Steffen not playing like rookie
Zack Steffen was barely 10 seconds into an interview Thursday night when his teammates started to interrupt him.
A few shouted the word “legend” in his direction from the corners of the locker room. A couple of minutes later, another teammate hit him in the chest with a balled-up roll of used athletic tape.
Steffen smirked and briefly chuckled but continued with his answers. There wasn’t much that could shake his composure there or in front of more than 67,000 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Crew SC’s penalty shootout win over Atlanta United.
The rookie played with the athleticism of a 22-year-old goalkeeper but the poise of a veteran. He made eight saves in regulation and 30 minutes of extra time, plus an additional two saves on Atlanta penalty kicks to help send the Crew to the two-leg Eastern Conference semifinals, which begin Tuesday against New York City FC at Mapfre Stadium.
The electric performance came four days after Steffen made seven saves, including a stop on a David Villa penalty kick in stoppage time, in a 2-2 tie against New York City in the Crew’s regular-season finale. Steffen was critical of that performance. On Thursday, he acknowledged his growth over 35 games.
“It’s been a long season and it’s been a lot of games, so each experience, you learn,” Steffen said. “Toward the end of the season you get in your form, and right now I feel good and the guys in front of me are playing well, and so I’ve got to keep the team in the game.”
Atlanta is the team Steffen more or less won the starting goalkeeper job against.
During the Crew’s preseason trip to Brazil, coach Gregg Berhalter did not rule out the idea of signing a goalkeeper. In a Carolina Challenge Cup game against Atlanta a few weeks later, Steffen made a save from point-blank range on a Kenwyne Jones breakaway, after which, as Berhalter described it, he became a “different guy.”
Now it’s clear the Crew’s playoff run will go as far as Steffen can carry the team in moments of peril on defense.
After the game Thursday, Berhalter recalled a discussion he had the previous day with the game’s broadcast crew.
“They asked me what’s been the most surprising thing of the season so far and I mentioned Zack, just his poise and his calm and his performance, for being such a young player, is really special to see,” Berhalter said. “(Thursday was) no exception. He played a great game, he was calm, he was focused, and then (in) penalties, what can you say? Saving two, another hitting the (post), it
shows that he affected them.”
Berhalter said there isn’t one part of Steffen’s game that is miles ahead from where it was in March, just that his overall product is more consistent. Still, there were signs of a polished product early this season.
“I think about early in the season in the D.C. game (in March), him making a couple big saves late in that game to keep us in it,” Berhalter said. “I would just say overall his play has been very consistent, very calm, very poised, very few big mistakes and then making the big saves.”
Now he’ll hope to make a few more big saves against another capable offense in NYCFC.
Another performance like Thursday’s and it might be more than just Steffen’s teammates using the word “legend.”
“(Steffen is) weathering the storm, making the right passes out of the back and then obviously making saves,” midfielder Wil Trapp said. “His development this year has been pretty fantastic.”