Zachary Stephen Wells (born February 26, 1981, in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...

) is an American former 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 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 ...

College

Wells played

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 ...

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 ...

from 1999 to 2003, where he helped the school to the

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

as a junior, and was named first-team All-Pac-10 as a senior.

MLS

Upon graduating, Wells was selected 21st overall in the

2004 MLS SuperDraft The 2004 MLS SuperDraft, held in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 16, 2004, was the fifth incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft. The draft was most notable at the time for the selection of one of the younge ...

by the MetroStars. He spent much of the season backing up national teamer Jonny Walker, but played two games in mid-season. In 2005, with Walker recovering from surgery, Wells took over the starting role, and played well, leading to Walker's trade to Columbus. But the return of

Tony Meola Antonio Michael Meola (; ; born February 21, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented the United States national team at the 1990, 1994, and 2002 World Cups. From 1996 to 2006, he pla ...

to the club left Wells being a backup again. He was traded to Houston for a 4th round pick in the

2006 MLS SuperDraft The 2006 MLS SuperDraft, held in Philadelphia on January 20, 2006, was the seventh incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft. The first selection originally belonged to Chivas USA, but they traded it to the MetroSt ...

. He was acquired along with a conditional draft pick 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 ...

for

Bobby Boswell Robert Allen "Bobby" Boswell (born March 15, 1983) is an American retired soccer player. He played his entire professional career in Major League Soccer, mostly with the Houston Dynamo and D.C. United. He retired in 2017 with over 360 appearance ...

on December 12, 2007. Wells announced his retirement from professional soccer on February 17, 2009, just a month before the start of the 2009 MLS season."Zach Wells retires from Major League Soccer," D.C. United Media Relations, Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
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National team

Wells earned his only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the U.S. national team on February 19, 2006, in a 4–0 victory over

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Pizza Hut Park Toyota Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in the southern United States, located in Frisco, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. Built and owned by the city of Frisco, the 20,500-seat stadium opened in 2005. Its primary tenants are Major League ...

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...

Honors

Houston Dynamo

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 ...

MLS Cup (2):

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Zach 1981 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers D.C. United players Houston Dynamo FC players Major League Soccer players New York Red Bulls draft picks New York Red Bulls players Sportspeople from Costa Mesa, California UCLA Bruins men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players Newport Harbor High School alumni Soccer players from Orange County, California