Ben Zemanski (born May 12, 1988 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American retired soccer player and current assistant coach for the Portland Pilots.

Ben Zemanski
Zemanski playing for Pittsburgh Riverhounds in 2018
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Zemanski
Date of birth (1988-05-12) May 12, 1988 (age 35)
Place of birth Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
2006–2009 Akron Zips
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2009 Cleveland Internationals 24 (5)
2010–2012 Chivas USA 72 (2)
2013–2017 Portland Timbers 61 (1)
2017Portland Timbers 2 (loan) 1 (0)
2018 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 24 (2)
Managerial career
2019– Portland Pilots (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:06, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

Career edit

College and amateur edit

Zemanski attended the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, where he was a 2005 NSCAA All-American, and played college soccer at the University of Akron. He was named the Zips' Newcomer of the Year in 2006, was named to the All-MAC Second Team and was an Academic All-MAC honoree as a junior in 2008, and was named to the CoSida Academic All-America Third Team, the All-Mid-American Conference Second Team, the MAC Academic Team, and was one of ten finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award as a senior in 2009.

During his college years Zemanski also played for the Cleveland Internationals in the USL Premier Development League.[1]

Professional edit

Zemanski was drafted in the third round (forty-seventh overall) of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by Chivas USA.[2] He made his professional debut on April 17, 2010, in a game against Houston Dynamo,[3] and scored his first professional goal on the opening day of the 2011 MLS season, a 3–2 defeat to Sporting Kansas City.[4]

 
Zemanski fending off FC Cincinnati's Corben Bone in a 2018 match

On March 5, 2018, Zemanski signed with Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the United Soccer League for a one-year contract.[5]

On May 26, 2019, Zemanski announced his retirement from professional soccer.[6]

Coaching edit

Three days after announcing his retirement, Zemanski was announced as an assistant coach for the Portland Pilots.[7]

Honors edit

Club edit

Portland Timbers

References edit

  1. ^ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". www.uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29.
  2. ^ 2010 MLS SuperDraft Archived March 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Chivas USA rookie Zemanski mixed over debut[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Bravo's debut double for Sporting sinks Chivas USA Archived 2011-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Riverhounds SC signs midfielder Ben Zemanski". Pittsburgh Riverhounds. March 5, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  6. ^ Zemanski, Ben. "A decade I will cherish forever". Twitter.
  7. ^ Zemanski, Ben (29 May 2019). "Pilots Add Ben Zemanski as an Assistant Coach". PortlandPilots.com. University of Portland Athletics. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  8. ^ "Goals, screw-ups, stats and more: Everything great from the MLS Cup Final". 6 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Portland Timbers become first Cascadia club to reach the MLS Cup: "We want to win the big one"". MLSsoccer.com. 2015-11-29. Retrieved 2019-04-06.

External links edit