Ryan Meara (born November 15, 1990) 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

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 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 ...

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 ...

Career

College and amateur

Meara was raised in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

and attended

Fordham Preparatory School Fordham Preparatory School (also known as Fordham Prep) is an American private, Jesuit, boys' college-preparatory school located on the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University in the Bronx, New York City. From its founding in 1841 until 1970, t ...

before enrolling at Fordham University in 2008. He also trained with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

of England with their youth academies in July 2007 and February 2008. While at Fordham he made 74 appearances and had 31 clean sheets. His 31 shutouts are a school record. In total, Meara owned nine Fordham University goal keeper records including career games in goal, minutes played, goal against average in a career (0.87) and a single season (0.65 in 2011) and save percentage in a single season (.862 in 2011). In 2010 Meara was named team captain for the Rams. Meara was named All-Atlantic Ten three times before earning conference Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2011. During the 2009 season, Meara also played for the

Long Island Rough Riders The Long Island Rough Riders are an American association football, soccer team based in South Huntington, New York, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays i ...

of 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 syst ...

. In 2010, he joined

Jersey Express The Jersey Express is a team in the American Basketball Association based in Paterson, New Jersey. The team was formed in 2005 as the Newark Express. Marsha Blount is the owner of the team. Inaugural season (2005–06) The Express ended the r ...

and was voted the league's goalkeeper of the year as he recorded 8 clean sheets in 12 appearances during the 2010 PDL season. In two years with Jersey Express, he made 28 appearances for the club.

Professional

Meara was drafted 31st overall by

in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft and signed with the club on February 6, 2012. On March 11, Meara started his first game against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

. On April 28, he recorded his first professional shutout against the

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 ...

. Meara started the first 18 games of the season and emerged as a leading candidate for the MLS Rookie of the Year Award. However, on July 8 he sustained a hip injury during a game which required surgery and ended his season. On December 11, 2014, New York Red Bulls announced that Meara would be loaned to

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned b ...

for the 2015 season. After suffering a torn meniscus in preseason training, Meara would make his first start for NYCFC on April 24, 2015. It was his first Major League Soccer appearance after a hip injury ended his rookie season on July 8, 2012, a span of 1,020 days. Meara returned to the Red Bulls at the conclusion of the 2015 season. On March 26, the New York Red Bulls announced that they had loaned Meara and six other first team players to

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. History Red Bull New Yo ...

for their home opener. He went on to make his first appearance for

on March 26, appearing as a starter in a 2–2 draw against

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well a ...

. After helping lead New York to the USL regular season title, Meara helped the club advance to the 2016 USL Cup Final by making two saves in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

as top-seeded NYRBII defeated second-seeded

Louisville City FC Louisville City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky. The team plays in the USL Championship, known through the 2018 season as the United Soccer League (USL), which is currently the second tier of th ...

4–3 in the shootout of the Eastern Conference Final. On October 23, 2016, Meara captained New York in a 5–1 victory over

Swope Park Rangers Sporting Kansas City II is a MLS Next Pro club affiliated with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. For the 2022 season they will play their home games at Rock Chalk Park at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as Sw ...

in the 2016 USL Cup Final. On June 14, 2017, Meara led New York to a 1–0 victory over league rival and former club

in the

2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 104th edition of the oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. FC Dallas entered the competition as the defending champions, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Sporting Kansas City. First ...

. On July 13, 2017, Meara in his role as keeper for New York in the Cup led his team to a 1–0 victory over

, advancing to the semifinals of the Open Cup. On May 10, 2022, Meara recorded a shutout for New York in a 3-0 victory over

DC United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Su ...

, helping the club advance to Round of 16 in the

2022 U.S. Open Cup The 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 107th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, a knockout cup competition in American soccer. After the 2020 and 2021 competitions were suspended and ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United St ...

International

Meara, who qualified for Irish citizenship through his grandparents, was named to the

Republic of Ireland U-21 The Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team, is the national under-21 football team of the Republic of Ireland and is controlled by the Football Association of Ireland. The team played its first match in 1978 and has competed in the ...

team on April 30, 2012. However, the Red Bulls did not permit him to train with Ireland, despite the call-up would not require him to miss any MLS games. In June 2014, Ireland's senior team used Red Bulls' training facilities before a friendly match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and Meara joined the Irish for a practice session. Ireland coach

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

said he would "keep an eye on things".

Honors

Club

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since ...

(2):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, 2018

USL Cup The USL Championship Final is the post-season championship match of the USL Championship, the second tier of professional men's soccer in the United States. The winner is crowned champion in the same manner as in other North American sports lea ...

(1): 2016

Individual

*Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Fordham Rams bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meara, Ryan 1990 births Living people American soccer players Fordham Rams men's soccer players Gabelli School of Business alumni Long Island Rough Riders players Jersey Express S.C. players New York Red Bulls players New York City FC players New York Red Bulls II players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players American people of Irish descent New York Red Bulls draft picks Sportspeople from Yonkers, New York Soccer players from New York (state) Association football goalkeepers Fordham Preparatory School alumni