Most elite soccer prospects take the first pro deal they can get, but Matt Freese did the opposite.
By the fall of 2016, the Episcopal Academy goalkeeper was already on the radar of clubs on two continents, according to Matthew DeGeorge of the Daily Times.
The Philadelphia Union wanted him, Bethlehem Steel could have put a pro contract in front of him, and trials with Manchester United and Liverpool had opened doors in Europe.
Freese walked through none of them. Instead, he told EA coach David Knox he wanted to play his senior season of high school soccer.
“We sat down and we had the conversation that the Union wanted him, and I said, ‘You know, you’ve got to do what’s best for you,’” Knox said.
That choice created an unusual situation.
EA already had a standout keeper in AJ Marcucci, Freese’s longtime friend and a future New York Red Bull.
Rather than pick one, Knox leaned into both.
The two pushed each other in training, split minutes, and sometimes lined up in the field, and their hard work pulled the whole team up with them.
Then Freese decided to make his senior year a little bit stranger.
That spring, he asked track coach Zach Richards to let him compete one last time for EA, having only participated in one track meet in his Sophomore year.
With barely any hurdle experience, he won the Delco Championship in the 300 hurdles and set a school record in the 200-meter dash.
Freese went on to Harvard, signed with the Union, won the starting job at New York City FC, and earned a spot on the U.S. World Cup roster.
For the coaches who watched it unfold up close, his rise says as much about his loyalty, humility, and patience as it does about his talent.
Get the rest of Matt Freese’s journey, including the coaches and choices that shaped it, in the full article for the Daily Times.
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