Brian Sylvestre. John McCarthy. Rais M'Bolhi. Andre Blake.
What do those players have in common? They have all started a game in net for the Philadelphia Union in 2015. In fact, since the team’s expansion season in 2010, the Philadelphia Union have rostered 17 goalkeepers. To put that in perspective, since 2010, Sporting KC has rostered just six goalkeepers.
So with only 17 days until the two teams square off in the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, one of the biggest questions on the minds of Union fans is: Who will feature in net against Sporting KC? Heading into the weekend, the obvious choice was John McCarthy.
The former USL goalkeeper has played 10 regular season games for the Union in addition to all four Open Cup matches. Even more impressive, McCarthy led the squad to two penalty kick victories during the tournament stopping four spot kicks in the process. It’s been a dream season for the 23-year-old goalkeeper, but after Saturday night’s loss to the Columbus Crew, Union head coach Jim Curtin was less than eager to crown McCarthy his starting goalkeeper for the September 30 match.
Was Curtin just posturing or is the first-year head coach truly undecided on his starting goalkeeper? With two regular season games remaining until the Cup Final, time is running out for the Union to make their decision.
