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Josh Saunders

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Puerto Rican footballer (born 1981) For other people named Josh Saunders, see Josh Saunders (disambiguation).

Josh Saunders
Saunders with Los Angeles Galaxy in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-03-02) March 2, 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth Grants Pass, Oregon
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1999–2000 Cal State Fullerton Titans
2001–2002 California Golden Bears
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003 San Jose Earthquakes 0 (0)
2003 → Portland Timbers (loan) 16 (0)
2004 Portland Timbers 24 (0)
2005–2006 Los Angeles Galaxy 0 (0)
2005–2006 → Portland Timbers (loan) 50 (0)
2007 Puerto Rico Islanders 22 (0)
2008 Miami FC 27 (0)
2008 → LA Galaxy (loan) 3 (0)
2009–2012 LA Galaxy 53 (0)
2013 Real Salt Lake 3 (0)
2014–2016 New York City 66 (0)
2014 → San Antonio Scorpions (loan) 15 (0)
2017 Orlando City 0 (0)
2017 → Orlando City B (loan) 1 (0)
International career
2002 United States U23 1 (0)
2008 Puerto Rico 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Josh Saunders (born March 2, 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in Major League Soccer. Born in the metropolitan United States, he represented Puerto Rico at international level.

College career

Saunders, the younger brother of Shawn Saunders, spent the final two seasons of his collegiate career at Berkeley, after spending the previous two at California State University, Fullerton. He was named a First Team All-Pac-10 selection in each of his two seasons with the Golden Bears, and during his senior season he became the first keeper ever to be named Pac-10 Player of the Year. He has a B.A. in American studies.

Professional career

Saunders with Galaxy

After being selected in the fourth round of the 2003 MLS SuperDraft Saunders made the roster of the San Jose Earthquakes, but did not appear in an official match. Instead, Saunders played on loan with the Portland Timbers in the USL First Division, where he played every minute of his 16 games, allowing only 15 goals, giving him a 0.90 GAA for the 2003 season. The next year, he started 24 games and posted a 1.11 GAA with six shutouts. Chief among his feats was a 363-minute scoreless streak, which, until recently, was the longest in Timbers history.

Saunders joined Los Angeles Galaxy in 2005 as third-choice keeper behind Kevin Hartman and Steve Cronin, but again failed to appear in a first team game, logged only 15 minutes as a substitute in a game for the Galaxy's reserves. In 2007, Saunders and three other players were waived from the LA Galaxy. Some bloggers suspected this was due to the massive expense of acquiring soccer star David Beckham, and despite a successful pre-season trial with Chicago Fire, signed for the Puerto Rico Islanders for the 2007 season. He made his debut for the Islanders in a 2–1 victory over the Rochester Raging Rhinos on April 14, 2007.

On April 11, 2008, Saunders signed with Miami FC, and subsequently made 27 appearances for the Florida team, until he was loaned to Los Angeles Galaxy in September 2008 for the remainder of the MLS season. Saunders signed a permanent contract with Galaxy in early 2009, and was expected to serve as understudy to Donovan Ricketts.

On November 22, 2009, he came on in the 2nd half in relief of the injured Ricketts during the 2009 MLS Cup. Despite holding Real Salt Lake scoreless for the remaining 26 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time, Saunders was unable to guide the Galaxy to their 3rd MLS Cup title when he could stop only two of seven Salt Lake penalty attempts.

Saunders had an impressive season during 2011, putting in commanding performances in the Galaxy's goal in the absence of Ricketts, who was out for most of the season with a long-term injury. In 2012, he guided Galaxy to victory in MLS Cup 2012 helping the club win their 4th MLS Cup in history and first back-to-back championships.

On February 22, 2013, Saunders contract with Galaxy expired and it was not renewed due to the arrival of Carlo Cudicini. After requesting to join the preseason camp of Real Salt Lake, Saunders saw his first minutes with the Claret and Cobalt in a preseason win over the Galaxy. He was later signed as a backup for Nick Rimando. During Rimando's absences for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Saunders made 2 starts, but tore his ACL on July 13 against FC Dallas and missed the rest of the season, and his option was declined following the season.

On July 10, 2014, it was confirmed that Saunders would sign for MLS expansion franchise New York City FC on a free transfer, joining the San Antonio Scorpions on loan until the end of 2014. It was also confirmed that he would join New York City's sister club Manchester City in their tour of Scotland.

Saunders was traded by NYCFC to Orlando City on January 27, 2017, in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft. Saunders' contract option was not renewed by Orlando City following the 2017 season.

International career

In 2008, Saunders made his debut with the Puerto Rican national team, and is now considered to have Puerto Rican sporting nationality. Prior to his international switch, Saunders made an appearance for the U.S. U-23 national team in 2002 against Canada.

Career statistics

As of 13 November 2016
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League League Cup US Open Cup North America Total
League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
San Jose Earthquakes 2003 MLS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
LA Galaxy 2005 MLS 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2006 MLS 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 0 0
2008 MLS 3 0 — 0 0 — 3 0
2009 MLS 6 0 1 0 0 0 — 7 0
2010 MLS 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 4 0
2011 MLS 19 0 4 0 1 0 6 0 30 0
2012 MLS 27 0 6 0 0 0 3 0 36 0
Total 56 0 11 0 3 0 10 0 80 0
Real Salt Lake 2013 MLS 3 0 0 0 3 0 — 6 0
San Antonio Scorpions 2014 NASL 15 0 — 0 0 — 15 0
New York City FC 2015 MLS 33 0 — 0 0 — 33 0
2016 MLS 33 0 0 0 0 0 — 33 0
Total 66 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 66 0
Career total 140 0 11 0 12 0 10 0 173 0

Honors

San Jose Earthquakes

Portland Timbers (USL)

Los Angeles Galaxy

Real Salt Lake

  • Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship: 2013

San Antonio Scorpions

Individual

References

  1. "Los Angeles Galaxy: News: Article". Archived from the original on February 10, 2008. Retrieved February 27, 2007. Los Angeles Galaxy Media Relations, "Los Angeles Galaxy waive four players" January 2, 2007
  2. Soccerjones.com, "ReAL Salt Lake, I’ve Got A Keeper For You" February 21, 2007
  3. "Chicago Fire: News: 02/13/2007". Archived from the original on February 20, 2007. Retrieved February 27, 2007. Chicago Fire Media Relations, "Scoreless draw for Fire vs. Crew" February 13, 2007
  4. "Real Salt Lake signs GK Josh Saunders, MF Khari Stephenson". RealSaltLake.com. February 22, 2013. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  5. Kamrani, Christopher (December 9, 2013). "Soccer: Real Salt Lake declines options on four players". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  6. Padilla, Janine (July 10, 2014). "NYCFC signs goalkeeper Josh Saunders". New York City FC.
  7. "Orlando City Acquires Goalkeeper Josh Saunders from NYCFC | Orlando City".
  8. "Orlando City SC Announces 2017 End-of-Season Roster Update | Orlando City".
  9. "U-23s Down Canada 2-0 on Two Eskandarian Goals - U.S. Soccer". Archived from the original on August 22, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  10. "Josh Saunders | MLSsoccer.com".
  11. "Josh Saunders Profile". Soccerway. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

External links

Pac-12 Conference Men's Soccer Player of the Year
Player of the Year (2000–2023)
Defensive Player of the Year (2014–2023)
Offensive Player of the Year (2021–2023)
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