Columbus Crew SC today announced roster updates as the club continues its preseason in preparation for the 2016 Major League Soccer campaign. Crew SC announced that the club has waived defender Sergio Campbell and midfielder Romain Gall. In addition, unsigned 2016 MLS SuperDraft selections Vincent Cicciarelli and Kyle Parker will not remain with the club this preseason, while SuperDraft selections Chase Minter and Marshall Hollingsworth along with trialist Matt Pacifici will continue to compete for a roster spot ahead of traveling to Arizona to participate in the fifth annual Desert Diamond Cup, held February 15-27.
“Each MLS preseason presents roster size and salary cap challenges when building our team for the upcoming year and with that unfortunately comes difficult roster decisions,” said Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter. “We wish Kyle, Romain, Sergio and Vincent the best in the next chapter of their careers and thank them for their contributions to the club.”
Campbell, 24, made one regular-season appearance for the Black & Gold after joining the club as the 19th overall selection in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft in Philadelphia. Gall, 21, originally joined Crew SC and made three MLS regular-season appearances for the club in 2014. Parker was drafted in the Second Round (31st overall) and Cicciarelli was selected in the Third Round (60th overall) of this year’s MLS SuperDraft.
Second Round selections Minter (21st overall) and Hollingsworth (41st overall) continue to train with the club and participated with the Black & Gold during the club's first preseason camp in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. Pacifici, a goalkeeper formerly of Davidson College, also trained with the club as a trialist during that camp.
Following today's transactions, Crew SC's active roster now stands at 24, pending the receipt of the International Transfer Certificate and P-1 Visa for forward Ola Kamara.
GOALKEEPERS (2): Steve Clark, Brad Stuver
DEFENDERS (9): Harrison Afful, Corey Ashe, Chad Barson, Waylon Francis, Hector Jimenez, Michael Parkhurst, Gaston Sauro, Amro Tarek, Tyson Wahl
MIDFIELDERS (10): Ethan Finlay, Federico Higuain, Emil Larsen, Cedrick Mabwati, Justin Meram, Mohammed Saeid, Rodrigo Saravia, Ben Swanson, Tony Tchani, Wil Trapp
FORWARDS (3): Conor Casey, Kei Kamara, Ola Kamara
With the unsigned players Minter, Hollingsworth and Pacifici all remaining in camp, the Black & Gold's preseason roster in totality stands at 27 players.
The Black & Gold begin their 21st season on Sunday, March 6 at Portland and return home for the Opening Match at MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday, March 12 against Philadelphia. Single-match tickets for available sections at all Black & Gold regular-season home matches in 2016 are now on sale to the general public. Tickets are available through ColumbusCrewSC.com, by calling a Crew SC ticket representative at 614-447-2739 or by visiting Ticketmaster.com.
TRANSACTIONS: Columbus Crew SC waived defender Sergio Campbell and midfielder Romain Gall on February 12, 2016.
