San Antonio FC doesn’t have a starting goalkeeper — it has three

The competition to be San Antonio FC’s starting goalkeeper has ebbed and flowed in the club’s first six seasons, but 2022 will likely be the most competitive year yet for SAFC at that position.

To be fair, SAFC claimed to have a duopoly of capable goalkeepers challenging each other for the starting spot in its early seasons, but there was usually a favorite based on experience, performances or just familiarity with the club’s system and culture. That’s now flipped on its head in 2022 as SAFC has not two but three goalkeepers – Matt Cardone, Jordan Farr and Cristian Bonilla – who all deserve a starting spot in any USL Championship team.

“We are in a great position, we have three clear starters,” SAFC head coach Alen Marcina told The Striker Texas. “[Head of Goalkeeping Juan Lamadrid and I] are going to have to have some uncomfortable conversations. There’s a clear starter not making the 18-man roster, and that’s a very, very difficult conversation to have because all three are exceptional people, exceptional talents, all performing very well in preseason.”

The guys who wear the gloves

At this point, it just wouldn’t feel right to have an SAFC season without Cardone. He’s the only player who has stuck around since SAFC’s inaugural season in 2016, reaching 100 appearances last year, and leads the club in a number of statistics including appearances, clean sheets, total saves and saves in a single season.

Cardone’s return was far from a guarantee in 2022, though, with sources telling The Striker Texas at the end of last season that Cardone had been considering retirement even before suffering a season-ending injury in the last match of the regular season. When training camp started and Farr and Bonilla were already signed, it seemed like Cardone was riding off into the sunset.

That’s why it puzzled fans when Cardone was spotted in a picture of preseason training, and SAFC confirmed his later-than-usual return on Feb. 3. Throughout his time with SAFC, Cardone has proven that he’s capable of organizing the players in front of him and stopping the shots which get past them.

What Cardone wasn’t capable of in 2021 though was avoiding an injury right before the playoffs, paving the way for the emergency loan of Jordan Farr from Indy Eleven. While Farr spent less than a month in San Antonio, playing just 300 minutes and a penalty shootout, he filled in for Cardone seamlessly. Farr made seven saves in the playoffs with SAFC after making 72 and having a 72% save percentage through 21 matches with Indy earlier in the year.

Farr had already been on SAFC’s radar and Indy chose not to renew his contract for 2022, so it came as no surprise when he was the first goalkeeper SAFC announced on Jan. 26. His brief experience in San Antonio was positive outside of matches, too, as the club made sure he could bring his wife and dog for the limited time he was here, and everyone at the club helped make the transition as seamless as possible.

“I can’t really quantify how easy the transition felt – everyone was extremely welcoming, everyone was excited to have me here,” Farr said after his first appearance for SAFC on November 5, 2021, less than a week after arriving. “I can’t really say enough about how professionally the organization handled this whole thing and set me up in a really good position to succeed. There’s something really, extremely special in San Antonio. Immediately, the staff got me on board with the tactics and how we’re going to play the game and what they expect from me from a very detailed standpoint.”

Bonilla was signed just a day after Farr, but unlike Farr and Cardone, this was a signing completely out of the blue. It’s likely nobody outside of the SAFC staff had heard of Bonilla before since he has spent the majority of his career in his native Colombia.

In over 20,000 minutes played in his career, Bonilla has won the Colombian Primera A Championship and Copa Colombia three times apiece and added two Colombian Superliga titles. He has also represented his country at the youth and senior international levels, making over 30 appearances for the national team including four at the 2016 Olympics.

It’s also worth mentioning that SAFC added a fourth goalkeeper to the roster on Tuesday as Jude Bosshardt was signed to a USL Academy contract. Though Bosshardt has virtually no chance of playing this season, it’s good for SAFC to give him and other promising young players the opportunity to train with and potentially even play for the first team when they earn it.

So, who gets to start between the sticks?

Despite all the talent among SAFC’s goalkeeping corps, only one can suit up at a time. As Marcina said, one of the three goalkeepers won’t even make the 18-man roster for each match, having to sit up in the stands, and he said the three players understand that.

Further complicating matters, Marcina said each goalkeeper has a different skillset. In the announcements of their signings, Marcina praised Farr’s ability to make saves in key moments and Bonilla’s presence in the box, athleticism and distribution.

What Marcina said when Cardone re-signed, though, seems to indicate he’ll have a critical role even if he doesn’t see any playing time.

“His experience and insight into our team culture are invaluable and will enhance the integration of our newly signed goalkeepers,” Marcina said of Cardone’s re-signing.

Cardone may be set to take on somewhat of a coaching role, especially since Lamadrid is now also serving as Pro Academy Director in addition to his position as Head of Goalkeeping. That doesn’t mean Cardone won’t also push for the starting spot in 2022, but at least he has a secondary role to fulfill just in case.

Bonilla saw the most playing time in the first three preseason matches, which might say something. Reflecting on the one preseason match we could see on Feb. 26, I speculated that might just be because Marcina knew Cardone and Farr’s capabilities better and wanted to see more of Bonilla.

However, Bonilla started all three of those preseason matches behind the same back three of Carter Manley, Fabien Garcia and Mitchell Taintor, which most would consider SAFC’s ideal backline, even as players farther forward changed from game to game. Marcina claimed he hadn’t chosen who was ahead of the others as the starting goalkeeper, but these lineup choices could mean Bonilla was the frontrunner in preseason.

Whoever wins the starting spot for any match will still be in a precarious position. The other two goalkeepers will be nipping at his heels and ready to step in if things aren’t working out, plus Marcina has even said he’s open to rotating his goalkeepers.

Helping alleviate the problem of only being able to play one goalkeeper at a time, the US Open Cup is returning in 2022. Even if one goalkeeper locks down the starting spot in the league, it’s very unlikely Marcina wouldn’t use the Open Cup as a chance to spread the minutes.

The players will push each other for minutes, but Marcina said they’ll also support each other no matter who has the job. Farr already built a bond with and respects Cardone after taking over for him in the playoffs last year, and it's not just because they use the same brand of goalkeeping gloves.

“I just can’t speak highly enough of Carlos [Mercado, former SAFC goalkeeper,] and Matt,” Farr said after his first appearance for SAFC in 2021. “Matt’s a brilliant professional, he basically just led me through what’s going to happen, what it looks like from training to pregame to matchday, all that. There’s a quality goalkeeper unit here and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Regardless of who starts this Saturday against Detroit City FC, a week later at LA Galaxy II, in the Open Cup on April 5 or potentially the USL Championship final in November, the daily battle and brotherhood of the three experienced and talented goalkeepers SAFC has for 2022 will be a fascinating story. 

SAFC doesn’t have a starting goalkeeper, it has three.