SEATTLE – Andrew Thomas was not necessarily expecting to be in the position he’s currently in.
Still ostensibly the Seattle Sounders backup goalkeeper, Thomas has now started four consecutive Leagues Cup matches. Plenty of MLS teams used the group stage to give their reserve goalkeeper some extra action. But most, if not all others, have given way to the regular starters once the knockout stage began.
Meanwhile, Thomas has continued to get the nod in matches against in-form opponents in the Rounds of 32 and 16. Against the Galaxy, he only needed to make one save in a 3-1 win. In the Pumas match, he was credited with six saves while picking up his third shutout of the season.
“It’s been game to game, I’m just taking it as it goes,” Thomas said following Monday’s match. “If I get called, I just show I’m ready. Any game I get to play is gravy.”
The assumption is that Stefan Frei will resume his starting role in Saturday’s quarterfinal against LAFC, but that was the assumption the previous two matches as well.
“That was one of my hardest decisions for this game,” Schmetzer said after the Pumas match, when asked about the goalkeeper position. “I was going to put Stefan Frei back in goal, but I wanted Andrew Thomas to play again because he might be playing in the Open Cup and other things. I think Andrew Thomas had a very good game.”
Rather than building some sort of internal rivalry, Thomas insists that Frei has been supportive and has helped him prepare.
“He’s phenomenal,” Thomas said about Frei. “He’s my biggest fan. He wants to play too, but once it’s my name on the team sheet he’s doing everything he can to help me. I lean on his experience and having quiet words during the warm-up is huge. I can’t speak highly enough of him.”
Although this is Thomas’ fourth professional season since being picked by the Sounders in a special supplemental draft in 2021, he had not played for the first team prior to starting the regular-season opener earlier this year. Since then, he’s made four more MLS appearances, started three U.S. Open Cup games and four more in Leagues Cup. He’s performed well enough that the Sounders recently signed him to a contract extension, seemingly indicating they see him as Frei’s heir apparent.
The undeniable highlight of his season was his performance in the Open Cup shootout win over Louisville in which he made three saves and converted the winning kick.
A close second may have been his shutout against Pumas, which also featured him running the length of the field in order to provide backup to teammates when a fracas started following a bad tackle on Jordan Morris at the end of the game.
“I wasn’t going to miss that opportunity,” Thomas said with a grin. “I kinda wish it had lasted a little longer.”
