From high school to Major League Soccer, Zach Wells has won championships and racked up gaudy statistics at every stage in his career. But several instances of bad luck and inopportune timing have seen the goalkeeper's pro career stagnate in recent years, giving him plenty to prove as he looks to secure a leading role with D.C. United in 2008.
Troy Perkins' departure to Norway has prompted the D.C. coaching staff to give Wells a real opportunity to shine -- something that has all too often eluded him over his four-year MLS career -- and while the presence of promising young Peruvian Jose Carvallo means he'll have to constantly prove his worth, it's clear that head coach Tom Soehn and his staff believe in Wells.
"Zach's always been one of those guys who, I felt, put his time into the league and who I thought, in the games that he played, was a quality goalkeeper. Even though he's not gotten a lot of minutes as of recently, I still consider him kind of an MLS veteran," said United goalkeepers coach Mark Simpson. "That's why we brought him in when Troy departed, because we feel like he can be one of those guys that can step in and play. I think he just needed a chance."
After a scintillating college career at UCLA highlighted by a 2002 NCAA title and a long litany of individual honors, Wells was drafted by the then-MetroStars with the 21st overall pick of the 2004 SuperDraft. He looked to be on his way after he displaced starter Jonny Walker the following year, notching 69 saves and a 1.24 goals-against average in 17 starts, only to return to the bench upon Tony Meola's return to the club.
An offseason trade to Houston allowed him to experience the thrill of Dynamo's back-to-back MLS Cup championships, but the steady play of veteran backstop Pat Onstad limited him to just 282 minutes of league play over the past two years.
"We had a lot of guys who were around my age group who just couldn't replace the guys in front of them who have been so successful for the past five, six years. You look at a guy like Pat Onstad: he has two Goalkeeper of the Year awards, he's got three championships, he always plays huge in the big games and it's like, if it ain't broke, you can't fix it," said Wells of his time with the Orange.
"There's only so much joy you can get from winning from the bench. So I wanted to get out there and prove that I can play and be a part of a winning team. Obviously I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was traded to D.C., with its winning tradition and its success in the last few years."
The tall netminder arrived in the nation's capital in a December trade for defender Bobby Boswell, and even with United's constant preseason travel, he's quickly found a home in his new environment, settling into a apartment in the District of Columbia not far from RFK Stadium.
"I figured coming back to the East Coast, I was going to try to live the way I wanted to, and I really like the culture and the walkability of the city," he said. "It's much more manageable than New York, and I think it's more endearing in that way. So I made it a priority to live in the city."
An invitation to the U.S. national team's winter training camp allowed him to begin his United career with momentum on the field as well as off it. Wells logged nearly a month of hard work under the watchful gaze of his former MetroStars boss, national team manager Bob Bradley, and the experience honed his sharpness for D.C.'s preseason while also giving him hope that strong club performances would push him into consideration for a role in 2010 World Cup qualifying.
"Being the age I am, it works in my favor at this point," said Wells, who celebrated his 27th birthday this week. "I know I haven't played a lot of games in the last couple of years, but I have a relationship with Bob from my time in New York and I think in the couple of big games that I was able to play in the last year with Houston, he saw enough of me that he trusted that I could potentially be one of the players for the future."
For now, though, Wells is immersed in the daily grind of preseason, working to nail down the starting spot and build chemistry with United's new-look back line. D.C.'s coaches have placed a premium on focus and hunger as they gauge his merits versus Carvallo's.
"We're in a much better situation than we were last year, in that we have two quality 'keepers and even a third that we're working with [rookie James Thorpe] that we think is going to be good down the line," said Soehn. "Having two quality guys is going to make each of them better and they're very different 'keepers, which is a good quality to have too. On that side, we're pretty happy with their progress."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
