Ben Speas

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2014 (Columbus): Speas made 13 appearances: four starts and four substitute appearances in the central attacking midfield role and three additional starts and two substitute appearances at left wing. He recorded one goal and three assists. Speas made his season debut in a substitute appearance and recorded an assist on a corner kick that led to Agustin Viana’s goal at Toronto FC (May 31). He earned his first start of the season in the match at D.C. United (June 7). He started his first match of the season at left wing at New York (July 12). Speas started at right wing in the club’s international friendly against Crystal Palace FC (July 23). He appeared as a substitute at left wing versus the LA Galaxy (August 16) and tallied his first goal of the season. He was an unused substitute for Columbus’ postseason opener versus New England (November 1), but he he made his MLS Cup Playoffs debut by coming on as a second-half substitute in the second leg at New England (November 9). Speas started in both Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches in 2014 and recorded two assists -- he started and assisted on the Black & Gold’s opening goal in the 2-1 win over Indy Eleven in the Fourth Round (June 17) and started and assisted in the 4-2 loss in extra-time in the Fifth Round at Chicago (June 25).

2013 (Columbus): The Crew Homegrown Player made 19 appearances overall – including 10 starts in the midfield – while recording one goal and one assist in 2013. He secured his first career assist at Vancouver (March 9) on a Jairo Arrieta goal. His lone tally of the year came in just his fourth career start against San Jose (March 16) – the game-winner - which earned him the club’s fan voted ‘Goal of the Year’ honors. He started eight consecutive starts in the midfield from March 9 through April 20 and missed matches versus Toronto (May 18), Chicago (June 22), and Seattle (August 31) due to a left hamstring pull, pregame illness, and his own wedding, respectively. He returned to action in a substitute appearance against Chicago (September 21) and made three consecutive substitute appearances to finish the season against Sporting KC (October 5), at New England (October 19), and against New England (October 27). Speas scored three goals and three assists across nine appearances and eight starts in MLS Reserve League action and also added an assist in three starts in the midfield in the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

2012 (Columbus): Despite missing most of the season due to sports hernia surgery, Speas returned to make his MLS debut in the season finale on October 28 against Toronto FC. The rookie scored his first professional goal, a game-winner, in a friendly against Stoke City on July 24.

COLLEGE EXPERIENCE

Speas spent two years at Akron before transferring to the University of North Carolina. In total, he appeared in 76 matches with 40 starts during his three-year college career to score 11 goals and 16 assists. The Crew Soccer Academy product won back-to-back NCAA College Cups with Akron in 2010 and with UNC in 2011. He scored the gamewinner in the College Cup Final in 2011 and was named NCAA Men's College Cup MVP in 2011.

YOUTH EXPERIENCE

Speas was the eighth-ranked senior in the nation at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy as a senior, according to ESPN Rise.com. Also a U.S. national youth team veteran, Speas competed on the U-20, U-18 and U-17 National Teams. He was a two-time Parade All-American (`08, `07) and Two-time NSCAA High School Boys All-American (`08, `07). Speas was also a member of the Academy National Finals U-18 Columbus Crew Academy team. He recorded 14 goals and 10 assists as a sophomore (`06-'07) at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. During college, Speas helped Crew Juniors to multiple National Championships at the U-20 level.

ACQUIRED

Speas was signed as the Crew's third Homegrown Player on January 12, 2012.

PERSONAL

Speas is the son of Vance and Brenda Speas. He is married to his wife, Tricia, and owns a dog named Charlie. Speas’ favorite food to eat is Chipotle. Despite being a supporter of Manchester United, Speas’ role model is A.C. Milan midfielder Kaká and his favorite player is Chelsea FC midfielder Eden Hazard. His favorite soccer memory is when he won the 2011 NCAA National Championship as a member of the University of North Carolina squad. In the 76 games he played as a Tar Heel, Speas only lost three of those games.