PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Goalkeeper has always been a position of strength for Orlando City.
It started with Donovan Ricketts and Tally Hall in 2015. Then in 2016, Joe Bendik made 114 saves and won MLS Save of the Week time after time before taking home Save of the Year honors.
Bendik then solidified himself as one of the best in the league with an MLS-high 118 saves in 2017.
Goalkeeper coach Tim Mulqueen anticipates a similar trajectory in 2018.
“Anybody can be good for a year,” Mulqueen said Monday at preseason camp. “The real good ones – the great ones – put it together year after year after year. Joe is doing that.”
If there is any coach that knows goalkeeping greatness, it’s Mulqueen. He coached Tim Howard for several years and the two remain in close contact. Howard once called Mulqueen a “goalkeeping savant.”
So for Adam Grinwis, getting to play for Mulqueen is a “dream come true.”
“Mulch is a legend,” said Grinwis, who played with Saint Louis FC in the USL last year. “Working with him is awesome.”
Mulqueen is excited about working with Grinwis as well. While he was at the University of Michigan, Grinwis attended one of Mulqueen and Howard’s goalkeeping camps, and Mulqueen said he’s followed Grinwis’ career ever since.
“He’s very athletic. He’s very quick. He’s a very good shot-stopper. He’s intelligent,” Mulqueen said of Grinwis. “I feel very comfortable knowing that he could be an MLS goalkeeper.”
Grinwis made the jump from the USL to MLS – on paper, at least – but to get on the field he’ll have to beat out not just Bendik, but All-USL Second Teamer Earl Edwards, Jr.
After serving as the primary backup in 2015 and 2016, Edwards finally got minutes with Orlando City B in 2017. City’s third-round pick from 2015 put up 80 saves – his 75.2 save percentage the best among the USL’s top 10 keepers – before being recalled in August to back up Bendik.
After nearly three years of watching from the bench, Edwards finally got his chance in the season finale.
“The Philadelphia game was a difficult game for everybody. Not just Earl, but for everybody,” Mulqueen said of City’s 6-1 letdown in Edwards’ debut. “Earl took it very hard. He was determined to put a lot of work in the offseason to build on the year he had in the USL.”
And now, Mulqueen says, Edwards is in the best shape he’s been in.
That won’t be what separates Edwards from Grinwis and Bendik, though. Bendik is a notorious gym rat during the offseason, and Grinwis and his fiery red hair are often seen flying through the air to make saves.
Also seen at the training grounds lately has been the bald head of Mason Stajduhar. City’s Homegrown goalkeeper, who was diagnosed with Localized Ewing Sarcoma in November, has been with the team since last Tuesday, catching balls and firing shots, helping with training in any way he can.
“I told him he’s starting to look like me,” Mulqueen laughed. “I said, ‘from my knowledge your heads going to get cold, so you’re going to wear a hat quite a bit.’ He has. We had a good laugh about that. He’s fantastic.”
But Stajduhar prefers a different resemblance.
“I kinda look like Tim Howard now,” he smiled. “So that’s cool.”
