On Wednesday, the USMNT travelled to Prague to beat the Czech Republic 1-0. Brad Guzan and Nick Rimando combined for the collective shutout and prompted an absurd from MLS's site. (Last I checked, Rimando was at 60.5%.) While Rimando has superior footwork, Guzan is as good if not better in every category. He's taller, stronger, handles crosses better, catches more instead of swatting at shots, has better 1v1 technique, and can get from post to post quicker. People praise Rimando for his distribution, which, while it is good at times, is such a small part to goalkeeping and not that much better than Guzan's.
Rimando is a really good goalkeeper (it's a unbelievable that he's never won MLS Goalkeeper of the Year) but Guzan is coming into his prime and Rimando is thirty-five. On a side note, Rimando has the longest current streak of undefeated play for the US National Team, at 15 games (13-0-2) and him trading jerseys with Petr Čech after the game does bump up his street cred.
Top NCAA goalkeepers from last week:
- Tyler Miller, (Sr. Northwestern) - Set the school record for shutouts at Northwestern with his thirtieth clean sheet.
- Conor Leland, (Sr. Vermont) - Hard to follow a career mark like Miller's but Leland stopped a 1v1 and a penalty to preserve Vermont's 2-1 win.
- Ben LaCourse, (So. Oral Roberts) - Grabbed a shot out of the air like it was nothing and kept the game at 1-0, sealing Oral Roberts' victory against Missouri State (skip to 2:00).
- Chris Knaub, (Jr. Bryant) - Couldn't capture the win for Bryant but still had some good saves in the 3-2 loss against Canisius, including the cover save on the home page.
Moving to the professional game, Los Angeles Galaxy backup Brian Rowe had a needless shutout performance as his team tallied six goals against Colorado last weekend. Rowe is still largely unknown as he's sitting behind Jaime Penedo. Penedo's contract ends this year so don't be surprised if both Rowe and Penedo aren't sharing a locker room next season.
Both of FC Dallas' young, Mexican-American goalkeepers are on the move. Jesse Gonzalez is currently on a trip with the Mexico U20 National Team to China and Richard Sanchez seems to be finally leaving FC Dallas. While the deal was announced back in June that he was going to Tigres, he has been making the gameday bench for FC Dallas since. Sanchez kindly announced his departure on Twitter recently, in more than 140 characters...
“I want to take the time to thank FC Dallas for all that was given to me during my time there. From the people at the front office and the staff upstairs, to the coaches and trainers and kit-men, to my teammates, and all the way to the people that keep the stadium looking spectacular, I want to thank you for your friendship. To the fans and Dallas Guardians I say bye for now as I embark on a new journey with Tigres. Knowing that this beautiful game we call soccer has it’s twists and turns, I’m sure we’ll cross paths in the future!”
John McCarthy notched ten shutouts with the Rochester Rhinos and earned the team's Rookie of the Year award. McCarthy ended with the lowest GAA in the league and is a strong candidate for Goalkeeper of the Year. The Rhinos take on LA Galaxy II Saturday for the first round of the playoffs.
Josh Wicks has only allowed four goals in his last five games with AFC United. Wicks, who turns 31 in November, is captaining his team in Sweden's third division. AFC sit in first place and are aiming for promotion.
Steve Clark has apparently been doing this "Yes!" chant with some of the fans. I know nothing about it but I've seen about five different videos so I suppose it's somewhat common.
columbuscrew's video on Instagram
Pothunting reminded us that September 3rd was the 41st anniversary of the first American goalkeeper making the cover of Sports Illustrated. Bob Rigby earned six caps for the USMNT and was an unused goalkeeper at the 1972 Olympics. Similarly, keep an eye out for Tim Howard's enlightened face on Howler's sixth publication, out in October. Howard has also spent some time helping FIFA get their goalie gameplay better.