Alexander Nicholas Bono (born April 25, 1994) is an American professional soccer 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 Major League Soccer club

D.C. 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 Supp ...

College career

Born and raised in Baldwinsville, New York, Bono attended high school at Charles W. Baker High School where he was a two-year starter for the Bees. During the later years of his high school career, Bono opted to commit full-time to U.S. Soccer Development Academy club Empire United. Prior to college, Bono was seen as the top goalkeeper recruit in the state of New York, and the 51st highest prospect of his graduating high school class. Joining Syracuse University, Bono became the immediate starter for the

Syracuse Orange men's soccer Syracuse Orange is the NCAA college soccer team for Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. They are a Division I team in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Syracuse fielded its first varsity soccer team in 1920. The program rose to national pro ...

program, starting in playing in 20 matches in freshman season, becoming the first true freshman goalkeeper to start a season opener since Robert Cavicchia in 2005. During his freshman year, Bono recorded a career-high eight saves during the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament against the

VCU Rams The VCU Rams are the athletic teams of Virginia Commonwealth University of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The Rams compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The most succe ...

on November 18, 2012 and equalled that tally on November 25 against the

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C. Georgetown's athletics department fields 23 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the National ...

. During his freshman season, Bono was voted to the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

All-Rookie Team and was named the Orange's Rookie of the Year. In Bono's sophomore year, he maintained similar statistics as his freshman year and was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference Third Team. It was his junior year where Bono emerged as a potential professional prospect, as he helped the Orange earn top national rankings, and earn a ninth overall seed in the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. In the tournament, the Orange reached the fourth round before being eliminated by Georgetown. Bono was also named a first-team All-American by the

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

in 2014.

Club career

Toronto FC

On January 15, 2015, Bono was selected 6th overall by

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

in 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 Janua ...

. He was considered to be the highest prospective goalkeeper in the draft class. Bono was loaned to

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 ...

on March 20, 2015. He made his debut against the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional 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 professional soccer clubs in th ...

on March 21. Due to an injury to regular starter

Clint Irwin Clinton Robert Irwin (born April 1, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Minnesota United. Early life Irwin attended high school at Charlotte Christian School. As a student, he played basketball, where ...

in July 2016, Bono was selected to be the number one keeper for the first team by manager

Greg Vanney Greg Vanney (born June 11, 1974) is an American former professional soccer player and head coach of the LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer. A defender and one of MLS's original players, Vanney spent 10 seasons in the league and another three-and ...

; he went on to make 16 MLS appearances for the club that year, and also started in the second leg of the

2016 Canadian Championship The 2016 Canadian Championship (officially the Amway Canadian Championship for sponsorship reasons) was a soccer tournament hosted and organized by the Canadian Soccer Association. It was the ninth edition of the annual Canadian Championship, and ...

final against

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...

on June 29, which Toronto won on away goals, but Irwin later regained the starting spot for the remainder of the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...

and the

Playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

, as Toronto went on to reach the 2016 MLS Cup Final, only to be defeated at home by the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

5–4 on penalties, following a 0–0 draw after extra time. The following season, however, after another injury to Irwin in the team's home opener in the spring, Bono was once again promoted to the starting line-up, and subsequently cemented his place as the team's outright first-choice shot-stopper by September 2017, also establishing himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the league: he broke the club's record for most clean sheets by a goalkeeper in a single season (10), and overall he kept the second highest number of clean sheets in the league season behind Stefan Frei, and won more games than any other MLS goalkeeper that season (19), while he also surpassed Frei's mark for most career MLS wins by a Toronto FC goalkeeper; furthermore, he produced 72 saves and had a 69.2 per cent save percentage, averaging 1.12 goals against per game. In the post-season, Bono's performances once again proved to be decisive in his team's Playoff run, as he conceded two goals and made eight saves en route to the MLS Cup Final, keeping clean sheets in both legs of the Eastern Conference Final against

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

. On December 9, 2017 he kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 win over Seattle Sounders in the 2017 MLS Cup Final at

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former ...

– a rematch of the previous season's final –, which saw Toronto complete an unprecedented treble of the MLS Cup, the Supporters' Shield, and the Canadian Championship. After the end of the 2022 season, he departed the club, upon the expiry of his contract.

D.C. United

On December 14, 2022, Bono signed as a free-agent with

on a one-year deal.

International career

On January 9, 2015, Bono was called into a training camp for the United States national team. He was called up again in March 2018. He made his senior debut on May 28, 2018, in a friendly against Bolivia at the

Talen Energy Stadium Subaru Park (formerly known as PPL Park and Talen Energy Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium located in Chester, Pennsylvania, located next to the Commodore Barry Bridge on the waterfront along the Delaware River. The venue is home to the Phila ...

, keeping a clean-sheet in the eventual 3–0 win. Alex Bono was said to be a promising prospect and a potential big impact for U.S Soccer in the years to come.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

Club

Toronto FC *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

* Eastern Conference Winners (Playoffs):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Supporters' Shield:

* Canadian Championship:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Individual

MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award, known as the Allstate MLS Goalkepeer of the Year Award for sponsorship purposes, is an annual Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United St ...

: 2017 (fourth place)

References

External links

*
Syracuse University bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bono, Alex 1994 births Living people All-American men's college soccer players American soccer players Association football goalkeepers D.C. United players Major League Soccer players People from Baldwinsville, New York Reading United A.C. players Soccer players from New York (state) Syracuse Orange men's soccer players Toronto FC draft picks Toronto FC players Toronto FC II players USL Championship players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's international soccer players USL League Two players