It was the stuff that goalkeeping dreams are made of. A substitute 'keeper comes in for his injured comrade, makes several sharp saves, and leads his team to the brink of championship glory.
Alas for Los Angeles goalkeeper Josh Saunders, the 2009 MLS Cup Final didn't have the fairytale ending, as the Galaxy fell 5-4 to Real Salt Lake in a penalty shootout after the teams had slogged through 120 minutes tied 1-1.
But Saunders has no reason to hang his head. Were it not for his steady play in relief of starter Donovan Ricketts, not to mention his two saves in the shootout, the Galaxy wouldn't have come as close as they did to claiming their third MLS Cup. His efforts were certainly appreciated by manager Bruce Arena, who hailed Saunders' performance as "remarkable." His teammates noticed as well.
"Josh, he was a beast," said Mike Magee, whose goal put the Galaxy ahead 1-0 late in the first half. "That's a difficult game to come into. They were coming at us, and we were dead. We had a couple of guys injured and five guys cramping for the last 25 minutes of the game. He had to come up huge and he did."
The game started with Saunders sitting on the bench, and he had every expectation that he would stay there for the entire match. After all, Ricketts had started all but four league games this season. But with the second half less than two minutes old, Ricketts collided with teammate Omar Gonzalez, sustaining what the Jamaican later indicated was a broken right hand.
Ricketts attempted to carry on, but after RSL's Robbie Findley canceled out Magee's opener in the 64th minute, the L.A. 'keeper decided he couldn't continue, and Saunders became the first substitute goalkeeper in MLS Cup Final history.
To Saunders' credit, he had not been idle during his time on the sidelines, and was clued in from the moment he took the field.
"My preparation started from the kickoff," said Saunders. "I was going along with [Ricketts] as much as possible, playing the game mentally as if I was on the field. As he went down I had more time to prepare, and I was able to get out there and do a similar job."
Saunders got into the match by corralling some awkward, long-range efforts easily, and his handling on crosses was perfect, including a few where he came well out of his 6-yard box. Perhaps Saunders' sharpest save came in the 86th minute, when he dove low to his right to parry away a low cross from Findley.
Yet the long-time understudy saved his best for the penalty shootout. RSL were first to break serve when 'keeper Nick Rimando saved Jovan Kirovski's third-round attempt. But Saunders responded immediately by stoning Real midfielder Kyle Beckerman.
When Landon Donovan sent his attempt over the bar in the fourth round, it set the stage for RSL's Andy Williams to win the cup. But Saunders delivered a massive save, smothering the Jamaican's attempt.
It was at this point that Saunders felt like the shootout was there for the taking. But Chris Wingert sent him the wrong way in the sixth round, and after Rimando turned away Edson Buddle, Robbie Russell slotted home the game-winner.
"I keep [replaying] the Chris Wingert shot, which I could have, technically, saved to win the game; I keep thinking I played it wrong," he said. "But I can't second-guess myself because I could have done that on the other ones I saved. I did what I could."
Saunders' coaches and teammates know that all too well.
Jeff Carlisle is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
