Dayton grad Lalas Abubakar debuts for Columbus Crew

University of Dayton graduate Lalas Abubakar made his Major League Soccer Debut on Tuesday with the Columbus Crew. He started in a 1-0 victory against Minnesota United at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

“I’m really happy,” Abubakar said in postgame interview posted to the Crew’s Twitter account. “I feel all the patience I have had, it has paid off today by helping the team get a win and a shutout. I’m really glad I got the opportunity to play.”

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Abubakar, a native of Ghana, started 60 matches for the Dayton Flyers in three seasons. He was the Atlantic 10 Defender of the Year as a senior in 2016. He was also a National Soccer Coaches Association of American second-team scholar All-American. The Crew drafted him with the fifth pick in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft in January.

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While he had not played for the Crew this season until Tuesday, Abubakar appeared in five games for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the United Soccer League.

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The Crew (9-10-1) are in sixth place out of 11 teams in the MLS Eastern Conference

.@Alex_Stec_ caught up with @LALASABUBAKAR1 right after he helped secure a Fourth of July clean sheet on his @MLS debut. #CrewSC #MINvCLB pic.twitter.com/tUpJ7p87qb
— Columbus Crew SC (@ColumbusCrewSC) July 5, 2017