From Cape Cod to Charleston: A Goalkeeper's Odyssey -Welcome Christian Garner

Welcome to Cannon Crew, a weekly podcast discussing the Charleston Battery.

Your host, Granite, will be joined by other defenders of the fleet from the Black and yellow supporters section, and together they will help fortify and conquer.

They are the Cannon Crew.

Welcome to the can and Crew podcast.

I am Granite, and as always, I'm joined by Ryan.

How you doing, Ryan?

Doing fantastic, Granite.

We got a little special guest today, cg.

You might have seen it between his sticks a couple times for the Battery.

First, wanted to talk to you just about your growing up and.

Absolutely.

First off, football or soccer, which.

What do you refer to it as?

I'm American at heart.

Soccer.

It's always been soccer for me.

So growing up Massachusetts, Yeah, it's a.

It's an interesting soccer scene up there.

I'd say, you know, you compare it to the Virginias of the country or the hotbeds down in Florida.

Now California, it's not close to what they got going on there, but it's pretty steady.

You know, growing up, I started playing for the local club, the local town team, and then, you know, going out of middle school.

There's not many opportunities where I'm from on Cape Cod, so you kind of have to leave Cape Cod to find those opportunities.

And that's kind of what you start doing at middle school age, to play at a higher level.

And so, you know, eventually just started making my way around the state playing for the ODP Olympic Development Program and stuff like that throughout my middle school and high school journey.

So did you play club ball when you were younger?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So played club soccer up Massachusetts for a club called nefc.

Pretty big club up there.

Do well in the national scene, but never, never academy now.

Oh, got you.

Okay.

And so then from there, from high school, you went to a school up there called Brooks, is that right?

Yep.

Yeah.

So I went to a really private school up in North Andover, Massachusetts, called Brooks School Historic Soccer Program.

Some really big names like Charlie Davies have come out of there.

I don't know if you know him, former national team guy, but it was a really great experience.

Loved it there for four years.

Met some of my best friends and, you know, did fairly well.

Had some looks going into the college world, but not many, but, yeah, it was a great experience.

So were you always a keeper or did you.

Yeah, so growing up, I played a little bit of center back.

My dad was one of my first coaches, actually, so, like, he put me at center back, and I was a bigger child.

I was a little on the chubbier side because I hated Running.

And so around like the 1112 year old age, I was like, you know, goalies don't run that much.

Like you could stand back there and you know, it'd be enjoyable, but you don't have to run as much.

So that's kind of what the transition was.

On top of that, I have three older brothers.

They all play different sports, baseball, lacrosse, football.

And so growing up, I just had good hand eye coordination and kind of one thing led to another and it stuck.

That's kind of my short journey there.

Similar journey for you, Ryan.

Pretty much person gets injured in the game and the coach comes over and says he wants to go and go on.

Your teammates are like hyping you up thinking that you should be the guy and you think it's a great idea, so you volunteer yourself and then the rest.

I'm.

Yeah, stuck in between the sticks for then on out.

Nice.

So did your older brothers, because I'm the older brother in my family and I used to beat my little brother mercilessly until he became my size and was a wrestler at state level.

And then the odds kind of changed.

So brothers help shape you as a keeper?

Yeah, 100%.

I mean, my two oldest brothers are a little bit older, so the age gap was a little more.

So they kind of beat me a little bit more than I beat them.

And then my third oldest brother, who's only three years older than me, I caught up to him.

By the age of 10 or 12, I was kicking his butt more than he was kicking mine.

And that was when the rivalries really started.

But yeah, they definitely helped shape me.

Just seasoning you for shots, coming in at a billion miles an hour.

Exactly.

You grow up pretty quick when you got some older brothers, you just, you get adjusted to it pretty fast.

The speed of play, the physicality, all of that.

Them taking no shit from you either.

Exactly.

No whines here for it, right?

Exactly.

You can't go cry to mom when they're gone.

Exactly.

So after high school, you went on to undergrad.

Yeah.

So, you know, like I said, played for a club called NEFC during my time at Brooks and did well there.

The club won a national championship while I was there, you know, a few state championships, so we were solid.

Ended up having six or seven guys go Division 1 to really, really good schools.

Yeah.

And so it was a great experience, but I didn't get the looks I thought I deserved.

You know, I had no offers coming out of high school, so was really looking at the Division 3 route.

And you Know, had some walk on opportunities.

And that's what I took at Boston College, you know, a chance to prove myself.

Head coach there told me, you know, you're walking on.

You'll be the fourth or fifth string goalkeeper your freshman year and, you know, you can come here and work hard, but you're probably not gonna see any field time.

And I said, you know, fine.

I bet on myself.

And it was a great experience.

Obviously it's a great education on top of everything.

So it was a win, win in that situation.

So going into that situation, yeah, advising you because we have a couple high school kids that listen, who was advising you?

I'm not getting any looks.

Where should I go?

What should I do next?

Parent, professional player?

Or were your parents guiding you or the coaches?

So I guess there's two sides of it.

There's, you know, the academic side of things, you want to further yourself with a higher education, get the best education possible.

And then on the soccer, sporting side of it, you want to play at the highest level possible and really push yourself.

So on the academic front, you know, I have school advisors and stuff like that.

But more so than anything, my parents were really big proponents of, you know, finding the best school possible.

And that's kind of what led me to Boston College more than anything was just the education side of it.

And then on the sporting side of it, soccer was.

I really had no guidance.

Like I said, growing up on Cape Cod, it's pretty rural.

You know, my town has population of 6,000 people, really small, no clubs within an hour and a half.

So we're driving two hours for club practices a few days a week.

But yeah, so didn't really have many opportunities as a kid in the club soccer world.

And so it was really just me finding my own path and kind of just, I'd say doing it as I go, you know, not looking too far of the future.

Never had aspirations to play professionally.

Growing up just wasn't even in my realm of possibilities or even talked about.

So it's kind of just, you know, every momentous step you have in your career, you kind of look at the next one and look at the next one.

And that's kind of just a trickle effect of what happened in my career, I think.

Was there anybody growing up in high school at that level that inspired you?

You're like, oh, this person's really pushed me to get to the next level.

You know, not necessarily anybody who I looked up to in an age sense, like older than or had done the things I wanted to do.

But I think my teammates at my high school, one of them plays professional.

Now we have a professional squash player, professional football player, also went to my school, and, you know, my teammates and friends really just really pushed me to be better.

One of my best friends ended up going to Columbia, obviously an Ivy League school.

And seeing him do that really pushed me to want to further myself in education and the soccer side of things.

And, you know, seeing my friends take a leap of faith and go to really good Division 1 schools, you know, I'm thinking to myself, I'm better than these guys, if not just as good.

You know, I can play at that level.

I shouldn't drop my level just because my coach told me, you know, we see you as a Division 3 player.

Like, I should dream big and have aspirations to make it to the highest level I can.

So you went on to Boston College.

Yep.

Right.

And the thing I wanted to ask you about now is about academics, because that's a big part of your life.

Huge.

Massive.

I think you have a poli sci degree.

Yeah, so I majored in political science, minored in finance.

You know, didn't know what I wanted to do.

Still don't know what I want to do with my life.

You know, I'm only 25 years old, but went to BC, you know, great education, like I said, and I was just like, I'm gonna figure it out when I go.

And so didn't know if I was gonna do business school or not.

So I ended up not doing the business school, entered as an econ major, took microeconomics, and didn't do well.

So let's just say after freshman year, I dropped that, and I was like, I need to reevaluate.

And, you know, political science was a big interest of mine and finance as well.

Gotcha.

So Ryan Top.

Keep stuff with him.

Okay.

So I'm like the dad here, right?

So, Christian, going into, you know, having your mindset of when not getting any looks, going into college and stuff like that, coming out of high school, what's.

What is something that you stayed true and helped you out mentally to keep you wanting to go and wanting to drive.

This is something I want to do to continue.

Yeah.

So, I mean, I could go all the way back to, you know, my early club days at NEFC.

I was the backup when I was 12 years old, and I remember exactly who the kid was.

I can still see his face to this day, and I'm like.

I'm sitting on the bench watching him play, and 12 years old, I'm like, I have this feeling of like, I should be playing, I'm better than him.

So that was in middle school at a club level.

And then, you know, I attend a private high school.

They recruit a kid from Bermuda national team to come in and they're bringing him to play over me as a goalkeeper.

It's only one guy on the field.

So, you know, I was a freshman on jv and then into my sophomore year I hear about, you know, this six' four goalkeeper from Bermuda's coming in the national team and I'm like, all right, you know, like, kind of just gotta keep doing my thing and make, make my name for myself.

And so, you know, preseason comes around and that's the only thing I could think about all summer long was like, this kid's coming in to take my place, I need to beat him out.

And so I just think from an early age I've had this underdog mentality of always trying to be replaced.

And it's a game of attrition, it's soccer, it's who can last the longest and who has the intensity, you know, to go the long way.

And so I think from an early age I just learned that you need to bet on yourself.

And on top of that, I think being undersized six foot goalkeeper, you know, probably smallest goalie in the league every year I've played my whole life.

And so that's kind of just played into that as well.

I mean, that's, that's amazing.

And so when you had the opportunities to go to Boston College, fighting forward, coming from fourth, fifth on the roster, going up, how did you feel the.

Moment they could have told you you.

Were starting in your first game.

Yeah.

So as the game, the way the game works, it's never perfect.

It's never like the shining moment of like, you're the guy now.

So freshman year, started as fourth string goalkeeper.

Eventually made my way up to backup and got one game in by the end of the year.

And that was huge.

Although I lost my year eligibility.

That's huge playing a game.

So I had some conf going sophomore year.

I was like, I'm gonna come in and I'm gonna earn that spot.

Right.

Like we talked about, it's a game of attrition.

They're gonna bring somebody in to replace you.

I show up preseason on day one, I'm the fifth string goalkeeper.

I went back three spots and I'm like, how the hell does this happen?

Like, I was just the backup last year.

I did.

Well, coach say he Likes me, but he brings in, you know, fifth year guy, grad transfer from Germany and like all these things that he's played professional before.

And I'm just Christian Garner from Cape Cod.

Like I haven't done anything in my soccer career yet like how can I prove myself?

And as the game works, injuries happen.

I think a big piece of sports in general is just your attitude and how you face oncoming challenges and face the game of adversity.

And I think that played into my favor.

You know, there's a couple injuries, couple bad attitudes coach wasn't happy with.

And I was given a chance sophomore year and kind of just didn't look back at after that.

You know, started a bunch of games, team made the NCAA tournament.

It was really, really positive year.

And it was a.

So it's just a snowball effect after that momentum.

So tell us about the snowball effect.

What was the end result?

Yeah, well, the end result's.

I'm here.

So that's really the end result of snowball effect.

But yeah, sophomore year, played almost half the games, if not a little more.

And I was 19, 20 years old.

That's a big step in the ACC's really competitive league.

Junior year rolls around, I'm like, I'm the guy.

This is my chance.

Covid hits.

So end of sophomore year, Covid hits.

Junior year, I pretty you miss out completely.

You're training with the team, no games.

Group sided too, right?

Right.

Yes.

You were limited to four to seven players.

That's where I went.

My senior year you had four to seven players because coaches were petrified of having any more than that in a group.

One guy, everybody's in the whole team.

So definitely hindered my development that year.

But on top of that, it gave me another year eligibility.

So senior year comes around, you know, again, this is my time.

You know, I got vot captain by my team and that was a really monumental moment in my career to this day, like still my biggest, biggest achievement and honor.

Senior year did well first half of the year and then I got benched halfway through the year.

You know, my senior year, my.

My shiny moment didn't happen.

You know, senior night, I didn't get to play.

I remember it vividly.

Being a captain, it was really, really tough pill to swallow.

But I think it really helped me develop as a person more so than a player.

Just to that mentality, deal with adversity and go back to that.

Like, hey, you've kind of.

You've been enjoying a little.

You gotta get back to this like, underdog mentality.

Like, nobody's gonna give you anything.

Like, if you're not playing well, they're gonna bench you.

Which, you know, is what happened.

Yeah.

And so end of senior year comes around and I'm like, I just got benched.

The kid's a sophomore.

I can see the ready on the wall.

I'm like, I need a new opportunity.

It's been four years.

Four great years.

And so that's what led me to Northwestern, using that fifth year of eligibility there.

And you're doing all that while balancing a pretty rigorous academic calendar.

Yeah.

How do you balance all that?

Because it's not like you're just practicing once or twice a week.

Yeah, no, I mean, you're practicing every day.

You're in the gym almost every day, traveling crazy for ACC games.

You're on a plane every weekend going to Raleigh, Winston Salem, wherever it is.

Was it commercial?

Yeah, you're flying commercial.

It's not glamorous.

It's college sports, but it's really enjoyable, obviously, with your best friends.

But back to the academic piece.

I mean, it's a really, really challenging school.

But I think college especially is all about how much you want to apply yourself.

If you don't want to apply yourself and you don't to receive good grades in return, you can do that.

You can pass with D's and C's.

Your academic advisor might yell at you, but you're gonna pass.

And so, you know, I think just the on the field mentality really carries over to the off field.

So off field, I'm thinking I have to work just as hard, if not harder than all these other kids around me because they have unlimited time on their hands.

You know, I don't have weekends, things like that, to catch up.

So kind of just applying the mentality to both sides.

Did you feel this is just kind of going in?

Like, as the summer narrowed down, going back to school this year, did you feel this sense of energy, of a wall coming down, saying, it's go time now, the moment you stepped on the campus, what was that like?

Yeah, well, my summers were a lot different than most.

You know, growing up on Cape Cod, you're at the beach a lot of the day, you're enjoying your time.

But I worked a lot of odd jobs when I was growing up.

You know, I lobstered for a few summers with my godfather, painted for a couple, a bunch of random things that, like, I think helped me develop as a person a lot.

And so I enjoyed my summers.

I think most kids go away and play USL 2 or back in my day was PDL, but they go away for summers and they play soccer nonstop.

And it's just a never ending revolving door of soccer 12 months a year.

And so I think I use the summers as a good refresher to kind of get back to my roots and, you know, continue to develop as a person, not just a soccer player.

And so I think really when I got back to campus, it was like a, like you said, like a mental reset of like, now it's time to play soccer.

Like, I've had my fun, I've been.

I've been refreshed and I'm ready to go.

So I think that's differentiated me from, you know, guys who just play soccer 12 months out of the year.

And you think that kind of helps you from being feeling that burnt out.

Yeah, feeling.

Right.

Because you have most kids right now who go through that at, you know, as early as 14.

16 is a big age in high school where a lot of them decide between sports.

Yeah.

Or they're just tired of one sport.

Yeah.

And they get through this age.

And I tell my boys constantly to go out, take a week off, a couple weeks off if you need to get your mind completely off of things and reset.

Yeah.

So funny enough, I played three sports in high school.

That was my next question.

What else did you play?

Yeah.

So growing up, played a lot of basketball, a little bit of baseball.

My biggest sport was lacrosse.

Growing up in the northeast, it's huge.

And I was probably much better than I was soft.

My dad, like started the local lacrosse program at the high school.

So it's kind of just been in my roots.

He played in college back in the day, and I've loved it.

It's been my passion since I was a kid.

I have this writing on my wall at home, on a poster, and it's like from kindergarten.

It's like, what do you want to be when you're older?

And I just had a lacrosse player, so it's ironic it didn't end up that way.

But not yet at least.

Maybe not yet, maybe in my future, but played three different sports and I think helped attribute to my success as an athlete.

You diversify.

Injury prevention is huge.

And on top of it, you just forget about the game for a little bit and kind of get a different perspective.

And, you know, I still take things from basketball or lacrosse, things like that that I implement in my game, you know, as a goalkeeper.

Like, catching crosses is a lot similar to getting a rebound off the boards.

So there's different things that translate that I think have been really helpful.

That's fantastic.

So after Boston, after college and you go over to Pittsburgh.

Yeah.

Now you might have stopped somewhere else, right?

Well, Northwestern.

Yeah.

My graduate year, Northwestern.

And after Northwestern, you go over to Pittsburgh.

Yeah.

Getting your first debut start over Pittsburgh.

Yeah.

How was that night?

Yeah, it was amazing.

We played Miami, the home opener.

My parents made the trip.

So it was really, really special.

It's still my background on my phone.

It's just a monumental day for me and my family.

I think it's kind of a culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice by me and my parents more than anything.

So it was really special.

We got a tie.

We didn't get a.

Didn't get a shutout.

So it wasn't again, like as glamorous.

It's never gonna be that shiny moment you think it is.

Yeah.

Coach still scream at you in the locker room after the game, so.

But it was really, really special, I think, getting that it was early in.

I think it was probably like March 10th to 15th around there.

So, like really, really early season, first week of the season.

So kind of took some pressure off.

Not like this build up to like, when am I gonna play?

Am I gonna get my moment?

Like that weight off my shoulders, I think really helped.

So following that season with Pittsburgh, you had some ups and downs.

What would you say was your lowest when you felt the lowest season at Pittsburgh?

Yeah, it's a good question.

To be fair, I don't like that there weren't many lows.

I mean, we won the player shield that year in 2023, a couple of my teammates, Langston Blackstock and Nate Dos Santos, are here at Charleston with me.

So clearly the team and the guys have done well so far for themselves.

The Bob Lilly's a really, really intense coach.

Good coach, winning coach.

So I think the bonding with the players helped a lot.

A lot of good relationships formed with a lot of young guys early on was really, really important.

But, you know, I just think being a backup that year was, you know, eye opening.

You know, you see a lot of the professional game and it's a big adjustment from college.

And I really just think that owning your role and, you know, the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick always says just do your job.

And owning what your role and job is on the team is really important.

Important.

Whether you're Cal Jennings and you're scoring every goal or you're a guy on the roster that's not making the 18 every week, you know, two just important positions.

One gets a lot more spotlight and accolades and things like that, but they're just as important.

And so I think, you know, on top of the, on the field, being a teammate off the field and doing all the little things is helpful to the team success as well.

So back up to the transition from college to professional.

Yeah.

So big high, you get offers, play for Boston College, you get offered, play for Northwestern.

How's that compared to professional contract?

Yeah, you know, the moment that you get that professional contract, it's just like that's the greatest joy in the world.

I remember FaceTiming my parents.

I was in the airport at Pittsburgh.

We're all crying.

It's just like a magnificent moment for everyone.

But then reality hits you quick.

You go into preseason, you're a 22, 23 year old rookie.

There's guys that have been playing the league, Kenardo Forbes in the league for like over 10 years.

So there's guys with a lot more experience and a lot more level.

And it's kind of like life, you know, you move on from one thing, you succeed at it, and then you start at the bottom of the totem pole in the next one.

So you're the guy in college, you're the captain, you're the fifth year senior, you go to the pro game, you're the rookie, you're pumping the balls, you're picking up the cones, moving goals.

So it's kind of like a little mental reset there, but it's a tough transition for sure.

So is it more business like or is it still the same camaraderie, Young men playing, you know, fun sport, or is it?

Yeah, it's a great question.

I wish I could say it was just as fun.

College is a lot different.

College, those are your guys 24 7.

You're going to class with them, you're seeing them, you know, at practice, you're getting dinner with them every night, every day.

You know, the pro game's different.

Guys are fighting for contracts, guys are fighting for their families.

It's a lot bigger than themselves.

It's a job, you know, and it's intense.

But guys are a lot more, I think, thoughtful and intentful about what they're putting into it rather than college.

And a lot of guys get away with just being a good player and that's good enough.

You know, the nutritional side of it, the sleep and recovery is a huge side of the professional game that you kind of don't see in college as much.

So how do you Manage that.

Do you have a personal trainer?

Do you just educate yourself?

I'm sure the Battery, or whichever team you're playing for provides a lot of resources.

Yeah, so the Battery, obviously, massive resources.

We have a strength conditioning coach, Eric, who's huge.

We have a great staff all the way up from head coach Ben Pearman, all the way down to our equipment manager, Chris.

It's really great staff and a lot of resources, but I think on top of that, you need to take matters in your own hands.

So the guys always make fun of me because I'm a big fan of it, but the whoop.

The fitness tracker is really big for, like knowing how well recovered you are, how much sleep you're getting, how certain, certain nutritional diets affect your recovery and stuff like that.

Especially in the heat down here in Charleston, you gotta be extra locked in.

I think with all that thing with.

All those data points that you use to measure, you know, recovery, you know.

Cause you brought that up.

What do you think's the biggest difference between playing at Pittsburgh, playing up Boston College, weather wise, and being down here?

Yeah, because last year you were up at Greenville.

Yeah, Greenville's similar.

It's not quite here, but you're up in the mountains a little bit, a little less humid, but it was my first summer down south, so it's a wake up call.

You know, I'm used to the Northeast winters, which are cold, but I enjoy them.

Pittsburgh is obviously very cold.

And so you come down here and you get a little taste of it in May, like now, and it's kind of fall summer, and you think like, oh, it can't get hotter than 95 like it is today.

And then you wait a month or two and you know, when I was here in late July, and I'm like, all right, well, this is unbearable.

Pretty intense.

Yeah.

Can't go out after 10am so it's an adjustment for sure.

But I think it's great seeing different parts of the country.

So we do get snow down here every once in a while.

Yeah, every few years.

Every few years.

And it will shut down everything around here, I just expect.

I love it.

So, Ryan, what.

What else you got?

I think the last thing I have, Christian, is your last match for the Battery in the US Open Cup.

Yeah.

Tormenta.

Yes, Against Tormenta.

The last time you had played for the Battery, you were on the loan.

Yeah.

You kept a clean sheet.

Yeah.

Following that up in your debut for the Battery now.

Yeah.

What was your mentality, thoughts, everything going into that one?

Yeah, it's a great question.

Last year, being on loan here was an amazing experience.

Won 5 nil against Indy.

Couldn't have asked for a better performance from the guys in front of me.

I didn't have to do too much, thankfully.

So kind of like, you know, it's one of those things where you have those first game jitters.

But it wasn't really like a first game for me.

It was like, I've been here before, the fans are behind me.

I know this feeling.

A lot of similar faces on the team and the coaching staff.

So kind of a level of trust I had in those around me similar to last year.

But last year was definitely an adjustment.

Coming in for a week, getting to know guys quickly.

But this year the transition was easy.

I felt like I fit right in.

Felt like I'd been here before because I had.

And kind of just going doing my thing after that, you know, really just enjoying the moment.

So we saw you got signed on farmer loan and we were just talking.

We're like, hey.

And we saw you out in the pitch.

We're like.

It's just like you left so.

Because you had a phenomenal game when you come, you know, I think Kuz was hurt.

Yeah.

Dribbles had a red card.

Yeah.

And so there was a whole.

Things lined up and then we didn't know what we're gonna do.

Cause poor.

What's the young keeper's name?

Enzo Trafford.

Enzo, come in.

Yeah, he just.

And it was just the.

Yeah, he was at a really bad spot.

Really free kick.

It was just.

Yeah, I remember.

And so when you coming in?

That was.

I mean, but that free kick against Tampa.

No.

1 goal of the year, actually.

Yeah, he's a good player.

It was good.

Yeah, it was a great.

I know the young kid was 16, 17 at the point.

Okay, come in here.

It's a big adjustment.

Boom.

And all of a sudden, you know, just golden.

You're on him.

Yeah, exactly.

So how do you think your playing style has evolved, your goalkeeping style since when you were 12?

Of course there's.

Yeah, of course.

You know, I think going to college, I had a certain vision of myself and what I thought I was capable of.

And then you get to play ACC soccer and you realize these guys are coming from professional setups, you know, all the way over in Europe, South America, everywhere.

These guys have literally played professional games before.

And I barely played a club soccer game.

So it's a wake up call.

And I think the biggest thing is, you know how you play out of the back, your Capabilities with your feet was something I, looking back, probably neglected when I was younger as a club keeper, that's something I really focused on.

My first couple years at Boston College was developing that and I think has translated to my game today.

Because you are a shot stopper.

You're like a cat out there.

Yeah.

So I think, yeah, it's part of it, you know, being undersized, you kind of have to build up certain parts of your game.

You know, catching crosses.

I'm only six feet tall.

It's not my best attributes.

I work really hard on it, but it's not my best part of the game.

Probably won't ever be the best part of my game.

And so kind of building up the rest of the game around that, to support yourself as a versatile person and keeper, I think is really important.

And ball distribution coming out.

So does it help with Nate being on your left?

Yeah, of course.

Langston's on the right.

It's just like old times.

They're super supportive teammates.

They talk a lot.

It makes my life a lot easier.

Yeah.

Because we've been experiencing some.

I say we like injuries, you know, Nate just.

I met him first Battery fan fest.

He come up and I start talking to him immediately.

Yeah.

What a guy.

Yeah.

I was like, this guy's fantastic.

Yeah.

He's the man.

And so he's been killing it ever since.

Yeah.

So what do you do now to work on your ball distribution?

To work on footwork?

Because.

Because we're both Arsenal fans.

Yep.

And so, you know, we lived last couple years with.

With Raya coming in, and part of the reason why they brought him in, because he's good with his feet.

Right.

He's also a phenomenal shot, of course, as we saw this past weekend.

But.

Yeah.

So do you do anything extra to deal with that compass?

I won't say compensate.

Right.

Yeah.

Well, funny enough, going back to your point about Arsenal, I actually was a huge Rambo fan.

I loved Aaron Ramsdale.

There we go.

Yeah.

I think for Raya's first year, I was like, ramsdale's a better keeper.

Ramsdale's a better keeper.

I think Rya's proved himself and he's gained a fan in me at least.

You know, obviously Ramsdale's playing for Southampton and Ryah's playing for Arsenal, So clearly Arteta's right and I'm not.

But.

Yeah, no, I think just constantly working on it.

Our goalie coach, Brian Jones, is, you know, genius when it comes to the goalkeeping side of things.

He works really hard at his craft.

And it translates to the goalkeepers, you know, we work on every.

Every day.

So it's really, really important to just be consistent with that.

Yeah.

So let's switch gears a little bit.

Going back to Greenville.

Yeah.

Big difference between usl, too, in here.

Yeah.

I mean, massive.

Obviously, Pittsburgh being championship, going down.

Didn't.

Or.

Sorry, didn't get as many minutes at Pittsburgh as I wanted to.

So went down to League one to get more minutes and experience because that's obviously what's the biggest thing for goalkeepers.

And it was a great experience, you know, met a lot of great people.

The level is definitely not what championship is.

It's probably more phys.

I think technically, it's probably less so.

So it turns in a lot of transition games.

So it's a lot different.

You learn a lot more about the game.

Different sides of it you probably don't see in championship.

And so it was a great experience.

Got a lot of great minutes, and then obviously got me to be back in Charleston, which was.

The end goal is to bump back up to championship.

I think that was.

That's all you got?

Okay, let me start my long list of questions.

Okay, we cover that one, pks, because that's what I remember you.

Phenomenal stuff.

So what do you do?

Game time.

You're out there.

They were pk.

What goes through your mind?

Yeah, I don't remember who it was.

Probably my college goalkeeper coach, Vasili Uspenski, who's still a role model in my life.

And I talk to you pretty constantly about the goalkeeping craft.

One thing he taught me early on was you want to give the striker as much time as possible to look at how big the goal is.

So, you know, I take my time.

I'm over there fixing my shin guard, drinking some water, waiting for the ref to tell me he's about to give me a yellow card before I step up and get on my spot.

But letting the striker think for long periods of time.

There's some number, some statistic he gave me.

The longer the striker takes, or.

Sorry, the longer the striker has to look at the goal, the more likely he is to miss.

And so I think that's played a big role in it.

Not just getting up there right away and letting them smash one at you is to kind of let them sit on it and think, like, do I want to go here?

Actually, maybe I don't want to go there.

Maybe I'll go.

Go here.

And then they're getting away from their focus of, like, where they want to hit the ball and really where they want to place it.

So it's kind of the little things like that I think make a big difference.

Do you do any pre match, you know, studying of who's most likely going to be there?

Yeah, of course.

Yeah, we have great film.

Jonesy, our goalie coach, is great film work.

So it's a key to the hard work.

How to do the easy work is saving him.

So, yeah, we pretty much know where everybody in the past has gone and then you make an educated guess on maybe statistically or where you think they might want to go that due to the mind games that go into it.

So what's that feeling like saving the pen?

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, it's best feeling in the world.

I know it's fans.

It's incredible.

It's great.

Obviously in the moment you're so hyped up, but, you know, I saved the pen against Tormenta and then it goes out for the corner and you're like, let's go.

Now I got to find another corner.

Like, it's kind of like you just got to reset.

Yeah.

Once again you get the spotlight that you wanted.

Deserve.

Exactly, exactly, exactly.

So had a PKC last year, Greenville.

And I held onto that one, thankfully.

So that's a little more fun than giving up a corner.

But you just gotta mentally reset and then get right back into the flow.

If I remember, that was the kind of turning point because I think we were at one nil at that point.

Stopped PK.

And then we just.

No, yeah, we scored like 30 seconds after the penalty save.

So I'm not gonna say I played a role in that goal.

But if anybody wants to tell me I got an assist, I'll take it.

Okay.

Daily, which is.

Yeah.

What do you do?

Just on training days.

So wake up.

I mean, we train pretty early.

We're training around 9, 9:30, so because of the heat.

So you wake up around six to 45, seven, eat a good breakfast.

I'm big on nutrition and getting the proper fuel before.

Some guys don't like to eat as much before training.

I'm definitely.

I need a full breakfast.

You know, go get prepared at training, do your thing, massages, roll out whatever you need.

Show up at film, get ready for film.

And then we go to train after training.

Kind of the day's yours.

You can do whatever you want.

I typically decide to nap.

I'm pretty, pretty tired after practice.

So nap after practice and then, you know, hang out with buddies.

Whatever you want to do in your free Time, call your friends, your girlfriend, go on nice walk to the beach.

Charleston's a great place for it all.

So.

Okay, so let's go.

Let's.

There.

Sullivan.

Sullivan's or Folly?

Sullivan's for sure.

So we're in Mount Pleasant, so it's such an easy commute.

What else do you like to do around Charleston?

The food scene's my go to especially my girlfriend's down visiting about all we do is go out to eat.

I feel so.

I love the food scene down here.

We're big foodies.

Good, good.

Yeah.

Up and down King Street.

So King street or Shem Creek?

That's a great question.

Really hard.

I mean solar cowboys, just amazing views.

But I kind happening of the city here, you know, it's not a.

Not a big city, but you have a city feel to it and it's super walkable.

So I think I'd go King Street.

And I've got some more questions like that a little later.

Yeah, love it.

I love it.

So on the game days, what's your routine?

That's a great question as well.

So really just lay low all day, wake up immediately, go to the gym, rollout, stretch some light activation, go for a walk, come back, make a really good breakfast, eat a lot early on and then nap for at least an hour.

On game days, do you spend much.

Time on your phone during.

On game days?

I think inevitably I do.

Just so much free time.

I try not to, you know, I'm not a huge social media guy.

I'm not ripping TikTok for five hours a day like a lot of my teammates are, you know, you are.

But yeah, I try to stay low.

We'll find that out later.

So I try to lay low for most of the day, like watch a mindless TV show or a good movie, something like that.

Just to keep it, keep it steady.

Do you have any other.

Do you have any superstitions or rituals?

That's a great question.

I always ask that.

I don't think so.

And I think I'm happy with that.

I don't like to feel like I have to do a routine because you go on away trips, you don't have that routine.

And I think if I was like that, I'd maybe be a little bit OCD thinking, you know, I have to do these things and if I don't, I'm not gonna perform.

So I think I kind of just go with the flow in that sense.

So nothing like baseball.

You don't step on the line.

No, no, no, no.

What is Something that fans might not understand about being a goalkeeper.

Yeah, that's a great question.

There's one for drinking beer.

Yeah, no, I know.

I hear you guys, trust me.

I just think the loneliness of the position, you know, obviously you can attest to this.

Being a goalkeeper and coaching goalkeepers, it's very lonely.

If you make a mistake, Nobody.

Nobody there is to help.

Nobody's there to help you get through it except yourself.

I think that's what makes goalkeepers such a different breed is even in trainings, we're separate a lot of the time.

We're in a group of three or four doing our own thing with goalkeepers separate from the whole team environment.

And so I think that's kind of what leads to a really great.

They call it GKU goalkeeper union and camaraderie between the group.

Because you kind of all face similar trials and tribulations separate than what a field player would.

Do you think that goalkeeper or have a certain genetic disposition that makes you crazy that you don't mind doing that?

Yeah, I think you have to.

Your goal is to get hit by the ball.

If you're trying to not get hit by the ball, that is not your position.

And so you have to want to get hit by the ball, which is counterintuitive.

It's not what your body or mind is telling you to do.

So it's kind of something you have to be different about.

Do you think you're smarter?

The goalkeepers think they're smarter than the field players?

You don't have to.

To answer that unless you want to.

I just say I think we're more diligent.

I think we have to be, you know, I see the entire field.

I see what 10 other guys can't see.

And so I think I'm the eyes, ears, and voice of those guys.

And I think I have to be more meticulous about the way I go about things and the way I view the game and the way I, you know, present them the game with my voice and my commands.

Whereas a lot of guys, you know, not saying if you're up top, you can just sit there and score goals.

But a lot of guys can just sit there and score goals, and they're great at their job.

That's easy stuff.

They just run for like 5 yards.

Wait for Arturo to get fouled.

Or Arturo.

Yeah.

Or Nate this last weekend, drawing the pen.

Okay, so let's get into some.

I think that's the.

All the big questions.

Yeah, I'm an open book, so whatever.

All the Minds, whatever you want to know.

Daily routine, superstition.

What would you do if you had to give advice?

You might have already answered this, but if you had to give advice to young 12 year old you or player, what would it be?

Yeah, you know, I think the common ones like dream big, don't be afraid to dream even bigger than you think.

But on top of that, I think it's important to have a goal long term, like maybe what you want to do.

But for me growing up, I never had that.

I never thought I'd be playing professional soccer just wasn't in the cards for me realistically.

And I think I just took it day by day and that's how I was successful.

I think it's easy to compare yourself to others.

So I think it's important to run your own race, not think about what other people are doing.

Because I played for a lot of people, good teams growing up and there were a lot of good goalies in front of me who never even made it to the college level.

And so people develop at different ages and you know, I think I was a late bloomer, probably like 20, 21 years old when I really caught my stride.

And you know, other people fizzled out by the age of 18.

So I think it's important just to stay on your path and stay steady on the course.

So what, you know you're not starting.

Yeah, you still have to prepare just.

In case something happens.

So you're going through the same preparation no matter if you're start.

No, I think it's different for me personally.

Some guys might say they do everything the same.

I'm not that way.

I like to know in advance if I am playing or not because it kind of depends my daily routine.

If I'm not playing, definitely spend a little bit more time outside, going for a longer walk or something like that.

And then before the game, it's a little more happy vibes for me than if I am playing.

If I'm playing, I'm very locked in, very focused.

I'm not trying to be a good teammate, trying to keep the energy high, positive.

So I think it's, it's a different story if I'm not playing it.

Okay, so finish this sentence.

What's the first thing I do after a match?

That's a good question.

I'd say go home and rest.

Okay.

I'm not, I'm not wanting to be on my feet after a game.

If I.

I'm sorry, go ahead, go ahead.

I was gonna say, what's your favorite Meal after games, like when the bat, like, because the team.

Yeah.

Feeds you guys.

What's your favorite one that they've provided so far?

I wish I could give you a name.

Something Mediterranean.

It's honestly amazing.

That's my go to.

But we have really good catered food.

They do a really great job with that.

But it's something Mediterranean.

It's something Greek.

I'm pretty sure.

I just don't know the name of it.

Okay, I'll find out.

We'll get back.

Get back to the phone.

When you're down there.

You're like, what is that?

If I wasn't a goalkeeper, I'd be.

You kind of said you didn't know earlier, but.

Yeah, I don't know.

We talk about that a lot with my buddies.

Like, if I didn't play soccer, like, what would I do?

And my buddy compared me to Wes Welker like a slot receiver in the NFL.

Cause I don't think I'd.

I'm just not cut out for the running in soccer.

You know, I see what my outside backs do and I'm like, I could not run.

I know.

MD ran like 10 miles one game.

I'm like, that is just absurd to me.

So I would not be playing soccer if it wasn't for goal team.

Right.

I would think.

Turf for grass.

Good grass.

Yeah.

Good grass field.

So that's been a big change here.

It's my first year playing on grass.

So how do you make the.

I'm sure there's adjustments you have to make.

So we're grass turf down here.

And later the season goes on more.

The heat's baking it and everything.

And then you go to other.

You know, like, I think down in.

Go to a turf field.

Yeah.

We're going to Detroit this weekend.

Great example.

Turf field.

You get a flatter turf field.

Yeah.

So we'll get on turf during the week just to get a feel for it.

It's definitely an adjustment, but it's nothing like crazy.

I mean, still like grass type service.

So it's.

It's not like you're reinventing the wheel.

It's kind of just getting a feel for, like, maybe the ball bounce is just bit more or skips a little bit less.

Something like that.

Yeah.

It's mainly the main common difference that keepers love about grass over turf is that grass allows for mother Nature and allows the environment to play effect into the pitch.

And sometimes that works in our favor and sometimes it works not in our favor.

Yeah, that depends on if there's actually.

Grass inside the six yard, right?

Yeah.

So that's the biggest thing, turf.

You know the, you know what the bounces and rolls are going to be.

It's consistent.

Consistent with grass.

If you're on a not nice grass field, you might get an ungenerous bounce.

But our field and turning fields have been amazing here.

So nicer diving on grass than it is to refresh it.

Yeah, I bet it is.

Yeah.

Clean sheet or penalty save or both?

I'd say clean sheet for my bonus and all my buddies bonuses.

Okay.

There we go.

Yep.

They'll make me bring in donuts, but they'll enjoy it.

Game prep.

You listen to music or silence?

Yeah, kind of been on a music wave lately.

I used to kind of just go silence, enjoy locker room talk to guys, get my mind off the game a little bit.

But lately I've been doing.

Been doing some more music.

Who's in your playlist?

I feel you're gonna ask that.

I listen to anything.

Techno, country, rap.

I've listened to a bunch of Morgan Wallen lately on the new album.

So really just depends what I'm in the mood for that day.

But probably a little old school Drake and then probably a little EDM as well for pre game.

Ryan.

What?

Did you used to listen?

You did, you were a silent guy.

You were probably talking the whole way down there, weren't you?

I was, I was pretty, yeah.

Would you rather play in the freezing cold or the South Carolina sun?

That's a great question.

I think I'd go freezing cold.

I have a great picture in my room back home, Massachusetts of playing Gold King when I was like 13 and there's a massive snow pile behind me, like 12ft tall.

And I don't know, like I never loved it when I was a kid, but now being down here in the heat, I'm like, I can go for some cold weather soccer right about now.

About some of your fellow players.

Yeah, absolutely.

Most likely to be late for the team bus.

Good question.

There's a few guys.

Oh, there's a few.

Yeah.

I'm gonna go with Juan David probably cuz he's styling.

He's got.

Yeah, he's busy doing his hair.

Anyways.

Okay, who's the loudest on the team?

Probably Joey.

Yeah, I'd say Joey.

I love that.

Considering I room with him as well.

I think he would say that as well.

Really?

Okay, maybe we'll get a chance to ask him.

We'll see what he thinks.

Who was your guess?

Did you have one?

I would say Joey.

Because he just seems like on the pitch or when he's an extrovert in transitions.

You see him when he talks to players.

He has that personality.

He's a yapper.

Yeah.

So I watched the practice, you know, got invited down there, watched the practice and I don't know what the drill was, but there was players behind the goal and trying to catch it.

They're taking shots, trying to catch it.

Joey.

Great.

One handed.

That's great.

You saw that.

We've only done it a few times this year.

That's a great drill.

We do.

There were shots about I'd be a great outfielder or something like that.

I could go with that one.

Who's the team prankster?

I'd say to Aaron Malloy.

Really?

Yeah.

He's always busting chops.

You wouldn't expect that out of him.

You know, I came in last year.

He's very.

On game days especially, he's about his business.

And somebody else who's like that is Chris Allen.

You would never think he's very stoic.

I told him he's a modern day Marcus Aurelius today, but he's very.

Just kind of.

Just a straight up guy.

But once you kind of get him joking a little bit, he's a good prankster.

So him and Aaron, two guys you wouldn't expect.

Yeah, I wouldn't expect that.

Most likely to forget something.

Hotel room.

That's a good question.

I'd say guys are pretty good on our team about that stuff, but I'm gonna go Langston.

Ah.

Is he gonna like that answer?

No, he's not gonna like that answer.

You went with somebody you knew, right?

Exactly.

Who's the person on the team that thinks they're the funniest, but they're really not?

I think Joey or Viggo Ortiz.

It was Zeke Soto before he went on loan.

Oh, I got.

Oh, yeah.

So let's talk about promotional relegation.

Yeah.

What do you think?

Yeah, I know obviously 2027, they announced Division 1 sanctioning.

Hopefully it happens.

I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket that it is gonna happen, but I think it'd just be great for the country as a whole and obviously the USL organization.

It'd be great to have something that can rival MLS on top of introduce promotional relegation to this country.

And it's just.

As a fan, it's what you want.

You're fighting for something more than just a player's shield at the end of the year, you know?

Yeah.

Oh, I had one other question.

Now it just Slipped my mind.

You got anything else, Ryan?

I do not.

Well, speaking of promotion, relegation, you have the World cup that summer, right?

You have the 25, 26 or the 26 season before USL.

Are you gonna try and make any games?

Are you trying to see if you can get.

Yeah, that's the hard part.

You know, you don't know where you're gonna be in that year.

I'll definitely try to make it out to some.

I know Foxborough, the Gillette Stadium outside of Boston, has some games, so wherever I'll be, I'll definitely try to get to some games because obviously they're everywhere in the country, so all the major cities.

So definitely try to make some.

And we do have the Club World cup starting here next month or two weeks.

I think it's two.

Well, yeah.

Georgina, he's leaving Arsenal I saw today to go play with Flamenco maybe.

And they're going to the Club World cup report in June or something.

Yeah, I think they're playing a couple teams.

I knew Flumesa is playing in Charlotte, I believe, so there's some games around here that'd be pretty.

Pretty cool.

I think they're playing Brucey Dortmund, so it'd be a good one.

Yeah, we took a road trip up to watch Columbia play Uruguay last summer.

Really?

Yeah.

That's awesome.

We had too much of a good time, I think.

But anyways, I have nothing else.

What else should we know about you?

No, I think that's it.

I'm an open book.

I think being the baby of the three older brothers kind of has, you know, progressed me to develop early and develop quickly because I think you don't have a choice in the household with four boys kind of roughhousing all day long.

So I think it's been a good development and yeah, just a hard worker in general.

I think that's what's led to my on field success as well as off the field is just being able to work hard at both ends.

Has your family been able to come down here to Charleston?

Yeah, they've come to a few games.

They came to our preseason game against Clemson and then a couple games this year that our home opening at Louisville and then our gam, It's Tormenta as well.

So they love it down here.

Yeah, I hope they enjoy it down here.

Most people do.

Yeah.

No, they do.

It's awesome.

Yeah.

The town's spot to be.

Yeah.

Town's filled with people that are not from here.

Everybody's from here.

Isn't really from here exactly.

Right.

Coming in here this year.

Yeah.

What would you recommend a dish to a new course?

Like one dish they must try coming.

Here to Charleston, I'd say, like, not restaurant specific, but like hush puppies in general.

You know, coming from the north, it's not something you see up there.

On top of that, I'm trying to think.

I mean, obviously the seafood's amazing here, but I'm from Northeast and I'm very.

I'm very impartial to my northern oysters.

So I'd say the hush puppies are the biggest thing for me.

Okay, let's get.

Let's talk oysters.

So if you partake in many down here.

Yeah.

And why do you think the northern oysters are bad?

First of all, I think just in general, the smaller oysters, the small to medium size, have kind of a more of a buttery flavor to them.

Down here, it's more of a salty, harsh.

Yeah.

And so, you know, I've had, like, Bulls Bay and all those, but I'm impartial to.

Cape Cod is some of the best oysters in the world.

But obviously, like, up in pei, Prince Edward island, up in Canada, New Brunswick.

All those are amazing.

There's a place that my wife found, like, two years ago, and it's called Repping Hannock Oyster House Oysters from the Rappahannock.

Yeah.

Where I live back home.

Yeah.

Virginia.

But then they also bring in oysters from Canada, New Brunswick and Massachusetts.

That's awesome.

That's a great place and stuff like that.

It's a great one.

Yeah.

Like we said earlier, the restaurant scene down here is just insane.

It's amazing.

So love exploring that and trying new places.

So it's awesome.

And there's a bunch of them to try.

Yeah.

It's endless.

It's endless opportunities.

I feel like I've probably been to a couple dozen and at this point, and I still have endless to go.

Endless to go.

So it's fun.

Oyster house on every corner.

I know, Exactly.

Yeah.

Delaney and Darling are two of my favorites as well.

Gotcha.

Well, I think that's about it.

Yeah.

Thank you very much for talking to me.

This is awesome.

Fantastic.

Yeah, it's a great spot.

Obviously, you guys gotta come check it out more.

Give me one second.

So we're wrapping this up.

Craig happens to own this place or something like that, right?

Correct.

Yeah.

So it's a good place to have a pint.

Great spot on King Street.

Yeah, absolutely.

Watch a little football.

You know, we like trying to cover everybody, live a little heavy, but in.

All fairness, he does have.

He does have an arsenal scar.

Appreciate that.

Appreciate that.

Yeah.

We'll keep all of you know this.

That part of being over here.

Okay, that's perfect.

Yeah, we're not going to look that way.

That's the part we're going to burn.

But anyway.

Okay.

That's all I got.

Thank you very much, Craig, for letting us.

Awesome.

Yeah, it's awesome.

Thanks, Ryan.

Thank you so much.

And that's all I have.

And we'll catch you next time.

Thank you.

We are lovely.

Your ship, we will sink.

But we, we are the Battle Ra.