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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ethan Finlay, a 2008 Marshfield High School graduate, was named as an injury replacement for the Major League Soccer All-Star team.
Finlay, a midfielder for the Columbus Crew SC, leads MLS with 12 assists and has also added seven goals this season. The Crew is 8-7-7 and in second place in the MLS’ Eastern Conference.
Finlay and Crew teammate Waylon Francis, a defender, were added to the 22-man gameday roster on Monday, and will join teammate Kei Kamara in the game as the MLS All-Stars play Tottenham Hotspur of the Barclays Premier League at 8 p.m. Wednesday. The game will be televised on Fox Sports 1.
Finlay and Francis are both first-time all-stars.
“It’s an incredible honor, it is extremely humbling,” Finlay said. “It is great after a great start of the first part of our campaign to be rewarded, as well as two other guys to be rewarded. I think it is a true testament to what we are doing here in Columbus.
“I was excited. I think I was speechless in the moment, I was pretty short on the phone with (Crew coach) Gregg (Berhalter) and I think he actually expected me to be a little more excited. He actually texted me a little bit after and sent me a nice little note, which was nice, but I was extremely excited. Most of the night I was kind of speechless, but like I said, it is a great honor.”
Finlay said he was quick to call his parents, Brent and Julie, with the news.
“My girlfriend happened to be sitting there and she knew something was up, but my first call was to my parents,” Finlay said. “My mom and my dad were actually up on vacation in Wisconsin for a family reunion, so word spread pretty quickly up there.”
The Columbus Crew SC communications department contributed information for this story.