Chris Seitz

Chris Seitz
Personal information
Full name Christopher Seitz[1]
Date of birth (1987-03-12) March 12, 1987 (age 37)[2]
Place of birth San Luis Obispo, California, United States
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2006 Maryland Terrapins 39 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2009 Real Salt Lake 7 (0)
2009 → Cleveland City (loan) 1 (0)
2009 → Portland Timbers (loan) 2 (0)
2010 Philadelphia Union 23 (0)
2011–2017 FC Dallas 67 (0)
2018 Houston Dynamo 6 (0)
2018 → Rio Grande Valley (loan) 1 (0)
2019–2021 D.C. United 11 (0)
2019 → Loudoun United (loan) 1 (0)
Total 119 (0)
International career‡
2007 United States U20 4 (0)
2008 United States U23 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 15, 2021
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of October 13, 2009

Christopher Seitz (born March 12, 1987) is an American former soccer player. He played as a goalkeeper in Major League Soccer from 2007 until his retirement in 2021.

Youth and college

Chris Seitz was awarded Gatorade's California High School Soccer Player of the Year award in 2004 while playing for San Luis Obispo High School under the tutelage of coach Bob Galarneau. He also scored four goals in his junior season, all on penalty kicks.

Seitz played college soccer at the University of Maryland for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. As a freshman at Maryland, Seitz won the NCAA national championship by posting a 13–1–2 record with a 0.89 goals against average. He was named College Cup Defensive MVP. During Seitz's two-year career at Maryland he registered a 28–5–3 record with a 0.77 GAA. He was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2006.

Professional career

Real Salt Lake

Seitz was drafted in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft where he was selected fourth overall by Real Salt Lake. In his first two starts, he had a 0–1–1 record and a 2.5 GAA. In 2009 Seitz played one game on loan for Cleveland City Stars of the USL First Division, a 3–1 loss to Miami FC,[3] and two games on loan with the Portland Timbers, also of the USL First Division, both against the Carolina RailHawks.[4][5] He was the first goalkeeper to face five penalties in one match.[citation needed] In three seasons in Salt Lake, Seitz was never able to un-seat veteran Nick Rimando as RSL's first-choice keeper.

Philadelphia Union

On November 25, 2009, he was traded to MLS expansion franchise Philadelphia Union.[6]

Catching a cross vs San Jose

Seitz spent the first 22 games of Philadelphia's inaugural 2010 season as the Union's starter, before being dropped to the bench behind Brad Knighton. He posted a 1.80 goals against average, worst in the league for players with more than one start in goal.[7] The Union did not extend his contract, making him available for the two stages of the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft after the 2010 season.[8]

FC Dallas

Seitz was selected by Seattle Sounders FC in the second stage of the 2010 Re-Entry Draft. A contract was agreed with Seattle, and he was immediately traded to FC Dallas in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft.[9]

Seitz started one game for FC Dallas in 2011, allowing four goals in a 4–2 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes.[10] In 2012, due to an injury to Kevin Hartman, who was dealing with back spasms, Seitz started against Vancouver Whitecaps FC in a 0–1 loss for Dallas.[11] Seitz started the next two games until Hartman was able to play again.

Seitz put his soccer career on hold for a brief time in September 2012, despite having no guaranteed contract for the upcoming 2013 season, when he elected to donate bone marrow to save the life of a stranger for whose bone marrow he was a match.[12] Because of this act, he was later named the 2012 MLS Humanitarian of the Year.[13]

Seitz continued to be primarily a backup goalkeeper for Dallas until the 2016 season, when he would start a career-high 28 MLS matches.[13] He would contribute to the team winning two major trophies: The Supporters' Shield and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Houston Dynamo

Seitz joined Houston Dynamo on December 15, 2017, as a free agent.[14] He started the first five games of the 2018 season before losing his starting spot to Joe Willis. He started three games in the 2018 Open Cup, keeping two clean sheets. The Dynamo would go on to win the Open Cup for the first time in club history.[15]

D.C. United

In January 2019, Seitz was traded to D.C. United in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft.[16] Seitz didn't receive much playing time, serving as the second goalkeeper choice after Bill Hamid. He made his first start for D.C. United on July 18, 2019, in a 4–1 win against FC Cincinnati.[17] He made 3 appearances across all competitions for D.C. United in 2019, while also making an appearance for their USL Championship affiliate Loudoun United. Seitz's contract was renewed after the 2019 season.[18]

Seitz appeared in 6 of D.C. United's 23 games in a shortened 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping 2 clean sheets.[19] D.C. finished the season 13th in the Eastern Conference, failing to qualify for the playoffs.[20] He was re-signed after the 2020 season to a one-year contract.[21]

Seitz made 4 appearances during the 2021 season as D.C. United finished 8th in the East, 1 point and 1 place out of the playoffs.[22][23]

Following the 2021 season, Seitz left D.C. United.[24] Seitz later announced his retirement from professional soccer on his personal Twitter account, on January 19, 2022.[25]

International

Seitz earned his first full international call up for the game against Brazil on September 9, 2007, but did not see any playing time. He previously started games for the U-23 squad in the CONCACAF Pre-Olympic qualification tournament prior to the 2008 Olympic Games and was on the roster for the 2008 Summer Olympic soccer tournament.

Career statistics

As of March 9, 2022[26][27][28]
Club Season League US Open Cup Playoffs[a] Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Real Salt Lake 2007 MLS 3 0 — — — 3 0
2008 0 0 — 0 0 — 0 0
2009 4 0 — 0 0 — 4 0
Total 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Cleveland City (loan) 2009 USL First Division 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
Portland Timbers (loan) 2009 USL First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 0
Philadelphia Union 2010 MLS 23 0 — — — 23 0
FC Dallas 2011 MLS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2012 4 0 1 0 — — 5 0
2013 8 0 3 0 — — 11 0
2014 14 0 2 0 2 0 — 18 0
2015 7 0 2 0 0 0 — 9 0
2016 28 0 3 0 2 0 — 33 0
2017 5 0 2 0 — 4 0 11 0
Total 67 0 13 0 4 0 4 0 88 0
Houston Dynamo 2018 MLS 6 0 3 0 — — 9 0
RGVFC Toros (loan) 2018 USL 1 0 — — — 1 0
D.C. United 2019 MLS 1 0 2 0 0 0 — 3 0
2020 6 0 — — — 6 0
2021 4 0 — — — 4 0
Total 11 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
Loudoun United 2019 USLC 1 0 — — — 1 0
Career totals 119 0 18 0 4 0 4 0 145 0
  1. ^ Appearances in MLS Cup Playoffs and USL Playoffs

Honors

Real Salt Lake

FC Dallas

Houston Dynamo

Individual

References

  1. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. p. 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 31, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  2. ^ "USA - C. Seitz - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  3. ^ "Cleveland City Stars at Miami FC Blues 1:3". Official Match Information. United Soccer Leagues. Archived from the original on April 30, 2014.
  4. ^ "Carolina RailHawks at Portland Timbers 0:2". Official Match Information. United Soccer Leagues. Archived from the original on April 30, 2014.
  5. ^ "Carolina RailHawks at Portland Timbers 0:0". Official Match Information. United Soccer Leagues. Archived from the original on May 9, 2009.
  6. ^ "RSL trades backup goalkeeper Seitz". Archived from the original on November 28, 2009. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
  7. ^ "2010 MLS goalkeeper statistics".
  8. ^ "MLS unveils players for Re-Entry Process draft". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  9. ^ "Seitz sent to FC Dallas in whirlwind Re-Entry day". MLSsoccer.com.
  10. ^ "2011-San Jose Earthquakes vs. FC Dallas: Recap". Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  11. ^ Holland, EJ (April 22, 2012). "Dallas turn to Seitz at the last minute in Vancouver". Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  12. ^ "FC Dallas goalie Chris Seitz's biggest save". October 22, 2012.
  13. ^ a b "Chris Seitz". fcdallas.com. FC Dallas. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  14. ^ "Houston Dynamo sign goalkeeper Chris Seitz | Houston Dynamo". Houston Dynamo. December 15, 2017.
  15. ^ "Chris Seitz". houstondynamo.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  16. ^ The Washington Post
  17. ^ "Chris Seitz | D.C. United". D.C. United. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  18. ^ "D.C. United have announced that 16 players are under contract for the 2020 MLS season". November 22, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  19. ^ "Chris Seitz 2020 Match Logs (Goalkeeping)". FBref.com. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  20. ^ "2020 Major League Soccer Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  21. ^ Butler, Dylan (December 20, 2020). "DC United re-sign backup goalkeeper Chris Seitz to one-year deal". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  22. ^ "Chris Seitz 2021 Match Logs (Goalkeeping)". FBref.com. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  23. ^ "2021 Major League Soccer Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  24. ^ "Who's in, who's out? All 27 MLS clubs announce roster decisions following 2021 season | MLSSoccer.com".
  25. ^ @Seitzy1 (January 19, 2022). "MLS cup ✅ Supporters Shield ✅ US Open Cup ✅ ✅ 2008 USA Olympic Team ✅ I will forever be grateful for the memor…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  26. ^ "Chris Seitz". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  27. ^ "C. Seitz". soccerway.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  28. ^ "Chris Seitz Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved March 9, 2022.