Goalkeeper Oliver Semmle wasn’t called upon much during Saturday night’s road draw at Charlotte FC but the Philadelphia Union shotstopper made it count to earn his second shutout of 2024.
The first-year German keeper made four stops including two late in the match which earned him the praises of his head coach.
“I’m proud of Oliver,” Jim Curtin said following the match during his postgame press conference. “Any clean sheet helps you grow in confidence and getting one in New England, even though we were up a man, is important. In tonight’s game, he didn’t have a ton to do so it wasn’t like a nonstop, getting bombarded with shots but for me these are the hardest games for a goalkeeper. You are called upon to make three big saves. He’s done a great job and he’s a young goalkeeper and shutouts build confidence.”
Semmle has been called upon early and often so far for the Boys in Blue after being acquired from Louisville City FC in January. Originally planned as the fill in for Andre Blake during the Jamaican captain’s international contests, the 26-year-old has appeared in 13 of the 18 matches for the Union thus far.
The Union keeper has been working daily with goalkeeping coach Phil Wheddon to improve his game and is rightfully being rewarded with shutouts after racking up 40 saves across his league starts. Despite helping the club to the second-best unbeaten road form in league history, both Semmle and Curtin echo’d that the match on Saturday won’t mean much without building upon the result as they return home for a two-game homestand against Toronto FC and CF Montreal.
“It’s important for us to not concede and to keep a clean sheet is something to build on,” Curtin said. “It doesn’t really mean anything if we don’t follow it up with really good performances at home on Wednesday and Saturday.”
Philadelphia Union hosts Toronto FC on Wednesday night at Subaru Park for the inaugural Esports Night. The match presented by Malamut Law kicks off at 7:30PM ET.
