Orest Banach (born March 31, 1948; also known as Orri Banach) is an American retired

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 ...

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 ...

of Ukrainian descent who played three seasons 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 ...

and earned four

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the U.S. national team.

Youth

While born in Germany, Banach grew up in the United States. He graduated from

East Leyden High School East Leyden High School is a secondary school located in Franklin Park, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) which educates grades 9-12. Together with West Leyden High School in Northlake, Illinois, they serve the suburban communities in Franklin ...

Franklin Park, Illinois Franklin Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,467 at the 2020 census, up from 18,333 at the 2010 census. It was named for real estate broker Lesser Franklin who bought acres of the area when it was a ma ...

in 1965.

Club

Banach played for the

Ukrainian Lions The Ukrainian Lions was a soccer club that was operated by the Ukrainian American Sports Club. The club was based in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1949 by Ukrainians that had settled in the Chicago area after the Second World War. They com ...

of the

National Soccer League of Chicago The Greater Chicago Soccer League , formerly the National Soccer League (Chicago), formed by the merger of the Chicago Soccer League and International Soccer Football League of Chicago in 1928, is a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which claim ...

. In 1966, he moved to

Toronto Roma Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

of the

Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League The Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada. The league operated for six seasons from 1961 to 1966 across four cities in two Canadian provinces and one American state. In the 1960s, the Eastern Canada Professional ...

. In 1967, he played in the American Soccer League with the Rochester Lancers. After he return to the Ukrainian Lions. He then played six seasons in the

, in 1968 for the

Boston Beacons The Boston Beacons were an American soccer professional team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968. The team was based in Boston and played their home games at Fenway Park. Originally intended to be a charter membe ...

, in 1969 for the

Baltimore Bays The Baltimore Bays were a professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland founded in 1967 as one of the ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL and the rival United Soccer Association (USA) m ...

, in 1971 for the St. Louis Stars, and in 1972 for the Ukrainian Lions.

National team

He also earned four

, all World Cup qualifiers, with the U.S. national team between 1969 and 1972. His first cap was a 2–0 loss to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

on April 20, 1969. His second cap was another loss to Haiti on May 11, 1969. He did not play again for the national team until a 3–2 loss to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on August 20, 1972. In that game, he came out in 46th minute for

Mike Winters Michael Winters may refer to: *Michael Sean Winters, American journalist and writer * Michael Winters (actor), American actor *Mike Winters (umpire) Michael John Winters (born November 19, 1958) is an American former umpire in Major League Baseba ...

. His last cap came nine days later, a 2–2 tie with Canada. He again came out of the game for Winter, this time in the 34th minute.USA - Details of International Matches 1970-1979
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

Ukrainian Football Diaspora @ Sport.ua
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banach, Orest 1948 births Living people People from Neu-Ulm Footballers from Swabia (Bavaria) American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Baltimore Bays players Boston Beacons players Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League players National Soccer League (Chicago) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players St. Louis Stars (soccer) players Toronto Roma players Ukrainian Lions players United States men's international soccer players American people of Ukrainian descent German people of Ukrainian descent Soccer players from Illinois East Leyden High School alumni Men's association football goalkeepers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada American expatriate sportspeople in Canada Rochester Lancers (1967–1980) players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players 20th-century American sportsmen