With William Hesmer out for the season following hip surgery and Andy Gruenebaum recovering from a lower back contusion, it leaves rookie Homegrown Matt Lampson as the only healthy goalkeeper on the Crew's roster for Wednesday's match against the Philadelphia Union
Although Eddie Gaven won Save of the Week honors back in 2010 and Chris Birchall has put on 'keeper gloves for fun in training, it's not likely Robert Warzycha
would have felt comfortable having one of the two midfielders as the number two goalie against the Union.
Fortunately for Warzycha, Major League Soccer has a rule for this type of situation: The Extreme Hardship Call-Up.
From the 2012 MLS Roster Rules and Regulations:
(J) EXTREME HARDSHIP CALL-UPS
Teams may add players to their roster in cases of “extreme hardship” as follows: (1) a club with three goalkeepers on its 30-man roster, but has less than two available goalkeepers or (2) a team has less than 15 available players. Extreme hardship call-ups are made on a game-by-game basis.
For this occasion, the League has what are called "pool goalkeepers."
Pool 'keeper Scott Angevine has joined the Crew in Philadelphia, and will serve as Lampson's backup in Wednesday's match. Angevine is a rookie from Coastal Carolina University and currently trains with Sporting Kansas City, his hometown club, to stay sharp. Angevine and Lampson have a similar history as both redshirted the 2008 season at Northern Illinois before transferring and going their separate ways.
The last time the Crew used a pool goalkeeper was last season when the club brought in Chris Konopka. Konopka played in one Reserve League game for the Black & Gold, and came on when Gruenebaum was sent off in an international friendly against Newcastle United on July 26 of last year. Coincidentally, Konopka currently plays for the Philadelphia Union.
