Christopher Seitz (born March 12, 1987) is an American former soccer player. He played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

from 2007 until his retirement in 2021.

Youth and college

Chris Seitz was awarded

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develope ...

'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 College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and Philippines, the Philippines. Th ...

at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

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 The 2007 MLS SuperDraft was held in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 12, 2007. It was the eighth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection belonged to expansion team Toronto FC. The SuperDraft was followed by the 2007 MLS Supp ...

where he was selected fourth overall by

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in ...

. 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 The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

, a 3–1 loss to Miami FC, and two games on loan with the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...

, also of the

, both against the Carolina RailHawks. He was the first goalkeeper to face five penalties in one match. 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 The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 2010 ...

. 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. 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.

FC Dallas

Seitz was selected by

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

in the second stage of the 2010 Re-Entry Draft. A contract was agreed with Seattle, and he was immediately traded to

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the leag ...

in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the

2012 MLS SuperDraft The 2012 MLS SuperDraft was the thirteenth annual MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. It was held on January 12, 2012 at 12:00 p.m. (ET). The draft was reduced from three rounds to two with the 19 MLS clubs selecting ...

. Seitz started one game for FC Dallas in 2011, allowing four goals in a 4–2 loss to the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchis ...

. 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. 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. Because of this act, he was later named the 2012 MLS Humanitarian of the Year. Seitz continued to be primarily a backup goalkeeper for Dallas until the 2016 season, when he would start a career-high 28 MLS matches. He would contribute to the team winning two major trophies, the

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Houston Dynamo

Seitz joined Houston Dynamo on December 15, 2017 as a free agent. 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.

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 The 2019 MLS SuperDraft was the twentieth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is typically held in conjunction with the annual January United Soccer Coaches convention, which in 2019 was held in Chicago, Illinois. The fir ...

. 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 Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

. He made 3 appearances across all competitions for D.C. United in 2019, while also making an appearance for their

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

affiliate

Loudoun United Loudoun United FC is an American professional soccer team based in Leesburg, Virginia. The team was founded in 2018 as the reserve team of D.C. United and made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. History On July 18, 2018, the team was offi ...

. Seitz's contract was renewed after the 2019 season. Seitz appeared in 6 of D.C. United's 23 games in a shortened 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, keeping 2 clean sheets. D.C. finished the season 13th in the Eastern Conference, failing to qualify for the playoffs. He was re-signed after the 2020 season to a one-year contract. 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. Following the 2021 season, Seitz left D.C. United. Seitz later announced his retirement from professional soccer on his personal Twitter account, on January 19, 2022.

International

Seitz earned his first full international call up for the game against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on September 9, 2007, but did not see any playing time. He previously started games for the U-23 squad in the

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...

Pre-Olympic qualification tournament prior to the 2008 Olympic Games and was on the roster for the 2008 Summer Olympic soccer tournament.

Career statistics

Honors

Real Salt Lake *

MLS Cup (1):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Eastern Conference Championship (1):

FC Dallas * Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (1): 2016 *

(1): 2016 Houston Dynamo * Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (1): 2018

Individual

* MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award (1): 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seitz, Chris 1987 births Living people American soccer players Association football goalkeepers Cleveland City Stars players FC Dallas players Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Houston Dynamo FC players Loudoun United FC players Major League Soccer players Maryland Terrapins men's soccer players NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament Most Outstanding Player winners People from San Luis Obispo, California Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players Philadelphia Union players Real Salt Lake draft picks Real Salt Lake players Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players D.C. United players Olympic soccer players of the United States Soccer players from California USL Championship players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players USL First Division players