Hunter Pendleton Sulte (born April 25, 2002) is an American

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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for USL Championship club Indy Eleven, on loan from

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

Club career

Born in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

, Sulte left his hometown when he has 13 to attend a soccer academy in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. After playing with the

academy, Sulte appeared for Portland's USL Championship side Portland Timbers 2 on March 7, 2020, starting in a 6–1 loss to Phoenix Rising. He had previously appeared with the club on the bench during their 2018 and 2019 seasons. On November 11, 2020, it was announced that Sulte would join Portland's MLS roster as a homegrown player from the 2021 season. He is the first player from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

to sign an MLS Homegrown contract with an MLS club. On May 1, 2021, Sulte made his MLS debut starting in a 4–1 loss to

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

. At the age of 19 years and 6 days, Sulte became the second youngest goalkeeper to start an MLS match. Sulte, 6 ft 7in, became the tallest goalkeeper in MLS history to play in a match. On February 23, 2024, Portland announced that Sulte would spend the 2024 season on loan at USL Championship club Indy Eleven. Sulte made his debut for Indy Eleven in a 1–1 away draw against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on April 20. Sulte won his first

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

on May 4, in a 1–0 victory away to Monterey Bay FC. He won his second league clean sheet in a 1–0 away win over

Birmingham Legion FC Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birming ...

on June 9 and his third on June 15 in a 1–0 home win over San Antonio FC. Sulte was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week and won the Save of the Week award for his week 15 performance against San Antonio, in which he saved a penalty kick and made his fifth overall clean sheet on the season in the league and cup.

References

External links

* 2002 births Living people Men's association football goalkeepers American men's soccer players Homegrown Players (MLS) Portland Timbers players Portland Timbers 2 players Soccer players from Alaska USL Championship players Major League Soccer players MLS Next Pro players {{US-footy-goalkeeper-stub