Zachary Michael MacMath (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

. He was drafted No. 5 overall in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft by the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

Early and personal life

MacMath was born in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

, the son of Marcia and Gary MacMath. MacMath is Jewish. His mother is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, his father is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and MacMath himself practices

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. He had a

Bar Mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

at Temple Beth El, a

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

in his hometown. He attended the

St. Petersburg High School St. Petersburg High School, founded in 1898, is a secondary school in the Pinellas County School District in St. Petersburg, Florida. The school's current building, a historic landmark, was built in 1926. It was designed by Missouri architect W ...

in his hometown as a freshman, and then attended the IMG Soccer Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He was a two-time ''Parade'' magazine High School All-American soccer goalkeeper.

Club career

College and amateur

MacMath attended the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, where he was first choice goalkeeper for three seasons, winning a national title and numerous individual awards along the way. It was during this time that he had a training stint with English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Everton. At the end of the 2008 season and the 2010 season, MacMath was named to the ''

Jewish Sports Review ''Jewish Sports Review'' (JSR) was a bi-monthly magazine that operated from 1997 to 2022. Its editors were Ephraim Moxson and Shel Wallman. The magazine identified Jewish athletes, including professionals, college players, athletes in internati ...

s All-America team.

Professional

MacMath was drafted No. 5 overall in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft by the

. MacMath started his first string of games in September 2011 due to the injury of starting keeper Faryd Mondragon. After failing to make the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs, MacMath joined

side Everton for a training stint during the MLS off-season. In January 2015, MacMath was loaned to

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

for the 2015 season. MacMath's option was declined by Philadelphia at the end of the 2015 MLS season. He was later traded to Colorado in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. On December 9, 2018, MacMath was traded to

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

in exchange for Nicolás Mezquida and $100,000 in Targeted Allocation Money (TAM). On December 17, 2019,

acquired MacMath from Vancouver in exchange for $50,000 in TAM in 2020.

International career

MacMath played in the

2009 Maccabiah Games The 18th Maccabiah Games (), were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Poli ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, where the American Maccabiah team did not earn a medal. MacMath led the U.S. U-20 men's national team to the Milk Cup title, posting a strong performance that helped defeat host Northern Ireland, 3–0, at the Showgrounds in Ballymena, on July 30, 2010. MacMath finished the tournament unbeaten after recording a 1–0 victory over China on July 26. MacMath also participated in both training camps in Florida last December and January. MacMath along with Union teammate Amobi Okugo were called up to the U-20 squad for the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in March–April. The

is the only

team with two players represented. MacMath also trained with the U-23 Olympic squad in preparation for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in two camps prior to qualifying.

Career statistics

References

External links

*
U.S. soccer profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacMath, Zac 1991 births Living people American men's soccer players Jewish American soccer players Maryland Terrapins men's soccer players Philadelphia Union players Colorado Rapids players Maccabiah Games competitors for the United States Competitors at the 2009 Maccabiah Games Soccer players from St. Petersburg, Florida Philadelphia Union draft picks Major League Soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players All-American college men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Real Salt Lake players 21st-century American Jews Jews from Florida 21st-century American sportsmen