James Matthew "Matt" Van Oekel (born September 20, 1986) 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 last played 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

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

club

Birmingham Legion FC Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birming ...

Career

Youth and college

Van Oekel played one year of

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 ...

Longwood University Longwood University is a public university in Farmville, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1839 as Farmville Female Seminary and colloquially known as Longwood or Longwood College, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of ...

before transferring to

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

in his sophomore year. With Rutgers, he played in 47 games and earned 20 wins.

Professional

Van Oekel signed with Minnesota out of college in 2008, after impressing staff at the Thunder combine in February 2008. He made his professional debut on September 13, 2009, in 1–1 draw with Montreal Impact, and was released at the end of the season when the Thunder failed, before being picked up by their successor

NSC Minnesota Stars NSC may refer to: Banking and investment * National Sort Code, an Irish bank code * Nomura Securities Co, an investment bank Computing * National Software Centre, an Irish organization * National Supercomputer Centre in Sweden * NetShow Cha ...

, in April 2010.

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the W ...

, now playing in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

, re-signed Van Oekel for the 2011 season on March 11, 2011. Minnesota announced in December 2011 that Van Oekel would return for the 2012 season. Van Oekel signed with

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 ...

side

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

on December 22, 2016. On March 25, 2017, Van Oekel made his first MLS start with RSL, tallying three saves against

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 ...

. Van Oekel signed with

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

side

Oklahoma City Energy FC Oklahoma City Energy Football Club, or simply Energy FC, is an American professional soccer club based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The club is a member of the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer league system. Although ...

on January 5, 2018. Van Oekel was acquired by

on December 12, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Oekel, Matt 1986 births Living people American people of Dutch descent American men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Birmingham Legion FC players FC Edmonton players Longwood University alumni Major League Soccer players Minnesota Thunder players Minnesota United FC (2010–2016) players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players OKC Energy FC players Real Monarchs players Real Salt Lake players Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer players Soccer players from Virginia Sportspeople from Chesapeake, Virginia USL Championship players USL First Division players USSF Division 2 Professional League players