Earl William Edwards Jr. (born January 24, 1992) is an American 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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

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

College and amateur

Edwards spent his entire college career at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, including a red-shirted year in 2010. He made a total of 61 appearances for the Bruins and finished with 19 shutouts and a 1.07 Goals Against Average. He was named first team All-Pac-12 in 2013 and 2014. Edwards also played in the

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

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on th ...

and

Seattle Sounders FC U-23 Sound FC is an American soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington. Founded in 2006, the team most recently played in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. History 2006–2009: Playoffs The Tacoma team was introduced i ...

Professional career

Orlando City

On January 20, 2015, Edwards was selected in the third round (43rd overall) of the

2015 MLS SuperDraft The 2015 MLS SuperDraft was the sixteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2015 convention was held Janua ...

by Orlando City, and he signed a professional contract with the club a month later. He made his professional debut on June 17 in a 2015 U.S. Open Cup match against

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 ...

. Orlando went on to advance on penalties. He was loaned to

Orlando City B Orlando City B (or OCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays in MLS Next Pro. Owned by Orlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility in Kissimmee, the club plays its home games at ...

in March 2016 before becoming the first-choice keeper in the

2017 USL season The 2017 USL season was the seventh season of the United Soccer League. The league was granted provisional Division II status by the USSF. It was organized by the United Soccer Leagues. New York Red Bulls II were the defending champions of bo ...

. He made his first MLS start on October 23, 2017, away at

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

on the final day of the season when regular starter

Joe Bendik Joseph T. Bendik (born April 25, 1989) is an American retired professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the assistant goalkeeping coach for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire. Club career Clemson Bendik gre ...

was ruled out with concussion. Orlando lost 6–1. On July 14, 2018, following

James O'Connor James O'Connor or O'Conner may refer to: Politics and law * James O'Connor (Louisiana politician) (1870–1941), U.S Representative from Louisiana * James F. O'Connor (1878–1945), U.S Representative from Montana * James Francis Thaddeus O'Connor ...

's appointment as manager, he was given the start over a healthy Bendik in the midst of a nine-game losing streak. Orlando won 2–1 with Edwards registering 3 saves. Edwards would retain the starting job for five games, conceding 13 goals. He was released by the club at the end of the 2018 season when his contract expired.

D.C. United

On December 19, 2018, Edwards was acquired by

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

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 fi ...

. On January 8, 2020, Edwards was re-signed by D.C. United for the 2020 season. He was released by D.C. United on November 30, 2020.

Loudoun United

Edwards has appeared in games for D.C. United's affiliate club, Loudoun United. He appeared the first time for Loudoun United in a game against the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

on March 31, 2019. He was able to keep a clean sheet in his debut as the game ended 0-0.

New England Revolution

On December 19, 2020, Edwards joined MLS side

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

ahead of their 2021 season.

San Jose Earthquakes

On December 30, 2024, Edwards was acquired by the

in exchange for $150,000 in General Allocation Money.

International

Edwards was a member of the United States under-17 squad that competed at the

2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the thirteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria from 24 October to 15 November 2009. Switzerland national under-17 football team, Switzerland won the tournament, beating the host team and holde ...

in Nigeria.

Honors

New England Revolution *

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 199 ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

External links

*
UCLA Bruins bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Earl 1992 births Living people American men's soccer players UCLA Bruins men's soccer players Ventura County Fusion players Seattle Sounders FC U-23 players Orlando City SC players Orlando City B players D.C. United players Loudoun United FC players New England Revolution players New England Revolution II players Men's association football goalkeepers Soccer players from San Diego Orlando City SC draft picks USL League Two players USL Championship players USL League One players United States men's youth international soccer players Major League Soccer players MLS Next Pro players 21st-century American sportsmen San Jose Earthquakes players