SAN JOSE, Calif. – For his first competitive appearance as a member of the San Jose Earthquakes, goalkeeper Bryan Meredith got all the action he could have wanted.
Meredith couldn’t stop Rodrigo Lopez’ spot kick six minutes into the Quakes’ eventual fourth-round US Open Cup victory against USL side Sacramento Republic FC 1984638694" tabindex="0">on Tuesday. But he came up with two giant stops during the penalty kick shootout to help San Jose prevail 6-5 after eight rounds to move into the USOC round of 16.
In doing so, the 25-year-old also gave Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear a good look at what he can offer as David Bingham’s primary backup.
“I just said, ‘Look, the Open Cup is yours. The farther we go, the more you’re going to get to play,’” Kinnear said of his conversation with Meredith. “So I’m glad we get another game for him to get to play. He pulled off some really good saves, and capped it off with a couple saves in the penalty kick round. Good for him. He’s been training hard.”
It was an important performance for Meredith, who was not originally ticketed to be the Quakes’ No. 2 keeper in 2015. San Jose selected veteran Andy Gruenebaum in phase one of the Re-Entry Draft in December with an eye towards having him mentor to Bingham, who was handed the starting role after incumbent Jon Busch was cut loose after the 2014 season.
But Gruenebaum, a Midwest native, decided to retire and become Sporting KC’s color commentator rather than move to California. That left the door open for Meredith, who joined the Quakes prior to the 2014 season but had seen action only in preseason games and two international friendlies prior to 1984638695" tabindex="0">Tuesday night.
“I don’t think I went into it trying to prove anything [to teammates], other than just kind of to reassure myself,” Meredith said. “It’s nice to play every once in a while. It’s hard to go such long stretches without getting competitive matches. So it was nice to be able to get in there and actually play well and not have too many mistakes.”
Meredith was ultimately credited with five saves as the teams’ ended extra time tied 2-2. He came up big in the 44th minute with a stop on Octavio Guzman, stoned notorious Quakes-killer Justin Braun in the 82nd and parried a strong attempt by Adnan Gabeljic 10 minutes into the first overtime session.
His biggest error, perhaps, came in the 54th, when Meredith came off his line and appeared to get a piece of Emrah Klimenta’s shot but couldn’t keep it from bouncing into the back of the net.
“It felt a little bit rusty, I guess, going into the first half,” Meredith said. “I think we settled down nicely. . . . They really brought it to us. We were on our heels for the first couple of minutes, and they got that PK call, unfortunately. They started off the second half strong as well, but I thought we rallied back really well. It was unfortunate we didn’t get a third.”
Unfortunate for those who wanted to get home in time for the 11 o’clock news, but the shootout ultimately didn’t hurt San Jose, thanks in large part to Meredith’s work. Meredith blocked Mickey Daly’s attempt in the third round, immediately after a misfire by Khari Stephenson, and then came up with a do-or-die save on Klimenta’s fifth-round try. Meredith hung back, then dove to his right to smother the shot. He popped up and turned to share his celebration with the San Jose Ultras supporters’ group.
“As he’s running up, you kind of get your read on him,” Meredith said. “I think the first couple [of shots], I went a little early. I was a little bit anxious. And then I kind of held my ground a little bit longer. Just luckily went to the right side, I guess.”
After Shaun Francis nailed his eighth-round kick and Sacramento defender James Kiffe pushed his attempt high, and the Quakes were on to the round of 16. Which should mean another start for Meredith.
“If that’s the case, I’m very excited to get at least one more game in the Open Cup,” Meredith said.
Hopefully with a little less work required.
