Meredith Signs with Seattle Sounders

Persistence has paid off for former Scotch Plains soccer star Bryan Meredith, who signed a contract with the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) on Monday after playing most of the season with the Kitsap Pumas team of the USL Premier Development League. Meredith had to overcome the initial disappointment of being cut from the Sounders before the season started in April. Although he had an excellent training camp, Meredith was bypassed for fellow rookie Josh Ford, who won an intense battle for the No. 3 spot.

“Losing out was actually a blessing in disguise because I got an excellent opportunity to play the entire game against good competition with Kitsap. I saw every kind of game situation and competed against some really good players,” said Meredith, who was a college All American at Monmouth.

Meredith was taken in the second round by the Sounders last January, but the club surprisingly selected Ford in the supplemental draft, leaving Meredith to fight for a job, he originally believed was his.

“It was good lesson about pro soccer. You cannot take anything for granted and have to work for everything you get,” Meredith said.

He is no stranger to hard work. Every day during the summer he would often practice with both Kitsap and Seattle.

In returning to Seattle, Meredith adds depth to the Sounders, which lost backup goalkeeper Terry Boss to a season-ending concussion. Meredith joins Ford behind veteran starter Kasey Keller on the depth chart. Coach Sigi Schmid said the team wanted to sign someone instead of relying on a league mechanism that provides goalkeepers to teams affected by injury.

"We felt he was a good addition because the team knew him and he's a guy we drafted," Schmid stated. "We're very confident that we've got two young goalkeepers backing up Kasey who we think are talented."

Meredith had an excellent season at Kitsap, leading the Bremerton, Wash., team to a league championship and nearly orchestrated a huge upset against Seattle in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup. While Kitsap lost 2-1, Meredith made several acrobatic saves that kept the score close.

Overall he made 15 starts, stopping 50 of the 58 shots he faced for a 0.535 goals against average.  While leading Kitsap to the 2011 PDL Championship, Bryan was named as a Finalist for the PDL Rookie of the Year Award and was named to the Western Conference All Star Team. 

"Bryan had a solid season this year in the USL and had some fantastic games," technical director Chris Henderson said in a press release. "We expect he will continue to progress under goalkeeper coach Tom Dutra."

Meredith joins former Union Catholic star Michael Seamon on the Seattle roster. Originally from Rahway, Seamon starred at Villanova and is considered one of the top young American players in the MLS.

“Having Mike on the team out here has been a big help. We know each other from New Jersey and it is good to have a familiar face on the team,” Meredith said.

Although he has had to overcome some setbacks, Meredith is pleased about the recent turn of events and is optimistic about the future. “Seattle is a great place to play,” he said. “Their fans are really behind the team. I could not be happier the way things have turned out.”