Andrew Dykstra (; born January 2, 1986) is an American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a goalkeeper.

Career

College and amateur

Dykstra grew up in

Woodbridge, Virginia Woodbridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located south of Washington, D.C.. Bounded by the Occoquan and Potomac rivers, Woodbridge had 44,668 residents at the 2020 census. Woodbridge o ...

, attended

Osbourn Park High School Osbourn Park High School is a Prince William County, Virginia public high school in a small county island between the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, southwest of Washington D.C. Osbourn Park serves the mid-part of the county. The co ...

, and played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

from 2004 to 2008, redshirting in his first year. He was named to the CAA All-Rookie Team as a freshman in 2005, and played in all 18 matches for VCU in his senior season, being named to the All-CAA Second Team and recognized as the goalkeeper on the 2008 Scholar All-East Third Team. During his college years Dykstra also played four seasons in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

for

Richmond Kickers Future Richmond Kickers Future was an American soccer team based in Richmond, Virginia, United States. Founded in 2002 as part of the development system of the Richmond Kickers USL Second Division franchise, the team played in the USL Premier Develop ...

Professional

Undrafted out of college, Dykstra was signed to Chicago Fire's developmental roster on April 6, 2009 and signed to a senior roster spot later in June 2009. He made his full professional debut for Fire on June 30, 2009, in a

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

third-round game against

Wilmington Hammerheads Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. History ...

. Dykstra became the Fire's number one goalkeeper just prior to the 2010 season, when the new coaching staff, in a surprise last-minute move, chose to waive starting goalkeeper

Jon Busch Jon Busch (born August 18, 1976) is an American professional soccer coach and former player, who played as a goalkeeper. Busch is currently the goalkeeping coach for USL Championship club Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. He is best remembered for h ...

. He made his MLS debut on March 27, 2010, in Chicago's 2010 season opener against the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

On January 31, 2011, the Fire announced that they released Dykstra after two seasons with the club. Dykstra signed with

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

of the

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

league on March 23, 2011. On August 12, 2011, Dykstra was named Most Valuable Player at the final league game of the regular season, in recognition for his successful season in which he led the USL Pro League in lowest Goals Against Average and fewest goals allowed. During the 2014 season, Dykstra started for the first time in the MLS since 2010 for three matches to replace injured goalkeeper

Bill Hamid Abdul Bilal "Bill" Hamid ( ; born November 25, 1990) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for D.C. United in Major League Soccer. Born in Annandale, Virginia, Hamid was the first D.C. United Academy player to s ...

. Dykstra performed "admirably" allowing only one goal. Later in the same season, Dykstra started for a friendly game against

Fulham FC Fulham Football Club is an English professional association football, football club based in Fulham, London, which compete in the . They have played home games at Craven Cottage since 1896, other than a two-year period spent at Loftus Road whil ...

where he suffered a ruptured Achilles and was ruled out for the rest of the season. Following his release from D.C. United at the end of the 2016 season, Dykstra was selected by

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

in the 2016 MLS Re-Entry Draft Stage 2. On February 8, 2018, Dykstra was traded by Sporting Kansas City to

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

in exchange for a second-round pick in the

2020 MLS SuperDraft The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was the 21st edition of the MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first SuperDraft held exclusively via conference call and web streaming. The first two rounds of the 2020 ...

. Dykstra was released by Colorado at the end of their 2018 season. In March 2019, Dykstra retired from professional soccer.

Personal life

Dykstra enjoys

homebrewing Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...

in his personal time. After retiring from professional soccer, Dykstra took a job for Prince William Soccer in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dykstra, Andrew 1986 births Living people American men's soccer players American people of Dutch descent VCU Rams men's soccer players Richmond Kickers Future players Chicago Fire FC players Charleston Battery players D.C. United players Richmond Kickers players Sporting Kansas City players Sporting Kansas City II players Colorado Rapids players Charlotte Independence players Soccer players from Honolulu USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players Men's association football goalkeepers Osbourn Park High School alumni