 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christopher Seitz[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1987-03-12)March 12, 1987 (age 38)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | San Luis Obispo, California, United States | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2006 | Maryland Terrapins | 39 | (0) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2007–2009 | Real Salt Lake | 7 | (0) |
| 2009 | →Cleveland City (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2009 | →Portland Timbers (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2010 | Philadelphia Union | 23 | (0) |
| 2011–2017 | FC Dallas | 67 | (0) |
| 2018 | Houston Dynamo | 6 | (0) |
| 2018 | →Rio Grande Valley (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2019–2021 | D.C. United | 11 | (0) |
| 2019 | →Loudoun United (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 119 | (0) | |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2007 | United States U20 | 4 | (0) |
| 2008 | United States U23 | 3 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 15, 2021 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of October 13, 2009 | |||
Christopher Seitz (born March 12, 1987) is an American formersoccer player. He played as agoalkeeper inMajor League Soccer from 2007 until his retirement in 2021.
Chris Seitz was awardedGatorade's California High School Soccer Player of the Year award in 2004 while playing forSan Luis Obispo High School under the tutelage of coach Bob Galarneau. He also scored four goals in his junior season, all on penalty kicks.[citation needed]
Seitz playedcollege soccer at theUniversity of Maryland for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. As a freshman at Maryland, Seitz won the NCAA national championship by posting a 13–1–2 record with a 0.89 goals against average. He was named College Cup Defensive MVP. During Seitz's two-year career at Maryland he registered a 28–5–3 record with a 0.77 GAA. He was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2006.[citation needed]
Seitz was drafted in the2007 MLS SuperDraft where he was selected fourth overall byReal Salt Lake. In his first two starts, he had a 0–1–1 record and a 2.5 GAA. In 2009 Seitz played one game on loan forCleveland City Stars of theUSL First Division, a 3–1 loss toMiami FC,[3] and two games on loan with thePortland Timbers, also of theUSL First Division, both against theCarolina RailHawks.[4][5] He was the first goalkeeper to face five penalties in one match.[citation needed] In three seasons in Salt Lake, Seitz was never able to un-seat veteranNick Rimando as RSL's first-choice keeper.
On November 25, 2009, he was traded to MLS expansion franchisePhiladelphia Union.[6]
Seitz spent the first 22 games of Philadelphia's inaugural 2010 season as the Union's starter, before being dropped to the bench behindBrad Knighton. He posted a 1.80 goals against average, worst in the league for players with more than one start in goal.[7] The Union did not extend his contract, making him available for the two stages of the2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft after the 2010 season.[8]
Seitz was selected bySeattle Sounders FC in the second stage of the 2010 Re-Entry Draft. A contract was agreed with Seattle, and he was immediately traded toFC Dallas in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the2012 MLS SuperDraft.[9]
Seitz started one game for FC Dallas in 2011, allowing four goals in a 4–2 loss to theSan Jose Earthquakes.[10] In 2012, due to an injury toKevin Hartman, who was dealing with back spasms, Seitz started againstVancouver Whitecaps FC in a 0–1 loss for Dallas.[11] Seitz started the next two games until Hartman was able to play again.
Seitz put his soccer career on hold for a brief time in September 2012, despite having no guaranteed contract for the upcoming 2013 season, when he elected to donate bone marrow to save the life of a stranger for whose bone marrow he was a match.[12] Because of this act, he was later named the 2012 MLS Humanitarian of the Year.[13]
Seitz continued to be primarily a backup goalkeeper for Dallas until the2016 season, when he would start a career-high 28 MLS matches.[13] He would contribute to the team winning two major trophies: TheSupporters' Shield and theLamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Seitz joinedHouston Dynamo on December 15, 2017, as a free agent.[14] He started the first five games of the 2018 season before losing his starting spot toJoe Willis. He started three games in the 2018 Open Cup, keeping two clean sheets. The Dynamo would go on to win the Open Cup for the first time in club history.[15]
In January 2019, Seitz was traded toD.C. United in exchange for a second-round pick in the2019 MLS SuperDraft.[16] Seitz didn't receive much playing time, serving as the second goalkeeper choice afterBill Hamid. He made his first start for D.C. United on July 18, 2019, in a 4–1 win againstFC Cincinnati.[17] He made 3 appearances across all competitions for D.C. United in 2019, while also making an appearance for theirUSL Championship affiliateLoudoun United. Seitz's contract was renewed after the 2019 season.[18]
Seitz appeared in 6 of D.C. United's 23 games in a shortened 2020 season due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, keeping 2 clean sheets.[19] D.C. finished the season 13th in the Eastern Conference, failing to qualify for the playoffs.[20] He was re-signed after the 2020 season to a one-year contract.[21]
Seitz made 4 appearances during the 2021 season as D.C. United finished 8th in the East, 1 point and 1 place out of the playoffs.[22][23]
Following the 2021 season, Seitz left D.C. United.[24] Seitz later announced his retirement from professional soccer on his personal Twitter account, on January 19, 2022.[25]
Seitz earned his first full international call up for the game againstBrazil on September 9, 2007, but did not see any playing time. He previously started games for theU-23 squad in theCONCACAF Pre-Olympic qualification tournament prior to the2008 Olympic Games and was on the roster for the 2008 Summer Olympic soccer tournament.
| Club | Season | League | US Open Cup | Playoffs[a] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Real Salt Lake | 2007 | MLS | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2008 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2009 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Cleveland City (loan) | 2009 | USL First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Portland Timbers (loan) | 2009 | USL First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| Philadelphia Union | 2010 | MLS | 23 | 0 | — | — | — | 23 | 0 | |||
| FC Dallas | 2011 | MLS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2012 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| 2013 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||||
| 2014 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | |||
| 2015 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2016 | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 33 | 0 | |||
| 2017 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |||
| Total | 67 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 88 | 0 | ||
| Houston Dynamo | 2018 | MLS | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| RGVFC Toros (loan) | 2018 | USL | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| D.C. United | 2019 | MLS | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||||
| 2021 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||
| Loudoun United | 2019 | USLC | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Career totals | 119 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 145 | 0 | ||
Real Salt Lake
FC Dallas
Houston Dynamo
