Albion San Diego is arguably the hottest team in NISA at the moment entering the second half of the season and one of the main reasons for this is the outstanding play of goalkeeper Ben Roach.

The 23-year-old has five clean sheets in his last six matches while only giving up eight goals over the last 12 games, which comes out to a 0.67 average during that span.

A big part of that has been the impressive play of the Albion backline led by defenders Ernest Mitchell, who was unavailable for the season opener versus Chattanooga FC, Anthony Patti, and Andrew Kleszewski, but it also Roach’s ability to recognize dangerous opportunities created by opponents and being able to snuff them out in time.

The previous game against the Michigan Stars at Romeo Stadium was a prime example where the defending champion created two chances in the second-half half, first by midfielder Hunter Olson from six yards out and then by forward Leon Maric on a one-versus-one chance that Roach was able to keep out of his net to preserve the 1-0 victory.

The most recent home match against LA Force, which is Albion San Diego’s next opponent on July 30 at Championship Soccer Stadium, was another example where some dangerous set pieces were turned away by the former University of Santa Barbara standout to close out the 2-0 victory. Roach is also one of only two Albion San Diego players who have been on the pitch every minute so far in 2023 (the other being Anthony Patti).

If the regular season ended today, Albion gets a first-round bye since the team, led by head coach Diego Gomez, currently sits in second place in the standings but is hoping to overtake Chattanooga for the top seed.

Photo by John Cocozza Photography