Goalie thriving after promotion
Moments after goalkeeper Jordan Farr helped seal San Antonio FC’S 2-1 win over MLS club Austin FC with his seventh save, he briefly waved off his celebrating teammates to make space for a standing backflip.
Farr joked that he picked up the skill during his years working at a trampoline park, and the celebration has become his signature, with SAFC fans behind the north goal at Toyota Field asking for it after every win.
He highlighted the night against Austin as “the best soccer experience of my life,” falling amid a run of three consecutive clean sheets in USL Championship matches that twice landed him on the league’s Team of the Week.
Just three weeks before his star-making performance in the U.S. Open Cup match against Austin, Farr was mired on San Antonio’s bench, stuck behind opening-night starter Cristian Bonilla.
But Bonilla’s sudden retirement at the end of March paved the way for Farr to emerge as one of the league’s hottest keepers, sparking SAFC to a four-match winning streak entering a meeting with Monterey Bay FC at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Toyota Field.
“I’m confident. As a goalkeeper, you take runs when you have them,” Farr said. “You try not to get too high and not too low, either, because you know it can go either way.”
Farr brought that mindset to SAFC when he signed in January, knowing he’d face competition for the starting goalkeeper job.
He manned the net for San Antonio on an emergency loan from Indy Eleven during the 2021 playoffs, starting all three matches on SAFC’S run to the Western Conference final.
Through four years with Indy, Farr played in 34 matches, with most coming in 2021. But when the club declined his contract option after the season, Farr decided on a fulltime move to San Antonio, recalling his rapport with the players and coaching staff as well as his wife’s fondness for the city.
Bonilla’s signing with SAFC was announced just one day after Farr’s arrival, and longtime stalwart
Matt Cardone re-signed in February, sparking a competition that coach Alen Marcina called “the hardest decision we had to make” during the preseason.
When Bonilla earned the starting nod, Farr said he kept a level head by prioritizing his faith, family and relationships with his teammates above his standing on the depth chart, following Cardone’s example of remaining positive through the unwanted news.
“That first night seeing Cristian go out, it was obviously difficult,” Farr said. “It’s not easy to watch someone step in that role, but at the same time, this team has been about one thing and one thing only, and it’s cohesion throughout the group.”
Farr said he focused on providing his own positive reinforcement — a skill the 27-year-old picked up
during his time with Indy Eleven.
Since turning pro in 2018 after four seasons at NAIA school Corban University in his hometown of Salem, Ore., Farr said he’s seen “crazy growth” in his play, benefiting from consistent training with specialized goalkeeper coaches.
With an improved physique and an enhanced mindset compared with his first days in the professional ranks, Farr said he felt ready to seize his opportunity with SAFC.
“The fact that my identity is in other things first makes it easy to then step into, because it’s not like all the pressure in the world on top of you,” Farr said. “Obviously, that first game against Phoenix, I’m not going to lie, I was nervous. It’s just about remembering that you’ve trained for this.”
Marcina said he’s “incredibly proud” of how
Farr has “stepped up in a big way,” and defender Carter Manley said Farr’s impact has been “massive.”
“He definitely has our trust, so that makes everything a lot easier,” Manley said. “There’s no secondguessing. If he says something, we’re doing it right away. There’s no resistance.”
Of all the standout moments from Farr’s short time as the starter, Manley pointed to the final stop against Austin as particularly “unbelievable.”
With San Antonio nursing a one-goal lead in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Farr slid forward to stuff a lunging shot attempt by Austin’s Felipe Martins. As their legs tangled in the middle of the 6yard box, Martins made no effort to spring back to his feet, trapping Farr in a seated position as the rebound rolled toward the center of the penalty area.
Austin’s Rodney Redes charged forward and unleashed a shot from about 10 yards, and Farr instinctively lowered his right elbow just enough to deflect the ball straight down into the pitch, smothering it to force a stop in play.
Just a few weeks removed from wondering if he’d have an opportunity to see the field this season, Farr never has felt closer to first-division ready.
“The experience being out there with a full Austin crowd and San Antonio bringing everything we have, that is validating for all the players, because that’s what the next level looks like, and it’s not far away at all,” Farr said. “It was a wonderful, wonderful night, and one I won’t soon forget.”