San Antonio FC reinforces goalkeeping ranks with Grant Makela

San Antonio FC signed goalkeeper Grant Makela to a 25-day contract, his first as a professional, the club announced Tuesday.

Boasting experience at the college and semi-professional levels, Makela’s signing fills a hole in the goalkeeping ranks for SAFC after Cristian Bonilla and Matt Cardone retired earlier this season, leaving just 17-year-old Jude Bosshardt as the backup. There was even a match when Bosshardt was injured and SAFC had no backup on the bench for Jordan Farr, which put SAFC in a risky position if something happened to Farr.

“We are pleased to welcome Grant to the team, he has had an exceptional collegiate career and was a top performer with Des Moines Menace of USL League Two,” said SAFC head coach Alen Marcina. “We are intrigued to see his transition into the professional game.”

SAFC and its fans will rest easier knowing it has a more experienced backup goalkeeper now — and Bosshardt won’t be shoved into the deep end at such a young age. Although this is Makela’s first professional contract, he has more experience and would theoretically be more capable of filling in for Farr on a short- and maybe medium-term basis, and SAFC would extend his contract accordingly if he’s the right fit.

“The right person can be for short-term or mid-term, and we’re looking at both options,” Marcina said on Aug. 2. “[It’s a] decision that we'll be making soon…and it can be a combination of both, you can always have somebody initially on a 25-day [contract] and then extend that.”

Makela played in seven regular season matches and three in the playoffs for Des Moines this year, allowing just six goals and saving 80% of shots he faced. Des Moines reached the Central Conference final, where it lost in a penalty kick shootout 5-4 following a 1-1 draw on July 29, with Makela making a PK save before the shootout and being named the Menace Man of the Match.

Before his time with Des Moines, Makela played at Florida International University in 2021, registering a 0.82 goals-against average and saving 73.9% of the shots he faced. He spent most of his college career at Southern Methodist University from 2016 to 2019, where he had 14 clean sheets in 33 matches and made 14 shutouts to lead the American Athletic Conference in clean sheets and goals-against average in 2018 and 2019. Those efforts earned him spots on the 2018 AAC All-Conference Second Team and 2019 AAC All-Tournament Team.