Everybody Soccered - Week 33

I was going to wait until next week to post but with Howard's announcement of taking off time with the national team I was called into duty. Everyone is comparing his taking of leave to Donovan's sabbatical last year, which my thoughts on that subject are that is a really boring topic to spend time on.

So moving on, where does that leave the US? Howard has said that he is planning to return in September 2015, after the 2015 Gold Cup but well before the 2016 Copa America. Even though the winner of the 2013 Gold Cup didn't receive a bid to the following Confederations Cup, the US did fine without Howard in goal. Nick Rimando played very well in the five games he started in and even Sean Johnson held the fort down against Costa Rica. In World Cup Qualifying, Brad Guzan held up his end in by shutting out Mexico and Costa Rica. So we shouldn't be worried about his absence affecting the USMNT. However, there are two situations that are a little murky.

1. Who moves up on the depth chart? Make no mistake, a shaky goalkeeper will not make the World Cup roster. We saw Klinsmann dispel the myth of taking a younger player for experience by selecting Rimando over Sean Johnson as well as Tony Meola being the third stringer in 2002 when a then twenty-three year old goalie named Tim Howard was vying for the last spot. But the US has some time on their hands to figure out who will go in 2018. The goalkeepers we see in the next year should be ones that put the US in a position to win and can contribute to the next cycle. Rimando might help in the 2015 Gold Cup but I don't think he will still be competing for a roster spot in 2018 when he is 39. So who's left?

The popular selections are Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson, and Cody Cropper. Typically the USYNT tag is a bright one that goes without questioning. If a player can impress in one good game with the U17s or U20s, then they rate very high in people's book and receive many second chances later in their career. Even if they disappear for a bit, well they were still on the U20 team so they must have something left in the tank. On top of that, a lot of hope goes into extreme amounts of athleticism. If they have an explosive dive, then the rest should just fall in line, right?

The problem with the three goalkeepers is that they're still young. Their approaches to the game are all still developing. You'll hear a lot of talk about consistency being key for goalkeepers but that can mean a lot of different things. Truthfully, it's vague talk because it's tough pinning down what the issue is with the player. All three are incredibly different goalkeepers that are all battling different things that are inhibiting consistency. Cropper has had hand issues for a while. Where to keep them in certain situations, holding a shot, general shape, etc. Hamid's body shape is out of this world. Some times it's great and other times it hurts him. He's erratic on 1v1s and awkward situations with a ball bouncing in the box. You'll see a starfish-looking dive at the ball (although this year I've seen it less, to be honest). Johnson, like the other two, will have great stretches of games and saves but unlike the other two, he struggles not with technique but awareness. I've seen him be surprised by a shot far too often and watch the ball trickle into the net. The Open Cup semi is the most recent example. However the Fire are really bad this year so I won't dog him too harshly.

Up to now, their records don't warrant call ups at this moment. Their club careers aren't any more notable than others'. Cropper isn't exactly in line to get any starts with Southampton's first team as he's sitting fourth string and Hamid and Johnson, while starting in MLS, are looking for that consistency that pundits default to. Rest assured, all three will all have illustrious careers, I have no doubt, but they're still very young. (Reiterating: they are all good goalkeepers.) The faith in the USYNT tag is a bit much and we shouldn't be looking to develop goalkeepers on the international stage, that's the job of clubs. Once they're ready, then let's get them on the field. I understand wanting to take a closer look, and that's fine to call them into a camp to train with them, but there are several other older, less shaky goalkeepers waiting in the pool. 

(All that to say, here's a good article by Pablo Maurer on Bill Hamid and USMNT goalkeeper coach Chris Woods attesting to his potential.)

2. What happens when Howard returns? Howard knows he's taking a gamble with the depth chart. I can't imagine him doing anything but competing for the starting position when he returns but this looks like a changing of the guard situation. I can see Howard making the 2018 World Cup roster, but there's a lot of uncertainty in all of this. Perhaps September rolls around and Howard decides to retire from international play completely. Maybe he gets a little restless and comes back early. We don't know. Either way come September 2015, Klinsmann will go with the hot hand, and that takes into account club play.

Until then the US defense will have to pay attention to who is in goal. Guzan and Howard are not the same. Howard likes to insert himself into the game much more. He plays a significantly higher line than Guzan, who feels comfortable sitting back. Which one works better in our system? We're about to find out.

But since we're here let's take a look at Howard's first cap with the Men's National Team:

 

Luzenac Still Seeking Promotion - Oft forgotten French-American goalkeeper Quentin Westberg is in the middle of a battle for promotion, months after they thought they had earned it. Westberg's club, Luzenac AP (pronounced loos, not luhz) has been halted entrance to Ligue 2 because of financial issues. To read more into it I'll direct you to the Big Soccer forum, which has done a decent job of keeping up with Westberg and Luzenac. I know, I know, it's Big Soccer, but this thread does a better job of explaining the situation than I could. I'm just a goalieman, not a French sociologist.

I'll start you on page four so you can notice the time stamps. (Westberg signed with Luzenac in the summer of 2012 and being in the third division in France, we didn't hear too much about him here in America.) The next page takes a pretty big tangent (MLS vs. foreign leagues, bleh) but eventually it starts with the drama that's been ongoing since April of this year. If you don't feel like reading the whole thing, basically Luzenac is stuck in limbo and are waiting on a final ruling. Ligue 2 has already started their season without Luzenac so it's looking dim but that's not to say they're short of support to still join.

I know those signs are in French, but I think the point is clear, especially the last tweet. (Sorry to any children reading this.)

 

Jon Kempin and Sporting Kansas City's future - Sporting Kansas City had a string of injuries that led to them turning to twenty-one year old Jon Kempin, who was playing with third division Oklahoma City Energy FC just earlier this year. His entrance to MLS has not gone unnoticed. Kempin saved a penalty in his first game when he was subbed in for injured Andy Gruenebaum and earned MLS Save of the Week honors for the heroics.  A week later he won the award again with his 1v1 stop against Toronto FC. Watch Kempin retreat to his line as the long breakaway starts. He bides his time and makes quick, short adjustments, slowly attacking the ball. It's a great example of being patient and letting your positioning make the save instead of trying to recklessly solve it. Put the pressure on the shooter and cover what you can.

As if all that wasn't good enough, he has a great game against Real Esteli FC in the CONCACAF Champions League. It was a big nine days for Kempin.

Goal at 0:25, Saves at 1:12, 1:35, 1:55

With the Olympics coming up in 2016, I fully expect Kempin to make the roster. I don't think he'll start as USYNTs rarely bump their starting keeper down. But Sporting has a situation on their hands for 2015 with having three goalkeepers that are good enough to start in MLS. I could see them trying to off-load either Kronberg or Gruenebaum, push Kempin to backup, and let Kempin wait another year behind a veteran before elevating him to full-time. But keep an eye on Kempin. His demeanor and approach to the game is exactly what you're looking for in a starter in a professional league.

 

Top 10 NCAA Goalkeepers - I know there is a real uninterest from the public about the college game, quoting stifling player growth, but really how many 18-23 year old goalkeepers would you want starting in MLS? Maybe field players, sure, but goalies are different. I'll pull a quote from my interview with returning champion, Patrick Wall, about his perception of jumping from NCAA to MLS and why he's staying another year at Notre Dame.

“I’m going to stay for my fifth year at Notre Dame and try to develop more as a player and a person under the great staff we have. I looked at the MLS-option, I think that would be a great thing. I am very excited for the opportunity when that comes up but even if I were to sign in the next month or two, I would basically have two to three years to move up from a number three goalkeeping spot to a number two goalkeeping spot. And before I want to jump into that challenge, I want to make sure I’m as developed as I possibly can be.

The spring season for us is not exactly an easy down time. I think for a lot of programs, Spring is a little bit more of a relaxation time. For us it’s completely opposite. They’re killing us fitness-wise and we actually get some pretty good games in the spring as well. We play Indiana pretty much every year. We played the Mexican U-20 National Team, which was a great game. Then, for me personally, to get to train with an MLS team in the summer really helps me get ready for my season as well and to be a prepared player for the MLS, if that is what happens. There’s an eleven month cycle for me and fortunately I’m in the month where I get to rest. We start in January and work all the way through December.”
— Patrick Wall, Notre Dame Goalkeeper

So personally, I'm excited about this year. There are a lot of great goalkeepers in the college game, more so than I have listed, and this is their development stage.

“Wooo!!!”
— You

Yeah I know!! Thank you!

Here are my top ten college goalkeepers, all of which I expect to make noise at the next level.

1. Adam Grinwis (Michigan) - 65.8 (22.4)
2. Patrick Wall (Notre Dame) - 65.2 (23)
3. Spencer Richey (Washington) - 64.7 (22.3)
4. Alex Bono (Syracuse) - 64.6 (23.4)
5. Tomas Gomez (Georgetown) - 64 (21.3)
6. Tyler Miller (Northwestern) - 63 (21.5)
7. Charlie Lyon (Marquette) - 62.6 (22.4)
8. Paul Blanchette (Loyola Marymount) - 62.1 (20.4)
9. Matt Bersano (Oregon St) - 62 (22)
10. Chris Glodack (Clemson) - 61.9 (21.3)

 

U18 go undefeated in Czech Republic - A big ol' shout out to the U18s for topping Hungary, Czech Republic, and Ukraine in the final. Familiar name Jonathan Klinsmann won best goalkeeper at the tournament and JT Marcinkowski picked up one game, against Czech.

Everybody Soccered - Week 32

Nick Rimando now stands alone.

Nick Rimando is now the all-time shutout leader in MLS history. He reached his 113th shutout last week against DC United on August the 9th. Huge congratulations to him. He received a lot of kind words but his present from Brad Guzan and Tim Howard was equally appropriate as it was awesome.

Olympic hopeful Jon Kempin had a great MLS debut after Andy Gruenebaum injured his shoulder last weekend. Kempin made a penalty save against Vancouver. No word yet on if Gruenebaum will be good to go on Saturday versus Toronto but if he isn't able to, I wonder who SKC will get to sit the bench as their backup goalkeeper. Seventeen year old, Ryan Krutz or a quick free agent signing?

Ethan Horvath has had two recent starts with Molde's cleverly named reserve team, "Molde 2". The first game he was scored on three times against Levanger. Not his best outting but some tough shots. Then yesterday,  Roseborg's reserve team notched four goals on Molde 2, with Horvath in goal for the first three. The entire game is online but here are the things I noticed from Horvath's outing:

  • 0:05 - First goal, unable to see
  • 8:40 - Second goal, a big ol' LOL on the defender there
  • 12:20 - Not the best camera angle but Horvath stays big and makes a skate save, I think
  • 18:45 - Horvath explores outside his box and makes a quick trap with his chest then clears it when danger approaches
  • 25:25 - Third goal, not a whole lot for Horvath to do
  • 28:45 - Solid save
  • 33:00, 34:30, 36:40, 43:05 - All very quick distributions from Horvath. Some are in the middle of the field, which is typically advised against. The last one is pretty comical where Horvath passes right outside his box and his defender thinks it's going to someone else. The turnover doesn't result anything but Horvath throwing his hands up in a "come on!" expression was pretty great.

Conclusion: Shot stopping seems to come easily for Horvath but he may be a little to optimistic about his teammates' ability to trap and quickly play a ball in traffic. Also I'm concerned about lateral movement. He seems a little slow getting from post to post and quick shuffles. He's still young so I hope it is one of those growing things.

The U17s had a great tournament showing in Mexico. They ended up getting fourth but the team as a whole is very talented and fun to watch. The highlight on the goalkeeper end was William Pulisic subbing in for penalties against Colombia and making a big stop. Kevin Silva had some big saves in the tournament too and both had a good showing, all-in-all.

New York FC has already signed Josh Saunders and are apparently also looking at Michael Gspurning, a Seattle Sounders alum. Expect Gspurning to be the starter in the fall if this goes through. I don't think he'd come back to MLS to sit the bench.

John McCarthy is killing it in the GAA stat in the USL Pro. This is the same guy I was screaming MLS teams to draft last January but nooooo.

The U23s bested the Bahamas 5-1 earlier this month. Cody Cropper was in goal. Unfortuanately we don't have any video of Cropper outside of the goal so that said, his body movement is very odd on the goal. His hands are all over the place, which I think contributes to not being able to hold a shot relatively close to him. His jumpset is a bit extreme too. Still, just one clip so nothing to sink him on.

Columbus Crew loaned Brad Stuver to the Wilmington Hammerheads. He was with the Dayton Dutch Lions but no more. Not real exciting stuff, but there ya go.

Oh, forgot to mention this, but Justin Luthy had an excellent game in the Home Grown game in Portland. Jon Kempin won the MVP award but Luthy should have had it. Tested more often and with harder shots. Luthy, like McCarthy, went unsigned out of the draft but played his way on to the U23s. I could see him moving to the number two position next year.

I'm not a real big post-a-tweet-sort of guy but for Landon I'll make an exception.

Lastly, not really related to goalkeepers, I wrote about the struggles of soccer in Arkansas last week. After some really good response from Sam and Alan, I need to add that Arkansas' population is one of the major problems, something I forgot to mention. Arkansas is sitting around three million residents. Little Rock holds three-quarters of a million and Fayetteville only has a hundred grand, including the school's students. To put that in comparison, Dallas-Fort Worth has around seven million in the metroplex and even FC Dallas struggles to sellout regularly. Another point is the "sport shelf space", which I'm forgetting who originally had that idea but it wasn't me. But basically it's the idea that each area only has so many resources to give to sports and if another sport tries to enter the scene, there might not be enough space on the "shelf". So the Razorbacks own a lot of the shelf space with football, basketball, and baseball. But I've talked around and apparently the soccer bug has hit after the World Cup so we may have some news on the horizon for Arkansas.

Last minute additions:

  • I guess I missed this earlier in the summer but Keith Cardona and Santiago Castano were trailing with FC Liefering, a second tier team in Austria. Both keepers have NYRB connections. Cardona, who was the backup at the University of Maryland, ended up leaving Maryland and signing with FC Liefering while Castano is still in New York, I believe, as no new news has come out since June. You can see a picture of them jogging here. Woo.
  • David Bingham is getting un-loaned then re-loaned out to Norway. I imagine he wasn't thrilled to sit the bench in San Antonio. Might want to check to see who agreed with this comment...

Cover photo from Copa Mexico Naciones.

Top 100 American Goalkeepers (August 2014)

What a fun summer that was, right? Howard had a big game against Belgium, Manuel Neuer dazzled us with his hoover abilities, and Costa Rica's Keylor Navas did well enough to sign with some team in Spain. But with the conclusion of the World Cup, we can now focus on everyone's true love: American goalkeeping.

Everybody Soccer spotlight is on Adam Grinwis this month.

I know those aren't the best videos but it's all I could find/make. Adam is going into his senior year at the University of Michigan. Most recently his PDL team, the Michigan Bucks, won the PDL championship. If you're unfamiliar with the PDL, it's the main outlet for collegiate players to get playing time in the spring season, when the NCAA season has ended. (Although that could be changing soon.) Grinwis was the game's MVP and in a couple months you should see his name on MLS draft boards.

Top 100 American Goalkeepers
 

1. Tim Howard (Everton FC) - 77.8 (35.4)
2. Brad Guzan (Aston Villa) - 77.7 (29.9)
3. Brad Friedel (Tottenham Hotspur) - 71.9 (43.3)
3. Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake) - 71.9 (35.2)
5. Steve Clark (Columbus Crew) - 70.7 (28.3)
6. Joseph Bendik (Toronto FC) - 69.8 (25.3)
7. Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls) - 69.7 (30.3)
8. William Yarbrough (Leon) - 68.9 (25.4)
9. Troy Perkins (Montreal Impact) - 68.9 (33.1)
9. Andy Gruenebaum (Sporting Kansas City) - 68.9 (32.7)

11. Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo) - 68.8 (29.3)
11. Jon Busch (San Jose Earthquakes) - 68.8 (38)
13. Brian Rowe (Los Angeles Galaxy) - 68.8 (25.8)
14. Chris Seitz (FC Dallas) - 68.8 (27.4)
15. Dan Kennedy (Chivas USA) - 68.6 (32.1)
16. Brian Perk (Los Angeles Galaxy) - 68.5 (25.1)
17. Clint Irwin (Colorado Rapids) - 68.5 (25.3)
18. Matt Pickens (Tampa Bay Rowdies) - 68.3 (32.3)
19. Bill Hamid (DC United) - 68.2 (23.8)
20. Andrew Weber (Portland Timbers) - 68.2 (31)

21. Bobby Shuttleworth (New England Revolution) - 68.1 (27.3)
22. Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders) - 68 (28.3)
23. Joe Willis (DC United) - 68 (26)
24. David Bingham (San Antonio Scorpions) - 68 (24.8)
25. Diego Restrepo (Tampa Bay Rowdies) - 67.9 (26.5)
26. Alec Kann (Chicago Fire) - 67.9 (24)
27. Eric Kronberg (Sporting Kansas City) - 67.9 (31.1)
28. Quentin Westberg (US Luzenac) - 67.8 (28.3)
29. Zac MacMath (Philadelphia Union) - 67.7 (23)
30. Matt Van Oekel (Minnesota United FC) - 67.7 (27.9)

31. Ryan Meara (New York Red Bulls) - 67.5 (23.8)
32. Brad Knighton (New England Revolution) - 67.5 (29.5)
33. Jeff Attinella (Real Salt Lake) - 67.5 (25.9)
34. Andrew Dykstra (DC United) - 67.4 (28.6)
35. Caleb Patterson-Sewell (Gil Vicente FC) - 67.4 (27.3)
36. Tim Melia (Chivas USA) - 67.4 (27.4)
37. Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire) - 67.3 (25.3)
38. Kevin Piedrahita (Itagui FC) - 67.1 (23.2)
39. Tyler Deric (Houston Dynamo) - 67.1 (26)
40. Marcus Hahnemann (Seattle Sounders) - 67 (42.1)
40. Chris Konopka (Toronto FC) - 67 (29.3)

42. Joe Nasco (Colorado Rapids) - 66.9 (30.2)
42. David Yelldell (Bayern Leverkusen) - 66.9 (33.6)
44. Matt Pyzdrowski (Angelholms FF) - 66.8 (28)
45. Alex Horwath (Ljungskile SK) - 66.8 (27.4)
46. Jimmy Maurer (New York Cosmos) - 66.8 (26.8)
47. Brock Duckworth (Charlotte Eagles) - 66.7 (25.3)
48. John Berner (Colorado Rapids) - 66.4 (23.5)
49. Kyle Reynish (Chicago Fire) - 66.4 (30.8)
50. Mitch Hildebrandt (Minnesota United FC) - 66.3 (25.8)

51. Evan Newton (Arizona United) - 66.3 (26.3)
52. Evan Bush (Montreal Impact) - 66.3 (28.4)
53. Brian Holt (Philadelphia Union) - 66.2 (25.8)
54. Devala Gorrick (Ottawa Fury) - 66.2 (27.1)
55. Matt Lampson (Columbus Crew) - 66.2 (24.9)
56. Josh Ford (Seattle Sounders) - 66.1 (26.8)
57. Patrick McLain (OC Blues FC) - 66.1 (26)
58. Jon Kempin (Oklahoma City Energy FC) - 66.1 (21.3)
59. Austin Guerrero (Estudiantes de Altamira) - 66 (25.4)
60. Akira Fitzgerald (Carolina Railhawks) - 66 (27.1)

61. Charles Sanders (Waterford United FC) - 66 (24.8)
62. Nick Noble (Harrisburg City Islanders) - 65.9 (29.9)
63. Phil Tuttle (Wilmington Hammerheads) - 65.9 (26.8)
64. John McCarthy (Rochester Rhinos) - 65.8 (22.1)
65. Adam Grinwis (Michigan) - 65.7 (22.3)
66. Cody Mizell (Tampa Bay Rowdies) - 65.6 (22.9)
67. Lance Parker (FC Edmonton) - 65.5 (29)
68. Andrew Fontein (Minnesota United FC) - 65.4 (24.4)
69. Brandon Miller (Rochester Rhinos) - 65.4 (24.7)
70. Bryan Meredith (San Jose Earthquakes) - 65.3 (25)

71. Sean Kelley (Orlando City SC) - 65.2 (26.3)
72. Jeremy Vuolo (San Antonio Scorpions) - 65.2 (26.9)
73. Nick Shackelford (Los Angeles Galaxy II) - 65.2 (23.8)
74. Josh Saunders (San Antonio Scorpions) - 65.2 (33.4)
75. Ryan Taylor (Richmond Kickers) - 65.2 (24.2)
76. Patrick Wall (Notre Dame) - 65.1 (22.9)
77. Hunter Gilstrap (Pittsburgh Riverhounds) - 65.1 (31.3)
78. Cody Cropper (Southampton) - 65.1 (21.5)
79. Josh Wicks (AFC United) - 65 (30.8)
79. Jennings Jordan (Seattle Sounders) - 65 (29.3)

81. Paul Rachubka (Oldham Athletic) - 64.9 (33.3)
81. Nicolas Platter (Carolina Railhawks) - 64.9 (32.8)
83. Carl Woszczynski (Orlando City SC) - 64.8 (26.3)
84. Dominik Jakubek (Sacramento Republic) - 64.8 (34.9)
85. David Meves (Fort Lauderdale Strikers) - 64.8 (25.1)
86. Scott Goodwin (Carolina Railhawks) - 64.6 (23.8)
87. Spencer Richey (Washington) - 64.6 (22.3)
88. Alex Bono (Syracuse) - 64.5 (23.3)
88. Humberto Soriano (Arizona United) - 64.5 (23.3)
90. Cody Laurendi (Los Angeles Galaxy II) - 64.5 (26)
90. Patrick Lane (Karlstad BK) - 64.5 (26)

92. Tom Al Madon (Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv) - 64.5 (29.8)
93. Sheldon Parkinson (Brooklyn Italians) - 64.5 (24)
94. Sean Teepen (Dayton Dutch Lions FC) - 64.4 (23.3)
95. Trevor Spangenberg (Chivas USA) - 64.3 (23.3)
96. Carlos Rojas (CD Cruzl Azul) - 64.3 (24.4)
97. Lionel Brown (Fort Lauderdale Strikers) - 64.2 (26.9)
98. Jon Dawson (Indy Eleven) - 64.2 (23.4)
99. Kyle Zobeck (New York Cosmos) - 64.1 (24.5)
100. Matt Glaeser (Wilmington Hammerheads) - 64.1 (29.3)

The Top 100 welcomes Cody Cropper, Jon Dawson, and Trevor Spangenberg for the first time. Adam Grinwis and Kyle Zobeck return after a little bit of an absence.

Various American Goalkeeper News

  • Nick Rimando tied fellow UCLA alum Kevin Hartman's shutout record (112) this week. Rimando is paired with Bill Hamid for the all-star game roster.
  • Zach MacMath seems to be on the way out as Philadelphia has picked up yet another goalkeeper. After a positive World Cup performance, Algerian national team goalkeeper Raïs M'Bolhi was signed up the Union "over Champions League clubs". Eh. Either way MacMath will probably find himself in another city next year but I'd love to see the product of a MacMath who sat for a year or two. I think he could use a mental-reset as he's been starting MLS games since he was 20.
  • French-American Quentin Westberg's tiny Luzenac has a tall order in front of them this season. Luzenac, home of 650 residents, were promoted to France's second league last year.
  • Andy Greunebaum is back in the net for Kansas City with Eric Kronberg's hand injury.
  • Tim Howard has ruled out returning to MLS at the end of his career.
  • Julio Cesar is not returning to Toronto which makes us wonder why was he there in the first place? This is good news for Joe Bendik.
  • We saw Brad Friedel make an appearance in the MLS Summer Series. Friedel and Tottenham played against Seattle, Toronto, and Chicago.
  • Two U17 USYNTs took separate trips to Mexico and Denmark. William Pulisic did well in a 2-0 loss to Denmark in the Nordic Tourney and the team placed sixth overall in the tournament. The squad in Mexico (mostly different players but Pulisic did make the journey, teaming up with Kevin Silva) has qualified for the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over Mexico. Highlights to come, I'm sure.
  • Jon Kempin was selected for the MLS Homegrown game with Matt Lampson. I wish MLS would have selected a better opponent to play than the Portland U23s, the PDL winner would have been great, but I'm looking forward to watching Kempin in action.
  • William Yarbrough is leaning towards Mexico pretty heavily, by the looks of things.
  • David Yelldell (remember him?) had a sick double save on a penalty kick back in July.
  • Cody Cropper and Zack Steffen are the two goalkeepers traveling with the U23s to face the Bahamas. I doubt either will be tested in the game.
  • Scott Goodwin was a big reason why the Carolina Dynamo surpassed the Galaxy and Chivas in this year's US Open Cup. He had multiple saves in the penalty shootout versus Chivas and kept a clean sheet against the Galaxy.
  • Phil Saunders signed with a second tier Icelandic team and has been starting games, which is great. Other goalkeepers trying to make it across in Europe include University of Virginia alum Jeff Gal, who recently went to Poland, and Brian Billings is on the move as well.
  • Spencer Richey and the University of Washington travelled to Scandinavia and it sounds like Richey is back to 100%, thankfully.

Extra reading: