In conjunction with Major League Soccer, Columbus Crew SC today announced that goalkeeper Zack Steffen has been named to the Gameday Roster for the 2018 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target. The MLS All-Stars are set to take on Italian side Juventus of Serie A on Wednesday, August 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of Atlanta United FC (7:30 p.m. ET / ESPN, UniMas, TSN, TVA Sports). Steffen was selected to the Gameday Roster by Atlanta United FC and MLS All-Star Head Coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino.
Steffen, 23, is the 23rd player in Crew SC history to be named an MLS All-Star. The goalkeeper also becomes the sixth different player in five years to be named an MLS All-Star under Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, joining Michael Parkhurst (2014), Ethan Finlay (2015), Waylon Francis (2015), Kei Kamara (2015) and Wil Trapp (2016).
This is the first MLS All-Star nomination of Steffen’s MLS career, which began when he joined Crew SC as a Discovery Signing on July 22, 2016. Since joining the League, the 23-year-old has made 48 regular-season appearances (all starts), while making 128 saves and registering 16 shutouts. In 2018, Steffen has made 14 regular-season appearances (all starts), while making 30 saves and recording seven shutouts, which is tied with Sporting Kansas City’s Tim Melia for most shutouts in the 2018 MLS regular season.
Most recently, Steffen set a Black & Gold club record for longest shutout in regular-season action, maintaining a clean sheet for 525 minutes. The streak spanned from the 46th minute of a home match against the San Jose Earthquakes on April 28 to the 30th minute of a home contest against Atlanta United FC on June 13. Steffen’s 525-minute streak is also the eighth-longest regular-season shutout streak in MLS history.
Crew SC hosts Real Salt Lake at MAPFRE Stadium tomorrow, Saturday, June 30 (7:30 p.m. ET / CW Columbus, Spectrum Sports, BCSN2, CD102.5 FM, English and Spanish audio broadcasts available on ColumbusCrewSC.com).
