2017 NCAA Men's Goalkeeper Rankings

Cover photo belongs to Kris Wright

We're less than a month away from MLS's next combine and the college draft looms soon after, which kicks off January 19th. JT Marcinkowski has already announced his decision to leave the college game early, signing a homegrown contract with San Jose. The main seniors to take note are Jeff Caldwell, Eric Dick, and Ben Lundgaard, all of which are receiving high praise from across the board. Fifteen goalkeepers were selected over the last two drafts so we can probably expect around seven or eight this year.

Seniors

1. Jeff Caldwell (Virginia) - 21
2. Eric Dick (Butler) - 23
3. Ben Lundgaard (Virginia Tech) - 22
4. Paul Christensen (Portland) - 21
5. Liam Priestley (England, Missouri State) - 22
6. Mike Novotny (Eastern Illinois) - 21
7. Andrew Shepherd (Western Michigan) - 23
8. Matt Mozynski (Campbell) - 22
9. Scott Levene (Connecticut) - 22
10. Michael Nelson (SMU) - 22

Bill says: At one point or another, I've rotated the top three goalkeepers as the number one. Lundgaard actually won Goalkeeper of the Year over Caldwell in the ACC and while Eric Dick has the frame and approach MLS coaches are looking for, Caldwell's quickness and ability to solve awkward situations puts him at number one for me. He's a little undersized for what coaches are looking for but his scrappiness has the potential to really push his career forward. Novotny (highlights) and Mozynski (highlights) don't hail from traditional powerhouses but MLS has been kind to goalkeepers from smaller schools so don't rule them out. Priestley and Shepherd have found success in their extracurriculars, playing with Tottenham's academy teams and making USOC appearances with the Michigan Bucks, respectively.

Juniors

1. JT Marcinkowski (Georgetown) - 20 **
2. Todd Morton (Delaware) - 22
3. Bobby Edwards (Monmouth) - 22
4. Nick Gardner (Denver) - 22
5. Rashid Nuhu (Ghana, Fordham) - 22
6. Briley Guarneri (Colorado Mesa) - 20
7. Dakota Havlick (Santa Clara) - 20
8. Jimmy Hague (Michigan State) - 22
9. Elliott Rubio (Utah Valley) - 21
10. Ximo Miralles (Spain, Clemson) - 21

Bill says: It's a shame Marcinkowski's collegiate career ended on an own goal in overtime but the newest San Jose Earthquake has his mind on bigger things now. Nuhu, who has some of the best distribution in college soccer, was a large part of Fordham's Cinderella run this year, even converting a penalty over Duke's Will Pulisic in the shootout. Guarneri is the first non-D1 goalkeeper to be included here but after a quick look at his ability to cover the goalmouth, it's easy to see there's a strong chance of a bright future ahead of him. Havlick and Rubio split time in goal with their schools and will look to nail down the starting spot for 2018, although both will have talented sophomores to outplay.

Sophomores

1. Dayne St. Clair (Canada, Maryland) - 20
2. Kevin Silva (UCLA) - 19
3. Parker Siegfried (Ohio State) - 20
4. Jimmy Slayton (Hartford) - 20
5. Andreu Cases Mundet (Spain, Wake Forest) - 20
6. Andrew Verdi (Michigan) - 19
7. Drake Callender (California) - 20
8. Aron Runarsson (Iceland, Vermont) - 22
9. Mertcan Akar (Germany, Old Dominion) - 21
10. Elliot Panicco (Charlotte) - 20

Bill says: If you look back at the preseason rankings, you won't see St. Clair's name but the Canadian burst onto the college scene this year, as displayed with his wonderful performance against Indiana. Silva drops to the number two slot after an up and down season with UCLA, which ended with one win and seventeen goals conceded in the last seven games of the season. The USYNT product certainly has the talent to go to the next level but needs to find the consistency to get there first. Siegfried (Columbus), Verdi (Philadelphia), and Callender (San Jose) all have homegrown possibilities, although Columbus' future has been up in the air to say the least.

Freshmen

1. Will Pulisic (Duke) - 19
2. Chase Vosvick (Loyola Maryland) - 19
3. Alec Smir (North Carolina) - 18
4. Drew Romig (North Carolina) - 19
5. Noah Heim (Marquette) - 20
6. Gage Rogers (Oregon State) - 18
7. Ben Hale (Furman) - 19
8. Joe Wheelwright (Utah Valley) - 21
9. Andrew Pannenberg (Wake Forest) - 19
10. Trey Muse (Indiana) - 18

Bill says: Perhaps the most stinging finish to a season was Pulisic's, who had a very strong freshman year until a trickling ball slipped through his hands with less than four minutes against Fordham, forcing overtime and then penalties. But there's a reason Pulisic was with the U20s and Dortmund's youth program so don't expect this to derail Pulisic's development. Vosick has been a real joy to watch in goal as the freshman goalkeeper has shown no signs of being overwhelmed by the competition. North Carolina currently has two top goalkeepers on their squad and will have a tough situation on their hands next fall, although Smir saw a bulk of the action this year. Heim, Rogers, Wheelwright, and Pannenberg each split time this year but have the ability to take over a starting role in their respective programs.

Past Collegiate Goalkeeper Rankings
2014 (final)
2015 (preseason and final)
2016 (preseason and final)
2017 (preseason)

2017 NCAA Women's Goalkeeper Rankings

Cover photo belongs to Shane Lardinois

As the women's collegiate season comes to an end, a number of seniors are looking to keep their careers going. Last year we saw three goalkeepers selected in the NWSL draft and with Casey Murphy's announcement that she won't be returning for her senior year, it'll be a crowded field fighting for a spot in the NWSL. Murphy joins EJ Proctor, Lauren Clem, Emily Boyd, Courtney Brosnan, and Bella Geist as likely goalkeepers to hear their names called come draft day. The 2018 NWSL College Draft is on January 18th and features 40 picks between ten teams.

Seniors

1. EJ Proctor (Duke) - 21
2. Lauren Clem (Northwestern) - 21
3. Emily Boyd (California) - 21
4. Kaelyn Johns (Dayton) - 20
5. Katie Hatziyianis (Binghamton) - 21
6. Courtney Brosnan (Syracuse) - 22
7. Cassie Miller (Florida State) - 22
8. Caitlyn Clem (Wisconsin) - 23
9. Catalina Perez (Colombia, Mississippi State) - 23
10. Kat Elliott (South Florida) - 21

Bill says: While Proctor doesn't possess the ideal size for a goalkeeper, it hasn't held her back yet as she's led Duke on deep tournament runs for the last three years. Clem and Boyd are more of the typical American goalkeepers with a little more height and strength to their game. World Cup veteran Catalina Perez transferred to Mississippi State for her last year of eligibility, conceding only 19 goals in 18 games and earning 1st Team All-SEC. Johns (highlights vs. Davidson) and Hatziyianis (vs. Siena) are likely floating under the radar but have shown the decision making and agility to be able to cover the goal. Also keep an eye out for Oregon State goalkeeper Bella Geist who has spent time with the U23s earlier this year.

Juniors

1. Lainey Burdett (Arizona) - 20
2. Ella Dederick (Washington State) - 21
3. Casey Murphy (Rutgers) - 21 **
4. Shae Yanez (Tennessee) - 20
5. Marnie Merritt (Mississippi) - 21
6. Rose Chandler (Penn State) - 21
7. Sydney Wootten (NC State) - 20
8. Alison Jahansouz (Stanford) - 21
9. Erin Scott (Campbell) - 20
10. Melissa Lowder (Santa Clara) - 20

Bill says: Easily the biggest news from the class is Casey Murphy's decision to leave college early. The 1st Team All-American goalkeeper and USYNT product has shown some positive and negative moments in her career but if she can iron out her footwork she'll find success at the next level. Dederick is probably the most aggressive goalkeeper in all of college soccer but she makes it work for herself. In contrast, Burdett and Merritt are two goalkeepers that opt to keep their feet under them to make the save. Chandler and Jahansouz met in the quarterfinals this year in a lopsided affair. If Chandler tweaks her approach to her angle play this off-season, expect a much different outcome if the two teams meet again next year.

Sophomores

1. Rylee Foster (Canada, West Virginia) - 19
2. Mandy McGlynn (Virginia Tech) - 19
3. Jalen Tompkins (Colorado) - 20
4. Evangeline Soucie (Kentucky) - 19
5. Jaelyn Cunningham (Illinois) - 19
6. Katie Lund (TCU) - 21
7. Mikayla Krzeczowski (South Carolina) - 19
8. Haley Smith (Canada, Illinois State) - 19
9. Teagan Micah (Australia, UCLA) - 20
T-10. Lauren Rood (Stanford) - 20
T-10. Sam Miller (Lehigh) - 19

Bill says: Foster rebounded from a rough outing in last year's U20 World Cup to earn 2nd Team All-Big 12, right behind TCU's Katie Lund. Lund and McGlynn will have spent time with the U23 and U20 teams by the end of the year, respectively. Krzeczowski led South Carolina to a NCAA Semifinal appearance and while Micah found herself in the Championship match, the Australian international probably wishes she could have the first goal back. Rood split time with Jahansouz this year but both goalkeepers return to Stanford for the 2018 season so it'll be interesting to see if they continue to split time. Miller already has 36 starts to her name, allowing only 23 goals over the two years.

Freshmen

1. Laurel Ivory (Virginia) - 18
2. Hillary Beall (Michigan) - 18
3. Brooke Heinsohn (Duke) - 19
4. Kaylie Collins (USC) - 19
5. Lysianne Proulx (Canada, Syracuse) - 18
6. Sydney Schneider (Jamaica, UNC Wilmington) - 18
7. Olivia Sekany (California) - 18
8. Lauren Brzykcy (UCLA) - 18
9. Ashley Orkus (Tennessee) - 18
10. McKinley Crone (Oklahoma) - 18

Bill says: We still have a number of goalkeepers who have yet to prove themselves but Sekany, Brzykcy, and Orkus all have USYNT experience and will look for an opportunity to show their quality over the next year. Laurel Ivory, who turned 18 in August, had a wonderful season with UVA and was rewarded with a call-up with the U20s. Proulx has started with Canada's U20s and U17s while Schneider has already played against the USYNT, starting for Jamaica's during the 2016 U17 World Cup qualifying matches and could likely see them again in the 2018 U20 qualifying.

Past Collegiate Goalkeeper Rankings

2015: Preseason and Final
2016: Preseason and Final
2017: Preseason

Matt Bernard Interview - id2 Goalkeeper Coach on Player Development and the Modern Keeper

cover photo belongs to Ivanka Budnik

You have a hand in a number of different organizations. Where is the majority of your time spent? Is id2 the bulk of your time or is it on the club side?

I live outside Sacramento, in Northern California. I worked up until April with the Sacramento Republic Academy and currently with the San Juan Soccer Club U14 Development Academy where I coach two teams. For US Club Soccer, I am actually a full-time employee and work as a Membership Service Representative for the West Coast. Our job is multifaceted but in short we are tasked with developing leagues, expanding US Club Soccer’s membership, and assisting our members or potential members. But long, long before that, in 2006, I started doing id2 camps. So I’ve been doing id2 camps for the last ten or eleven years. We have generally four to five camps per year and I try to be at as many as I can.

More information about the ID2 program's player identification process can be found here: http://usclubsoccer.org/programs/player-identification/id2-program/

And you travel overseas with them when they go abroad on tours as well?

I’ve had two back surgeries in the last eight months so I wasn’t able to go to Spain this last year but I was on the four previous international trips. I have been twice to Spain and then once to Italy and Argentina. On those tours (I was on), the players have had the chance to compete against Barcelona, Real Madrid, Girona, Siena, Fiorentina, Inter Milan, Juventus, Velez Sarsfield, San Lorenzo, and Boca Juniors. Those are just the trips I went on, there have been other opponents in Holland, Germany, Scotland, and England.

Tell me a little bit about your approach with your goalkeepers. You work with younger goalkeepers so how do you handle the mental and technical side with these goalkeepers when traveling overseas? Surely going to another country isn’t like playing another weekend game, right?

Absolutely. So the first piece is our camps, where we have the kids come in. Generally they come in regionally. All they have to do is get there and the rest is free. We have them for four days and in that we spend a lot of time in and out of the field. We get to know them from a personal perspective a little bit and obviously try to impact them as much as we in a short amount of time. We try to get as good of an evaluation on them as we can to make our selections for our international trip.

We’re at a point now where we can’t have a full-time developmental academy player come into any of our id2 camps because US Soccer does not allow that. So now we are largely focused on players outside of the DA, which opens some doors for some guys who wouldn’t have otherwise been considered.

Within that, we obviously are looking at how they are as players or goalkeepers off the field. One of the things we really try to [communicate with] them is that “We’re taking you, all expenses paid, across the world. And if we have a guy who is a knucklehead *laughs* that’s problematic for us. That’s problematic for them.” Thankfully we’ve never had to send anyone home [while overseas]. So we’re really interested in how they are as people and how they can act in a group setting when mom and dad aren’t there. And it’s a lot to ask 12 and 13 year olds, right? Being away from home, being in a hotel, not having somebody sit on top of them every minute of every day.

From a goalkeeping perspective, we’re looking at guys who are confident in what they do. Maybe a little bit of a personality where they’re not afraid to have a voice. We really want to play good football so we’re building out of the back. The guys have to have good qualities with their feet and overall distribution to be considered within our group. If they don’t they struggle and we’ve had some guys who struggled, with at least that piece of the game. And we will give them some tactical information if we know an opponent is going to press higher, or play in a certain way.

I think any goalkeeper, regardless of age, will have a certain level of nerves when they walk into La Masia or Juventus and know they are playing against some of the best players in Europe or the world. We generally try to keep it light for the players and not add more pressure to them than they already have in their heads. These experiences for young men are invaluable in the long run. We want them to look back and know they enjoyed it and put out their best effort.

I was trying to think of goalkeepers who have come through id2 and all I was familiar with was Alex Budnik who is with the U17s.

Kevin Silva, USYNT goalkeeper and current starter for UCLA

Yeah Alex went to Italy with us, Hunter Pinho was also on that trip. They were both very good. If we go way back, we had Wade Hamilton. There’s Kendall McIntosh. Carlos Avilez out of FC Dallas came with us to Spain. And I actually worked with the USYNT with the '99 age group so I was around Carlos and the '99 goalkeeper pool for a couple of years. Kevin Silva played on the 2011 and 2012 id2 National Selection teams. He’s played with USYNT for years now, including the U-17 Nike International Friendlies in 2014.

Pay-to-play is obviously a big issue within US Soccer so does id2 get more lower income players without the hurdles of high payments? I’m curious on the incoming players.

Sure. So when it started 12, 13 years ago now, it was “Hey we want to help US Soccer outside the normal mainstream clubs and we don’t care about the financial piece.” Id2 camps are a major undertaking by US Club Soccer and a major expense but we feel it brings value and helps to get guys and girls experiences that they otherwise weren’t able to get. So for us, we’re open to anybody.

There’s a recommendation process and then a selection process of who gets brought into the initial regional camps. And as I said before, the only costs [for the player and their family] is getting there. Once they get there, US Club Soccer pays for four days of hotel, food, coaches, trainers, and Nike provides them with everything they could ever need outside of cleats. So for a 12-13 year old kid, it’s a pretty cool opportunity to see different coaches and we also 99% of the time have someone from US Soccer there evaluating and scouting players. So yeah, I wish it was available when I was a kid *laughs* because we spent a lot of money on ODP. And it was a great experience, but if there was a free option I’m sure my parents would have much preferred that.

You’ve worked with goalkeepers from a variety of ages. As we move into this next generation of modern goalkeepers, is there something that stands out about their game from where they excel and where they fall a little short? Are there notable differences between their development and yours?

I think you have a lot of kids who are probably technically farther along than many of us were growing up, because they have access to more training and they have access to more camps. You know, there’s just more stuff out there for them, from a training perspective.

Not to sound old, but the mentality may be lacking in some of them. When the game gets hard, you have to be brave and throw your body on the line. As well as, and I’ve been dealing with a couple of these recently, when you have guys who aren’t getting a lot of playing time or they’re in a situation where they have to compete for playing time, it’s a challenge that a lot of players aren’t used to at this point. From a goalkeeping perspective, you have a fine balance of needing to get games but also needing to be in an environment where you’re getting pushed and not just “the guy” playing every game.

I think the next generation have also been inundated with video and images of their favorite goalkeeper. They can work to emulate Navas, De Gea, or Neuer just like field players want to be Ronaldo or Messi. There are lots of positives and some negatives that come with that. The time these pros have put in to their technique and physical qualities is an unknown to most of them.

You have more goalkeeper trainers than there ever was before, but not as much structure or education out there for those that are trainers. There are businesses, camps, video training, etc. I think that you miss details when you aren’t in a consistent training environment with a long term plan. You can say you want to be like any of the top goalkeepers in the world but do you have a plan of how to get there? It’s not an easy journey and it can be very expensive.

So with that in mind, how do you approach practices and training to best address these growing goalkeepers? Or what’s something you focus more or less on that other goalkeeper coaches don’t?

*laughs* This is a good one. I’m going to try to not stick my foot in my mouth or alienate anyone.

Yeah, don’t name any names. *laughs*

I’m more of a goalkeeper coach than a goalkeeper trainer. I would much prefer to work with a goalkeeper in a team or functional group setting than in a 1-on-1 training. I generally try to stay away from training that isn’t realistic to the game. Flying for balls that you can move your feet to is a big pet peeve of mine. Stay on your feet as much as possible. We spend a lot of time on distribution techniques, from the ground, the hand, sidewinders, etc.

I am also a big believer in the goalkeepers doing as much of the serving of the ball as possible. This helps them to improve their striking of the ball, crossing, etc. We as goalkeeper coaches don’t need to serve every ball. We are done playing and can be better served watching the goalkeeper than trying to critique them while striking the ball as hard as we can. I always emphasize being fundamentally sound, limiting extra movements that make you slower or take your energy or weight in the wrong direction.

I think there is a time and a place for a lot of stuff but I try to steer more towards game-related training. So, not jumping off of boxes, not tied to straps, because there’s a place for that stuff on a physical perspective but I don’t know if it’s inside the goal. We do a lot of stuff that forces goalkeepers to make decisions that after they make a save they have to make a distribution. Generally, we try to do it in a game-like, team-like setting as much as we can, to try to create more realistic situations.

You did a good job of not throwing anyone under the bus. That was a very political answer. *laughs* You’ve done more on the men’s side but you’ve spent time on the women’s side as well, correct?

Yeah, I’ve worked as a women’s college goalkeeper coach for multiple places. I’ve overseen multiple goalkeeper programs where I’m in charge of both sides.

So how do you handle both sides? Where are there similarities and where do you have to coach differently?

I think the challenge for me as a man, I approach the game as how I think of it from my own perspective of being a 6’4” male. So it’s a challenge to think like a 5’2” boy or girl, right? And to think of the positional challenges that they face that I can’t personally say that I went through, or remember going through. So I try to think of the game as each specific person because me being 6’4”, I can be a little higher off my line than a kid who’s 5’8”. I can get away with covering more space because I have longer arms or whatever that piece. So I try to think of that as much as possible.

For the girls I coach, I don’t treat any of them a whole lot differently because, one, women don’t like that and, two, it doesn’t serve them any purpose. The game is the same. What I would say is that the female goalkeeper has a tendency to - and I’m obviously being really general - struggle more with aerial service. You know, reading the flight of the ball, taking the ball out of the air, taking the ball out of traffic. So in my time that I’ve spent with female goalkeepers, I spend a lot of time on that and I think it’s probably their largest area where they can improve. If you look at the collegiate game, there are so many challenges where they have to be available or be prepared for the aerial ball. I’ve talked to a number of college coaches and they say that’s the biggest issue they have with goalkeepers. With anything that’s up over their head, if they’re good, then they’re going to be more successful [as a whole] than others.

2017 NCAA Soccer Bracket Challenge

If you're on your phone, click here to see the standings in a pdf.

The Deadline to play is
1:00 PM (ET) Thursday, November 16th.

Welcome back to Everybody Soccer's fourth annual NCAA Soccer Bracket Challenge. Last year Sarah was one of three to pick the correct champion as her bracket ran away with a new all-time record in the bracket challenge. Fortunately for you, there are no roll over points and everyone sets back to zero. Admission is free and the only prize is bragging rights. Student-athletes and the elderly are all welcome to play!

What Is the NCAA Tournament?

Every year NCAA soccer concludes their season with a 48 team tournament. 24 conference representatives are selected by either winning their respective conference or tournament. The remaining 24 spots are filled by teams earning at-large bids, regardless of conference affiliation. The first round features 32 teams facing off while the second round introduces the 16 seeded teams who were given a bye past the first round.

Click here to see the 2017 bracket

What Is the Bracket Challenge?

The bracket challenge is a free-to-enter competition with no prize so anyone can play. Simply make your predictions on each game in the national tournament then submit it before the first game kicks off, on Thursday afternoon. The winner will be determined by who scores the most points. You can score a maximum of 176 points total (32 each round, except the first which is only 16). The rounds are weighted as such:

Round 1 - 1 point (16 games)
Round 2 - 2 point (16 games)
Round 3 - 4 points (8 games)
Quarterfinals - 8 points (4 games)
Semifinals - 16 points
Final - 32 points

How to Play

There are a couple of different ways to submit a bracket.

1. I have created a fancy interactive tool through Microsoft Excel but unfortunately does not work on phones. (You can only use it on a desktop or laptop computer.) 

• Click here to go to view the bracket template.
• Underneath "2017 NCAA Soccer Bracket Challenge Template" in the top left, click
  • File > Download As > Microsoft Excel (.xslx)
• The spreadsheet will download to your computer. Fill out column D, the blue and green cells. The rest of the document will automatically update itself. The spreadsheet has formulas to double check accuracy and spelling, so make sure you end up with smiley faces in the purple column.
• In the green column at the top, enter your name, state or country you represent, bracket name (can be anything serious or silly), and your twitter handle to appear on the scoreboard.
• Email me the file at: everybodysoccer@yahoo.com or tweet me @letsallsoccer
• If something goes terribly wrong or you mess up the document, just go back to the link to re-download the document and start over.

2. You can either download the bracket and edit it on your phone or computer. You can email me the final product at everybodysoccer@yahoo.com or tweet a picture @letsallsoccer.

Click here to view the printable bracket

3. If you're having trouble downloading the bracket, you can always write down all your picks on a napkin, take a picture of it, and send it my way. It doesn't matter if you write it in crayon or spell it out with macaroni art, as long as I can read each pick, you're in!

Send in brackets to:
everybodysoccer@yahoo.com
or
@letsallsoccer

Deadline Is 1:00 PM (ET)
Thursday, November 16th.

 

Resources

RPIs and Schedules - Dan Gaucho has a great site for all your RPI and scheduling needs.

Media Coverage - Top Drawer Soccer has multiple articles on the tournament, rankings, and players to watch for.

History - Take a look at each school's history with the tournament. Teams were given points for how many rounds they went (Round Pts) and if they held a seed (Seed Pts).  "+/-" is gauging if they overperform or underperform in the tournament given their seed history.

Selection Show - Watch a brief recap on each team's season as they unveil the bracket.

Lastly, here are a few stats on how far average seeds advance in the tournament. Second seeds are the most successful while 14 seeds (who start in the second round) only advance half the time.

Performance by Seed
avg number of rounds completed, 1 to 7

1 - 4.2
2 - 5.7
3 - 4.3
4 - 3.4
5 - 3.7
6 - 3.3
7 - 3.3
8 - 4.1
9 - 3.2
10 - 3.0
11 - 3.1
12 - 3.2
13 - 3.0
14 - 2.5
15 - 2.6
16 - 3.2
unseeded - 1.7