The makings of Scott Goodwin’s return for a Louisville City FC game started well before the announcement that the goalkeeper will be with the club Saturday for its match at FC Montreal.
Coach James O’Connor explained at his press conference Monday afternoon that when Goodwin departed for Harvard Medical School in July, the fan favorite elected to keep his U.S. Soccer registration open “just in case something has happened.”
“Something has happened, and thankfully Scott’s available,” O’Connor added, with regular LouCity starter Greg Ranjitsingh away to play in a pair of World Cup qualifiers for Trinidad and Tobago.
Whether O’Connor will use Goodwin this weekend remains to be seen. It would be the keeper’s first action since July 4. Also on LouCity’s roster is Tim Dobrowolski, a rookie out of Division Loyola-Chicago who could potentially make his professional debut in the game.
“We know who’s going to start,” O’Connor said. “We’ll just have to wait and show everybody on Saturday.”
O’Connor said he has “tremendous belief” in Dobrowolski, a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Goalkeeper of the Year. In Goodwin, LouCity has a keeper who last season posted the second-best goals-against average in the United Soccer League.
It made sense to give him a call when Ranjitsingh left open the spot.
“A, are you interested? B, can you do it? And C, don’t put yourself under too much pressure and feel as if you have to do it,” O’Connor told Goodwin. “Scott being the guy he is, he was like, ‘I’ll be available. I’d love to come back and help you guys out.’
“It speaks a lot about Scott and what we thinks of us here.”
More from Monday’s meeting with the media…
- O’Connor on Magnus Rasmussen coming out of his first start in 2016: “He’s obviously a little bit stiff and sore considering that was his first game in whatever it was — 10 months. I think for him, obviously, he was pleased. We were pleased to get him on the pitch for longer minutes.”
- On a 1-0 weekend victory over Bethlehem Steel FC: “It probably shouldn’t affect our lives — our personal lives — the way it does when we don’t win. But it does, because it means so much to you. That’s a positive, because when you have people who care, they’re going to work a lot harder. That’s the great thing about all our guys. They deeply care. They want to be successful.”
- On Saturday’s success of the defense and midfield: “I think we were pleased to get a clean sheet. Definitely, that was important, too. I think when I look at our turnovers, there could be less turnovers. Our positioning at time was good. I think our decision making still could be better.”
