University of North Carolina Athletics
Speas Signs With Columbus Crew
January 11, 2012 | Men's Soccer
Jan. 11, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Junior forward Ben Speas officially became a member of the Columbus Crew on Wednesday when the Stow, Ohio, native signed a homegrown contract. Speas helped lead the Tar Heels to the 2011 NCAA National Championship and was named Soccer America's National Player of the Year for his play as a Tar Heel.
Speas finished the year with seven goals and 10 assists to rank third on the team with 24 points for the year. The Stow, Ohio, native turned his game up to another level late in the year as he scored a pair of goals against Boston College in the ACC Championship to earn MVP honors at the ACC Tournament.
Speas kept it going in the NCAA Tournament where he converted the goal of the tournament to pace UNC in its 1-0 win over Charlotte in the national title game. For his late season efforts Speas became the first Tar Heel in school history to earn National Player of the Year honors as Soccer America awarded the junior forward with the honor.
During his time with the Crew Academy, Speas was part of three youth national championships, the 2010 U-19 USYS McGuire Cup title and back-to-back USL Super-20 titles in 2010 and 2011. He was also on the 2008 Crew Soccer Academy U-17/18 team that finished third at the Development Academy National Finals. Speas is also a U.S. national youth team veteran, having competed at the U-20, U-18 and U-17 levels.
Speas is the first Tar Heel to officially join a MLS team as seniors Matt Hedges and Kirk Urso along with junior Enzo Martinez find out their destiny during tomorrow's MLS SuperDraft. The SuperDraft will be televised live on ESPN2 with action getting underway at 12 noon ET.
