Andrew Dykstra (; born January 2, 1986) is an American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a goalkeeper.

Career

College and amateur

Dykstra grew up in

Woodbridge, Virginia Woodbridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located south of Washington, D.C. Bounded by the Occoquan River, Occoquan and Potomac River, Potomac rivers, Woodbridge had 44,668 residents at the ...

, attended

Osbourn Park High School Osbourn Park High School is a Prince William County, Virginia public high school in a small county island between the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, southwest of Washington D.C. Osbourn Park serves the mid-part of the county. Osbourn ...

, and played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...

from 2004 to 2008, redshirting in his first year. He was named to the CAA All-Rookie Team as a freshman in 2005, and played in all 18 matches for VCU in his senior season, being named to the All-CAA Second Team and recognized as the goalkeeper on the 2008 Scholar All-East Third Team. During his college years Dykstra also played four seasons in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

for

Richmond Kickers Future Richmond Kickers Future was an American soccer team based in Richmond, Virginia, United States. Founded in 2002 as part of the development system of the Richmond Kickers USL Second Division franchise, the team played in the USL Premier Developmen ...

Professional

Undrafted out of college, Dykstra was signed to Chicago Fire's developmental roster on April 6, 2009 and signed to a senior roster spot later in June 2009. He made his full professional debut for Fire on June 30, 2009, in a

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

third-round game against

Wilmington Hammerheads Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. Histor ...

. Dykstra became the Fire's number one goalkeeper just prior to the 2010 season, when the new coaching staff, in a surprise last-minute move, chose to waive starting goalkeeper

Jon Busch Jon Busch (born August 18, 1976) is an American professional soccer coach and former player, who played as a goalkeeper. Busch is currently the goalkeeping coach for USL Championship club Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. He is best remembered for hi ...

. He made his MLS debut on March 27, 2010, in Chicago's 2010 season opener against the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

On January 31, 2011, the Fire announced that they released Dykstra after two seasons with the club. Dykstra signed with

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

of the

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a f ...

league on March 23, 2011. On August 12, 2011, Dykstra was named Most Valuable Player at the final league game of the regular season, in recognition for his successful season in which he led the USL Pro League in lowest Goals Against Average and fewest goals allowed. During the 2014 season, Dykstra started for the first time in the MLS since 2010 for three matches to replace injured goalkeeper

Bill Hamid Abdul Bilal "Bill" Hamid ( ; born November 25, 1990) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for USL Championship club Miami FC. Born in Annandale, Virginia, Hamid was the first D.C. United Academy player to sign fo ...

. Dykstra performed "admirably" allowing only one goal. Later in the same season, Dykstra started for a friendly game against

Fulham FC Fulham Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of English football. They have played home games at Craven Cottage since 1896, other than a two-year period spen ...

where he suffered a ruptured Achilles and was ruled out for the rest of the season. Following his release from D.C. United at the end of the 2016 season, Dykstra was selected by

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

in the 2016 MLS Re-Entry Draft Stage 2. On February 8, 2018, Dykstra was traded by Sporting Kansas City to

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

in exchange for a second-round pick in the

2020 MLS SuperDraft The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was the 21st edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first SuperDraft held exclusively via conference call and web streaming. The first two rounds of the 2020 SuperDraft we ...

. Dykstra was released by Colorado at the end of their 2018 season. In March 2019, Dykstra retired from professional soccer.

Personal life

Dykstra enjoys

homebrewing Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...

in his personal time. After retiring from professional soccer, Dykstra took a job for Prince William Soccer in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dykstra, Andrew 1986 births Living people American men's soccer players American people of Dutch descent VCU Rams men's soccer players Richmond Kickers Future players Chicago Fire FC players Charleston Battery players D.C. United players Richmond Kickers players Sporting Kansas City players Sporting Kansas City II players Colorado Rapids players Charlotte Independence players Soccer players from Honolulu USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players Men's association football goalkeepers Osbourn Park High School alumni