The Clean Sheet: The most important part of the season

Goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski picked up his second league win in the road triumph over Crystal Palace Baltimore. The rookie checks in with another edition of the Clean Sheet as he and his teammates prepare for a championship run in 2010.
Hello Portland!
The regular season may be winding down but the most important part of the season is just beginning, the playoffs.
This past week of training has included some of the most spirited sessions the lads have put together this year as a whole. Everyone is so ready for these playoffs to begin and for us to make a run at the USSF D-2 Pro League championship. There is nothing more we all want to achieve than to win the championship in our last year in D-2 soccer. We owe it to our fans, the organization and ourselves to bring this to a reality. With that being said, we have one regular-season game left against one of our big rivals – Vancouver. This is a great test right before playoffs because we are both strong sides looking to do great things before advancement into Major League Soccer.
This season has been a heck of a ride for me personally the entire year. I have been fortunate enough to have made some starts in my rookie season and couldn’t have asked for them to go any differently. I experienced it all … the downs in the Puntarenas game to the highs of Atlas, Minnesota and Baltimore. Each game and each appearance that I had this season has helped me grow dramatically as a player.
The support has been fantastic from everyone who I stepped on the field with and to have trained with every single day. I have learned so much from the goalkeeping unit as a whole and taken in so many experiences from Steve and Adin alike. This has definitely made me a better, well-rounded goalkeeper.
The season is far from over and the ride has only begun, but it has been a heck of a ride so far. If the way we have been playing as of late is any indication of how we will do in the playoffs, I most certainly like our chances and wouldn’t want to be the team playing against us. I can’t wait for our showdown this weekend with Vancouver as well as the playoffs on the horizon. Here is to a monumental title run in 2010.

- Matt Pyzdrowski