The Union are starting the 2023 season the way it ended the 2022 campaign: With news about a former goalie.
Friday, that meant the departure of Matt Freese, the Homegrown and Episcopal Academy grad who was traded to New York City FC. The headline number on the return is up to $750,000, though more than half of that is in possible incentives. All the Union receive in 2023 is $200,000 in general allocation money, plus another $150,000 in 2024 GAM. The Union retain a percentage of a future transfer fee involving the 24-year-old.
“We want to thank Matt for his hard work and contributions on and off the field with the Philadelphia Union,” sporting director Ernst Tanner said in a team statement. “As a homegrown player, we are proud of what Matt has become and feel this is the best move for the player at this time in order for him to be able to continue to grow and have a chance to earn a starting position. As great of a player he is, he is an even better young man with a bright future ahead.”
Though still young for a goalie, the years without playing are starting to pile up for Freese. He signed in Dec. 2018 as the Union’s 10th Homegrown player, after two seasons at Harvard. He played for Episcopal and the Union Academy, back when splitting time was allowed, in high school. But Freese has been stuck behind Andre Blake, the three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, limited to just one match with the Union (in the U.S. Open Cup) in 2021.
He has made 13 MLS appearances in four seasons. He did get a run with Union II in MLS Next Pro last year, with 15 regular-season starts and one in the playoffs. Among his notable moments with the Union were a shutout in the clincher for the Supporters’ Shield in 2020, with Blake injured, and a loss in the 2021 Eastern Conference final against NYCFC, with Blake among a dozen players in COVID-19 protocol.
About that playoff game: The Union and NYCFC have met in each of the last two Eastern Conference finals. The Union beat them last season to reach MLS Cup final, only to lose to a former Union backup who left to find playing time elsewhere, in John McCarthy.
Freese is likely to compete for the No. 1 job for NYCFC. The club declined to re-sign MLS All-Star and U.S. national team goalie Sean Johnson, who Friday inked a free-agent deal with Toronto FC. Freese is the most experienced goalie on the rebuilt Cityzens’ roster – Luis Barraza has five games with NYCFC, on the books since 2019, and Cody Mizell is a 31-year-old career minor-leaguer.
The Freese deal ends a flurry of moves this week, the Union previously acquiring midfielder Joaquin Torres from Montreal and defender Damion Lowe from Inter Miami.
Source: Berkshire mont
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