Fresh off another week of great MLS action, ISN columnist Philippe Chauveau continues his rating of MLS goalkeepers. Chauveau, a former collegiate keeper himself, will be completing this weekly column so ISN readers gain a better understanding of the goalkeeping profession.
Save of the Week: David Ousted vs. FC Dallas’ Michael Barrios
Mistake of the Week: Chris Seitz punching a cross onto his defender for an own goal
1. David Bingham
Bingham had himself a game last week against Dom Dwyer and Sporting Kansas City. Early in the game he recovered to tip a Graham Zusi chip over the bar, and with the amount of goalies getting chipped in the league he showed how to react to a chip. He also had a fantastic save on a Dom Dwyer header, and we’ve seen him score those this year. Bingham keeps his spot atop the rankings despite David Ousted’s monster game.
2. David Ousted
Vancouver beat FC Dallas 3-0, but he clearly was the reason that the Whitecaps were able to stay on top. A great save when it was still tied on a Maxi Urrutti volley kept Vancouver in it, and every shot directed at the goal seemed to find its way to an Ousted hand. In the second half, Ousted pulled off the save of the week as Michael Barrios got to the end of a cross in the six yard box, and because Ousted’s starting position was perfect, he was in the right spot to stop the shot. Yet, he still had to show extreme reaction speed to get a paw to Barrios’ attempt.
3. Andre Blake
This time, Blake wasn’t directly related to the Union win, although keeping a clean sheet is always important. He continues to look more comfortable in goal, hanging onto more shots and coming out for crosses more than usual – his athleticism continues to be his biggest weapon, but if he can continue to improve his technique, Blake’s rise won’t stop at the 3rd spot.
4. Nick Rimando
Rimando got pummeled by the LA Galaxy, who seem to finally be clicking. As usual, came up with a couple of good saves on 1v1 situations, and saved a Steven Gerrard penalty kick in the first half when the game was still close.
5. Stefan Frei
The save on Shkelzen Gashi’s penalty kick helps Frei rise up the table. He’s recovering the form that had him as one of the MLS’s best goalies last year. Frei is a big body that can move, and if he is able to repeat last year’s level of performance, the Sounders will be back in the hunt.
6. Bobby Shuttleworth
New England looked flat against DC United, perhaps missing the midfield spark they had from Jermaine Jones last year – he’s now sparking the Rapids up the table in the West. In any case, once again Shuttleworth made a couple of good diving saves, and wasn’t at fault for the goals.
7. Luis Robles
Not much to do since Orlando was pretty clinical, which is the best definition for second-year striker Cyle Larin.
8. Evan Bush
Despite the fact that Bush will probably have nightmares with Sebastian Giovinco, he actually held his own and made a couple of athletic saves.
9. Chris Seitz
His early season form has now tapered off, and he made a couple of mistakes in this game that might have cost FC Dallas the match. Yes, David Ousted was playing out of his mind on the other end but Seitz didn’t help by first punch a cross he should have caught onto his defender for an on goal, and then coming out of the goal standing up, without covering any angles on Kekuta Manneh’s third goal.
10. Brian Rowe
Didn’t have much work against RSL, although he was completely wrongsided on the penalty kick. He needs to keep his composure and make it hard for the attacker.
11. Tim Melia
Melia keeps dropping after another bad week. With Sporting dominating the match, Melia came out of the goal like a raging bull and completely disregarded Dawkins’ touch to the side, bringing him down on a very clumsy foul.
12. Josh Saunders
Saunders was out of position on CJ Sapong’s redirect goal, but granted that ball was going miles away from the goal if not for his touch. He did come up with a couple of good saves and NYCFC did look like the better side in the match.
13. Steve Clark
Came out quickly off his line to stop the tricky Giles Barnes from sneaking a ball under him. After Houston wend down a player, Clark did well communicating with his backline and keeping the clean sheet.
14. Adam Kwarasey
Did not play this week and will most likely sit out of the next couple of matches due to injury.
15. Joe Bendik
Big saves from the big Orlando City goalie, including one from point blank on an unorthodox Mike Grella volley – Bendik dove low across his body and parried it away from the goal, a perfect display of athleticism and technique. He also had over 5 saves for the second straight game.
16. Clint Irwin
The Didier Drogba led Montreal attack didn’t demand much from Irwin, who saw his MVP forward do a number on the Impact defenders.
17. Joe Willis
In his first game back, Tyler Deric looked confident until he was late coming out of his line and fouled Federico Higuain in the box, leading to a red card. Willis subbed in, and it looks like he’ll get at least another week to showcase his skills as a starting goalkeeper. He looked like he belonged the rest of the game, keeping his 10-man Houston in the game by holding onto basically every shot that came his way.
18. Travis Worra
Had no trouble with the New England attack apart from a Teal Bunbury volley that hit the cross bar 15 minutes into the game.
19. Zac MacMath
MacMath had a solid showing, no big mistakes rushing off his line like a madman this time. MacMath weathered the star-studded Seattle attack, and there was nothing he could do on Jordan Morris’ goal.
20. Matt Lampson
Did not play this week, gets bumped down because MacMath had a decent game against the Sounders
