SC history to record a 16-goal season. The goal-scorer also added two assists during the 2016 campaign. Nine of the Norwegian’s goals came in just four games, registering four multi-goal matches this season: one hat-trick and three braces.
Harrison Afful – Defender of the Year
Second-year Crew SC defender Harrison Afful showcased both his high defensive skills as well as his ability to support the offense in the 2016 MLS campaign, earning the club’s Defender of the Year award. Ranked as the MLS’ top right back in the league this season, the Ghana-native recorded 76 interceptions, three goals and three assists in 30 matches. Among all MLS defenders, Afful made the most touches in the opposing box (73), the most recoveries (203), the second-most overall touches (2,378) and converted the fourth-most successful passes (1,216). The right back was in the lineup for all eight of Columbus’ shutouts this season. His three goals and three assists were both tied for third-most among MLS defenders.
Ethan Finlay – OhioHealth Humanitarian of the Year
Ethan Finlay served as a board member for the Columbus Crew SC Foundation helping with several initiatives in Columbus this year. Through his work on the board, he helped launch a new futsal court with Soccer for Success programming and assisted in providing gear, equipment and instruction to Linden McKinley High School – the school fielded its first team in 10 years. Finlay’s efforts also earned him a nomination for Major League Soccer’s MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year award. 2016 marked the fifth year of community work in Columbus for Finlay.
Hector Jimenez – Kirk Urso Heart Award
Hector Jimenez becomes the fourth player to receive this award after being voted by his teammates. Jimenez was chosen as the player that best exemplified the qualities in a teammate and became “the heart” in the Black & Gold’s locker room. The California-native appeared in 25 matches and recorded 14 starts this season, while playing five different positions: right back, left back, right midfield, central attacking midfield and left midfield. He started and helped in two clean sheets for Crew SC this season, both against New England Revolution, while also recording an assist. Jimenez also made substitute appearances to help with three other Black & Gold clean sheets.
Devyn Etling – Crew SC Academy Player of the Year
In recognition of his bright future and his contributions for the Black & Gold’s U17/U18 Academy team, forward Devyn Etling was named the Crew SC Academy Player of the Year. An 18-year-old striker, Etling is verbally committed to Ohio State University and has competed for the Black & Gold since the U14 level. In 2013, Etling joined the U14 Academy team, where he participated in the U.S. Soccer Developmental Showcase event. Set to graduate from Ashland High School in 2017 with a 3.47 GPA, Etling completed the 2015-16 season with 21 appearances for the U17/U18s, recording 14 goals. He is set to serve as the captain of the U17/U18s during the 2016-17 season.
Photo Credit: Columbus Crew SC
