Josh Saunders (born March 2, 1981) is an American former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who 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 ...

. He last played for Orlando City in

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 ...

Career

College

Saunders, the younger brother of Shawn Saunders, spent the final two seasons of his collegiate career at Berkeley, after spending the previous two at

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

. He was named a First Team All-Pac-10 selection in each of his two seasons with the Golden Bears, and during his senior season he became the first keeper ever to be named

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Player of the Year. He has a B.A. in American studies.

Professional

After being selected in the fourth round of the

2003 MLS SuperDraft The 2003 MLS Superdraft was held January 17, 2003 in Kansas City, Missouri. It was the fifth annual SuperDraft held by Major League Soccer. Player selection Any player whose name is marked with an * was contracted under the Project-40 Genera ...

Saunders made the roster of 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 ...

, but did not appear in an official match. Instead, Saunders played 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 ...

in 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 ...

, where he played every minute of his 16 games, allowing only 15 goals, giving him a 0.90 GAA for the 2003 season. The next year, he started 24 games and posted a 1.11 GAA with six shutouts. Chief among his feats was a 363-minute scoreless streak, which, until recently, was the longest in Timbers history. Saunders joined

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

in 2005 as third-choice keeper behind Kevin Hartman and

Steve Cronin Steve Michael Cronin (born May 28, 1983 in Sacramento, California) is a retired American soccer player who most recently played for D.C. United of Major League Soccer. Career College and Amateur Cronin played college soccer at Santa Clara Uni ...

, but again failed to appear in a first team game, logged only 15 minutes as a substitute in a game for the Galaxy's reserves. In 2007, Saunders and three other players were waived from the LA Galaxy. Some bloggers suspected this was due to the massive expense of acquiring soccer star

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending f ...

, and despite a successful pre-season trial with Chicago Fire, signed for the

Puerto Rico Islanders Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

for the 2007 season. He made his debut for the Islanders in a 2-1 victory over the

Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos t ...

on April 14, 2007. On April 11, 2008, Saunders signed with

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 s ...

, and subsequently made 27 appearances for the Florida team, until he was loaned to

in September 2008 for the remainder of the MLS season. Saunders signed a permanent contract with Galaxy in early 2009, and was expected to serve as understudy to

Donovan Ricketts Donovan Ricketts (born 7 June 1977) is a Jamaican former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and is currently an assistant coach for FC Tulsa in the USL Championship. Ricketts played more than 100 games for Bradford City in ...

. On November 22, 2009, he came on in the 2nd half in relief of the injured Ricketts during the 2009 MLS Cup. Despite holding

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 ...

scoreless for the remaining 26 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time, Saunders was unable to guide the Galaxy to their 3rd

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

title when he could stop only two of seven Salt Lake penalty attempts. Saunders had an impressive season during 2011, putting in commanding performances in the Galaxy's goal in the absence of Ricketts, who was out for most of the season with a long-term injury. In 2012, he guided Galaxy to victory in

MLS Cup 2012 MLS Cup 2012, the 17th edition of Major League Soccer's championship match, was a rematch between the Houston Dynamo and the Los Angeles Galaxy to decide the champion of the 2012 season. The soccer match was played at the Home Depot Center i ...

helping the club win their 4th MLS Cup in history and first back-to-back championships. On February 22, 2013, Saunders contract with Galaxy expired and it was not renewed due to the arrival of

Carlo Cudicini Carlo Cudicini (; born 6 September 1973) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the son of the former Milan goalkeeper Fabio Cudicini, and the grandson of Ponziana defender Guglielmo Cudicini. Cudicini is currently a ...

. After requesting to join the preseason camp of

, Saunders saw his first minutes with the Claret and Cobalt in a preseason win over the Galaxy. He was later signed as a backup for

Nick Rimando Nicholas Paul Rimando (born June 17, 1979) is an American retired soccer player who last played as a goalkeeper for Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer and the United States national team. He holds the Major League Soccer records for career ...

. During Rimando's absences for the

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on 7 July 2013 at the ...

, Saunders made 2 starts, but tore his ACL on July 13 against

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 ...

and missed the rest of the season, and his option was declined following the season. On July 10, 2014, it was confirmed that Saunders would sign for MLS expansion franchise

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned ...

on a free transfer, joining the

San Antonio Scorpions The San Antonio Scorpions were an American professional soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 2010, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2012. The Scorpions played at Toyota Field, a soccer specific stadium ...

on loan until the end of 2014. It was also confirmed that he would join New York City's sister club

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

in their tour of Scotland. Saunders was traded by NYCFC to Orlando City on January 27, 2017 in exchange for a fourth-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 ...

. Saunders' contract option was not renewed by Orlando City following the 2017 season.

International

In 2008, Saunders made his debut with the Puerto Rican national team, and is now considered to have Puerto Rican sporting nationality. Prior to his international switch, Saunders made an appearance for the U.S. U-23 national team in 2002 against Canada.

Career statistics

Honors

Club

;San Jose Earthquakes *

(1):

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

Western Conference Championship (1):

;Portland Timbers (USL) *

USL A-League 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 ...

Commissioner's Cup (1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

;Los Angeles Galaxy *

(2): 2011,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Supporters' Shield (2):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, 2011 *

Western Conference Championship (3):

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 ...

, 2011,

;Real Salt Lake *

Western Conference Championship (1):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

;San Antonio Scorpions * North American Soccer League Soccer Bowl (1):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Individual

* NYCFC Etihad Player of the month: March 2015 * NYCFC Etihad Player of the month: April 2015 * NYCFC Etihad Player of the month: October 2015

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Josh 1981 births Living people American soccer players Puerto Rican footballers Soccer players from Oregon Cal State Fullerton Titans men's soccer players California Golden Bears men's soccer players San Jose Earthquakes players Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players LA Galaxy players Puerto Rico Islanders players Miami FC (2006) players Real Salt Lake players San Antonio Scorpions players New York City FC players Orlando City SC players Orlando City B players Association football goalkeepers A-League (1995–2004) players USL First Division players Major League Soccer players North American Soccer League players USL Championship players Sportspeople from Grants Pass, Oregon United States men's under-23 international soccer players Puerto Rico international footballers San Jose Earthquakes draft picks Major League Soccer All-Stars