Major League Soccer has announced the 2015 schedule, and despite Michigan not having a MLS team, there are plenty of avid soccer supporters that follow the game and especially enjoy following fellow Michiganders in the pros.
Columbus Crew most notably has a few of those players which include starting Goalkeeper Steve Clark, who had an outstanding inaugural season in the MLS in starting all 34 games and went 14-10-10 with a 1.24 goals against average which eight of those were shutouts. Clark is a Mason, Michigan native who had a standout college career at Oakland University as well as with the PDL Michigan Bucks. He was named League's Save of the Week after their win over Montreal and is also infamous for leading his "Yes!" chant with the fans after their games and helped his team clinch a playoff spot in his first season.
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View: MLS 2015 Schedule
View: Columbus Crew 2015 schedule
Crew also have midfielder extraordinaire Justin Meram who hails from Shelby Township and the University of Michigan and earned back to back Second Team All-Big Ten honors as well as being named National Junior College Player of the Year honors in his first two collegiate years at Yavapai College. He was also elected to the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 2012 and recently had his high school jersey No. 9 retired back in Michigan at Utica Eisenhower in September of 2014. Meram had a career best year with the Crew scoring eight goals and assisting in four in his fourth season with the Crew.
Meram's time with the Crew will continue but his dream became a reality when he was called up to the Iraq National team this year and is currently playing with them in the AFC Asian Cup in Australia after playing friendlies in Dubai and Australia. The matches will run from January 9th to the 31st and will be live streamed in America on OneWorldSports.com. Justin's team Iraq will play on January 12th at 6pm Australian time against Jordan in Group D, January 16th at 8pm against Japan and January 20th at 8pm against Palestine. The quarter final schedule will be on Jan 22nd and 23rd, the semi-finals to be held the 26th and 27th with the final match on January 31st. Not to be outdone in his professional career this year, Meram obtained another dream in his personal life by getting engaged to his long time love Annie Sidwell this Fall.
Adam Bedell is another essential part of the Columbus Crew squad as a towering forward whose presence is felt on the pitch. Bedell is from Livonia, Michigan and was a Horizon League Player of the Year player while playing in his college career at the University of Detroit Mercy. Adam continued on to then play with the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) team Detroit City FC and helped to them to a 1st place finish that season in the Great Lakes Division with a record of 11-1-0. He scored two goals for the Crew in this rookie season and one was the opening goal against Crystal Palace FC in an international friendly match and made his first MLS Cup Playoff appearance in November against New England Revolution. Adam also had time in the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament against Indy Eleven in June of this year.
There will be another Michigander joining the ranks of the MLS as Michigan State's Fatai Alashe, who is from Northville Michigan, was one of eight college seniors signed this week with an early MLS bid and contract prior to the draft. The MSU captain received All-American and All-Big Ten and All-Region honors and played in every match in the 2014 season as well as 80 in his career as a Spartan.
Michigan also has a few college players that have been invited to the MLS combine this weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. where they will hope to make a good impression and become selected in the upcoming 2015 SuperDraft on January 15th. Those players are Tyler Arnone from Michigan and NPSL Detroit City FC, Adam Montague from Michigan State and Chicago Fire PDL, and Dzenan Catic who was the NAIA and PDL Player of the Year from Davenport University and the Michigan Bucks. Another PDL Michigan Bucks player, Zach Steinberger from Butler University has also been invited to the combine.
The NPSL is also holding a combine this weekend in Fort Lauderdale hoping for professional coaches to scout their top players during their tournament which includes Detroit City FC's Zach Schewee and Lansing United's Cody Archibald (Oakland University), Tyler Pasher and Godwin Addai.
Coverage of soccer in Michigan from college, PDL, NPSL and Michiganders in the Pros (USL and MLS) can be found on ClickOnDetroit.com/soccer throughout the year and @Local4Sports and @KellyHaapala.