Steffen seeks to build on 2017 success
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Zack Steffen spent more than a week last February at Charleston Southern University putting the finishing touches on his bid to win the Crew SC starting goalkeeper job.
He returned to the school’s still-dormant bermuda grass field last week with the starting role firmly in hand and with justifiably high expectations for his second full Major League Soccer season.
“It’s kind of nice that we’re in the same spot so I can kind of reflect off of how I felt last year compared to this year,” Steffen said Thursday. “I’m still wanting to push myself and to grow as a player and as a teammate on and off the field. So it’s a lot different spot than I was at last year, but the work is still the same.”
In Crew SC’s first game in the Carolina Challenge Cup last February at MUSC Health Stadium in Charleston, Steffen made a one-on-one save against then-Atlanta striker Kenwyne Jones and, in coach Gregg Berhalter’s telling, became “a different guy.” By the 2017 playoffs, he was the guy making save after important save against Atlanta and New York City FC to help vault the Crew to its second Eastern Conference finals appearance in three years.
The extended postseason and Steffen’s first invitation to January camp, which culminated in a half of play in a United States national team friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina, made for a short offseason.
Steffen, 22, spent a couple of weeks working out at United Sports, a soccer facility within walking distance of his family’s house in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and run by his former high school coach, John Hatt, before heading to southern California for the U.S. national team’s January camp.
“I had no idea what to expect, honestly. It was a whole new thing,” Steffen said of January camp. “It was just nice to go in there and get acclimated with all those guys and kind of get back into the swing of things for the year.”
Over the course of his first full season, Steffen gained a better command of his footwork and a better sense of what it takes to direct a back line. Given his more than 3,000 minutes of MLS experience, he believes he can now build on those facets. The mental burden is gone, but the work to try to outsmart and prepare for various MLS presses continues.
“You’re always working on how teams are pressing you, how you can beat their press, what players are open based on how you’re getting pressed,” Berhalter said. “I don’t think you’re ever done with that. I think it’s always something you can work on."
The goal for both Steffen and the Crew is to sustain rather than rebuild to their endof-2017 levels. In that pursuit, details and the improved poise of players like Steffen will matter.
“I think in the beginning of the year last year it was a little bit of a shock,” he said. “Having that experience from last year to build on, game in and game out, helps.”