Benjamin Sweat (born September 4, 1991) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a left-back.
.jpg) Sweat training with New York City FC in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Benjamin Sweat | ||
| Date of birth | September 4, 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Palm Harbor, Florida, U.S. | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Left-back | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2010–2013 | South Florida Bulls | 78 | (3) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012 | VSI Tampa Flames | 13 | (0) |
| 2013 | Reading United | 8 | (1) |
| 2014 | Columbus Crew | 1 | (0) |
| 2014 | → Dayton Dutch Lions (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 36 | (0) |
| 2017–2019 | New York City FC | 81 | (1) |
| 2020 | Inter Miami | 23 | (0) |
| 2021 | Austin FC | 2 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | Sporting Kansas City | 29 | (0) |
| 2023 | New England Revolution | 15 | (0) |
| Total | 215 | (2) | |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2010 | United States U20 | 1 | (0) |
| 2018 | United States | 2 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 6, 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of October 16, 2018 | |||
Career
editYouth and college
editSweat played soccer at Palm Harbor University High School and then went on to play college soccer at the University of South Florida between 2010 and 2013. Sweat still holds the record for most appearances in matches at South Florida.[2] While at college, Sweat also appeared for USL PDL clubs VSI Tampa Bay and Reading United AC.[3]
Professional
editSweat has earned experience while training with Swedish top flight club Djurgårdens IF Fotboll (2012 & 2013 summer). He also spent a summer in Czech Republic with SK Sigma Olomouc (2013 summer).
On January 16, 2014, Sweat was drafted in the first round (14th overall) of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft by Columbus Crew.[4]
Sweat was loaned out to Columbus Crew's USL Pro affiliate club Dayton Dutch Lions in May 2014 for a few matches. Sweat was given his first professional start on June 25, 2014, in the 5th round of the US Open Cup against Chicago Fire. He also played a half against English Premier league side Crystal Palace F.C. on July 23, 2014.[5]
After being with the first team inconsistently, Columbus Crew SC announced on February 9, 2015, that they had waived Sweat.
After being waived by Columbus, Sweat signed with NASL club Tampa Bay Rowdies on March 2, 2015.[6] He spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons with Tampa Bay, making 33 regular season appearances for the club before leaving at the conclusion of the 2016 season.
Sweat trialed with New York City FC during their 2017 pre-season, and was signed by the club on February 23, 2017.[7]
He signed a multi-year contract extension with New York City FC at the end of the 2017 season after being labeled one of the top fullbacks in the league that season.
On November 19, 2019, Sweat was selected by Inter Miami in the 2019 MLS Expansion Draft.[8]
On December 13, 2020, Sweat was traded to Austin FC ahead of their inaugural season.[9] Following the 2021 season, Sweat's contract option was declined by Austin.[10]
On April 5, 2023, Sporting Kansas City announced that Ben Sweat was being waived. This allows Sweat to become a free agent and sign freely with any club in MLS.[11]
On April 18, 2023, the New England Revolution announced they had signed Sweat through the 2023 season, with an option for 2024.[12] The Revolution announced on December 1, 2023, that they would not exercise Sweat's 2024 option.[13]
On March 21, 2024, Sweat announced his retirement from professional soccer.[14]
International
editSweat was called up for the USMNT for the first time in October 2018. He played in 2 games, against Colombia and Peru.
Career statistics
edit| Club | Season | League | Playoffs[a] | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| VSI Tampa Flames | 2012 | PDL | 13 | 0 | – | – | – | 13 | 0 | |||
| Reading United | 2013 | PDL | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 13 | 1 | |
| Columbus Crew | 2014 | MLS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | |
| Dayton Dutch Lions (loan) | 2014 | USL Pro | 7 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 7 | 0 | ||
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2015 | NASL | 26 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | – | 27 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | 7 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 | ||
| New York City FC | 2017 | MLS | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 29 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 32 | 0 | |||
| 2019 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 20 | 0 | |||
| Total | 72 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 1 | ||
| Inter Miami | 2020 | MLS | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 23 | 0 | ||
| Austin FC | 2021 | MLS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | |
| Career total | 157 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 176 | 2 | ||
- ^ Appearances in the PDL Playoffs and MLS Cup Playoffs
References
edit- ^ "Ben Sweat". Sporting Kansas City. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
- ^ "Ben Sweat Player Profile". University of South Florida. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
- ^ "Benjamin Sweat Stats". soccerstats.us. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
- ^ King, Andrew (January 19, 2014). "Columbus Crew confident that No. 14 overall pick Ben Sweat will be a "quality guy for years to come"". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
- ^ Schwepfinger, Ryan (May 15, 2014). "Ben Sweat recalled from Dayton". columbuscrewsc.com. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
- ^ "ROWDIES SIGN USF AND CHARGERS SC ALUM BEN SWEAT". Rowdies Soccer. March 2, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2015.
- ^ Booth, Mark (February 23, 2017). "Ben Sweat Signs for NYCFC". nycfc.com. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
- ^ "2019 Expansion Draft results: Inter Miami, Nashville SC make their picks". Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ "Austin FC make moves to build inaugural roster in half-day trade window | MLSSoccer.com".
- ^ "Austin FC Announce Roster Decisions Ahead of 2022 Season | Austin FC". austinfc.
- ^ "Sporting Kansas City waive defender Ben Sweat". MLS Soccer. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
- ^ "Revolution sign veteran MLS defender Ben Sweat". revolutionsoccer.net. April 18, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ "New England Revolution announce year-end roster moves". December 1, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ Kuhn, Mike (March 27, 2024). "Accross State Lines: Sweat Announces His Retirement". kcsoccerjournal.com. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ Ben Sweat at Soccerway
- ^ Ben Sweat at Major League Soccer
External links
edit- Ben Sweat at Major League Soccer
- Ben Sweat at Soccerway