SEATTLE – Jordan Jennings had the look of a player who had played his first match with a Major League Soccer team. Dressed in a wrinkly button-up on Sunday, the 25-year-old goalkeeper wandered out of Seattle’s locker room holding the match ball in one hand—a gift from the club on his first appearance.
On the bench as a backup to starter Terry Boss, the non-roster player never thought he would see the field in Seattle’s 2-1 loss the Scottish giants Celtic FC. Instead, Jennings got 58 minutes of playing time after Boss was red-carded in the first half.
In his first action, the Tacoma, Wash., native attempted to defend a penalty kick from someone he had just watched in the World Cup: Greek international Georgios Samaras.
“I was like, ‘Wow, is the long-haired Greek guy really taking a penalty on me right now?’” Jennings joked.
He said that Pat Noonan told him which way Samaras would go. Jennings ignored the advice, trying to read the Greek’s hips to determine the correct direction to dive. He chose poorly.
Afterward, Noonan told him not to worry about it; he wouldn’t have been able to save it anyway.
Jennings is one of a few area goalkeepers with whom goalkeepers coach Tom Dutra is still in contact. He played 90 minutes Saturday night for the Tacoma Tide in a 1-1 draw against Washington Crossfire. He said he estimated about 25 to 30 fans took in that match, as opposed to 45,531 fans at Qwest Field on Sunday.
Despite the change in attendance, Jennings said he became extremely nervous when he saw the referee brandish the red card to Boss. Seattle’s coaches wanted Boss to play the entire match, especially after a foot injury to Kasey Keller earlier this week. (Keller said he expects to play next weekend against Colorado.)
However, the situation benefited Jennings, who settled down once he got on the pitch.
“I started feeling more comfortable than I thought I would ever be,” Jennings said. “You wouldn’t think you would feel such a state of comfort like that, but I felt good out there. The butterflies went away after I made the first save.”
Despite allowing two goals, Jennings played well. He picked up three saves and also earned a plaudit from head coach Sigi Schmid.
“For a kid who’s not normally on our team, who plays in the PDL a couple divisions below, I thought he did well.” Schmid said. “He acquitted himself well. He came up with a couple of good saves; snagged a camera-perfect one going to his left.”
Andrew Winner covers Seattle Sounders FC for MLSsoccer.com.
