Matthew Ryan Polster (born June 8, 1993) is an American 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 plays as a defensive midfielder for

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

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

Career

Early career

Born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, but raised in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, Polster played his youth soccer at Downtown Las Vegas Soccer Club. He attended

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...

where he played for the

SIU Edwardsville Cougars The SIU Edwardsville Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), located in Edwardsville, Illinois, United States. The Cougars' athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (O ...

. While with the university, Polster earned many honors including 2014 NSCAA All-West Region First Team selection and 2014 NSCAA Scholar All-America First Team selection.

Chicago Fire

On January 15, 2015, Polster was selected as the 7th overall pick by the Chicago Fire during the

2015 MLS SuperDraft The 2015 MLS SuperDraft was the sixteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2015 convention was held Januar ...

and was signed to a contract on February 4. During his rookie season for the Fire, Polster has played an important role as a holding midfielder, drawing praise from league commentators for his precise passing and defensive capabilities, he earned recognition as Soccer by Ives 'Rookie of the Week' on three occasions during the 2015 season. On July 31, 2016, Polster scored his first career MLS goal in a 2–2 draw 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 ...

. The goal would later be voted as the Chicago Fire goal of the season in at the end of the year. Polster missed the majority of the

2018 Major League Soccer season The 2018 Major League Soccer season was the 23rd season of Major League Soccer, top division of soccer in the United States and Canada. The regular season began on March 3, 2018 and concluded on October 28, 2018. The MLS Cup Playoffs began on Oc ...

due to an MCL injury, causing him to only appear in three matches.

Rangers

In December 2018, Polster had a trial with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

team

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

. On January 30, 2019, Polster signed a -year contract with

club

. Polster made his first appearance in a continental tournament against Gibraltarian club,

St Joseph's F.C. St Joseph's Football Club, created in 1912, is an association football club based in Gibraltar. It currently plays in the Gibraltar Football League. The club also has two Futsal teams and more than 10 youth teams. In 2013, they established links ...

in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League qualifying round.

New England Revolution

On July 8, 2020, Polster returned to the United States and signed with the

. In order to sign Polster, the Revolution had to trade $100,000 in General Allocation Money to his former club Chicago Fire for his rights.

International career

In January 2016, Polster received his first call up to the senior

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

squad for friendlies against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Polster did not appear in any of the two matches. Two years later, he was called into January camp again for a friendly against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, making his debut in the 0–0 draw.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polster, Matt 1993 births Living people American soccer players American expatriate soccer players SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's soccer players Victoria Highlanders players Chicago Fire U-23 players Chicago Fire FC players Rangers F.C. players New England Revolution players Scottish Professional Football League players Association football defenders Soccer players from Milwaukee Soccer players from Las Vegas Expatriate soccer players in Canada Chicago Fire FC draft picks USL League Two players Major League Soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players