CHESTER — No goalkeeper takes the field worrying about who his backup is that day, but that process was more laborious for Andrew Rick Saturday.
Rick walked onto Subaru Park for warmups as his understudy, Pierce Holbrook, was being carried off after suffering an apparent leg injury. Holbrook was already in the squad on an emergency basis thanks to upheaval in the Union’s goalkeeping room.
His injury meant Rick would operate without a reserve. Worse, he’d have to do so with an hour to compartmentalize the jarring experience of watching his colleague go down.
That adversity magnified the Union’s game control and first clean sheet since July 12 in a 4-0 handling of the Chicago Fire, a result that moves the Union (16-6-6, 54 points) back to first place in MLS.
“I’m very grateful to say that I play professional soccer, and I think no matter what stage my life I was in, whenever I step on the field, all the problems go away,” Rick said. “For me, it’s just about channeling that energy into, whether it’s catching the ball or pushing it wide or whatever it is, just getting it out of my system now and I can think about it later.”
Backup goalies generally don’t factor into games. It’s happened about a dozen times in Union history, the most recent instance last week’s hamstring injury to Andre Blake that pressed Rick into duty in New York. The absence of a reserve shouldn’t weigh on the starter.
But it’s been a chaotic week. Blake’s injury will keep him out a couple of weeks. Monday, the Union completed a deal to loan third-stringer Oliver Semmle to USL Championship club North Carolina FC.
That wasn’t seen as a problem since the Union could freely call up Union II goalies to probably not play. Holbrook, signed in June after a career at the United States Naval Academy, was the first choice.
But then came warmups. The Union had no update on the severity postgame, but it looked sufficiently grave for coach Bradley Carnell to dedicate the effort to Holbrook.
“We give him the call-up, and unfortunately in the warmup, he goes down and buckles something in his knee,” Carnell said. “We have no diagnosis as yet. I’m sure we’ll give that a due course. But the guys, we’re gutted for Pierce, we wish him all the best.”
The Union didn’t have another eligible goalie in the building – Union II’s other goalie, Academy product Mike Sheridan, is the remaining option, though he wasn’t in attendance, anticipating he’d play for Union II Sunday afternoon.
That left Nate Harriel as the emergency backup.
“There were jokes made to lighten the mood,” Rick said. “I’ve seen Nate play keeper so I trust him. He’s actually surprisingly good.”
Once the game started, Rick tried to put it all to the side. There might have been a slight exhale in the stadium each time he leapt after a ball and got to feet unscathed. But Rick made the conscious effort to not look at it that way.
“It doesn’t really change much,” he said. “As much as it stings to see a great guy take that hit right before the warmup, I just have to stay focused, prepare for the game. It’s difficult, but there’s nothing I can do but move forward.”
Rick played six matches last year, forced into duty when Blake suffered a succession of leg injuries and Semmle proved less than convincing. Just 19, Rick has 18 games of MLS experience. Saturday was his fifth clean sheet of the season in 11 starts. Blake also has five shutouts this season.
“It’s just experience,” Rick said. “Last year, I was making my third appearance. Now I have maybe 20 under my belt. So it’s a little bit more to build into it. It’s difficult when I step on the field and I only have three games, the relationships might not be there with some of those guys. But now that I’ve played with them for an extended period of time, we have that trust and relationship for it to be more comfortable.”
Rick had to make two saves, none particularly difficult. The Union limited the Fire to seven shot attempts and 0.21 xG. The best chance was a rip from Sergio Oregel from 30 yards that hit the post in the second half.
Carnell described the pregame change as “galvanizing.” The Union have allowed one goal in each of the last five league games. By no means have they played poorly defensively: Since late May, they’ve conceded nine times in 13 games, and their 26 goals in 28 matches is the best in MLS.
They just haven’t stitched together a complete, error-free 90-minute performance to get that zero until Saturday. Doing so under the conditions was especially heartening.
“We get dealt a tough hand tonight before the game, but that didn’t sway us with our focus from the game plan,” Carnell said. “From the start to halftime to the end of the game, I was just really proud of the boys, really speechless.”
Source: Berkshire mont