Blink once and it’s back.
The MLS season has arrived once again. It feels like just yesterday that our team was shrouded in disappointment after failing to beat our rivals in the first Hudson River Derby playoff matchup in MLS history. That sense of failure pervaded much of the off-season. Reflections about small moments that could have altered the outcome stay at the top of my mind.
A split second quicker here, a little bit sharper there, and we might’ve come out on top. Reflecting is in the DNA of an athlete. Revisit the failures of the past and iterate for the future. It’s the blueprint for betterment, every athlete’s fuel. And it’s the beauty of sport. There’s always the next opportunity, the next moment waiting to be seized.
That’s the approach of our group heading into the 2025 season - remember the disappointment of the prior year and use it as motivation heading into this next season. This year, 2025, is an opportunity to rewrite the shortcomings of last season.
It all started with two challenging road matches against Inter Miami and LAFC. The game against Miami was anything but perfect, but we walked away from a difficult place with a point in our pockets. Mitja Ilenic’s clever goal on a wisely taken set piece from Maxi Moralez leveled the scoring. Alonso Martínez’s pace and clinicality in front of goal put us ahead. And, picking up where he left off in 2024, Matt Freese made some key saves in goal that kept us in the match.
Speaking of which, Matt was known to make a save or two in 2024, and not all his saves were made on the pitch.
Here’s the scenario: It’s 7 a.m. on a drab fall morning in Hoboken. I’m idling in a loading zone on an undisclosed street corner. Rain is peppering the windshield, and the wipers are making an ungodly scratching noise against the pane - I should probably have them replaced. I’m half asleep after an unusually poor night’s rest and I’m waiting for a certain teammate to arrive before heading off to practice.
As I’m queuing up songs to keep me awake for the tedious commute (most likely some combination of Travis Scott and Morgan Wallen), the passenger door swings open. Enter Matt - black All Saints backpack in tow, stuffed with lots of strange goalkeeper accessories and two Yeti mugs filled to the top with piping hot coffee. One for him, one for me. Morning saved.
ImagnAnd that’s how it begins. We have a daily carpool together from Hoboken to City Football Academy (CFA). It’s a long drive, about 40 minutes in the best of circumstances, and River Road, which runs alongside the Hudson River and takes us to the training facility, is not for the faint of heart. Pastimes are necessary.
As such, we debate about who attended the better college (my Princeton always beats his Harvard), rarely align on music tastes, debrief podcasts like the BBC Global News or the Morning Brew Daily, and support Matt in his wardrobe revamp journey. If I really want to get under his skin, I’ll bring up my two-goal performance against him in a 2018 Ivy League game between Princeton and Harvard.
And if he’s feeling particularly vengeful, he’ll remind me of a timely penalty stop he made in the playoffs against Cincinnati - right after I failed to convert from the spot. Consistent in all these moments is that Matt’s a goofy guy who loves a good laugh. He never takes himself too seriously, loves to crack a self-deprecating joke, and is always an optimistic, upbeat presence.
I’ve also learned a good deal about what makes Matt an exemplary professional and consistent performer - namely, his rituals. He sets three analog alarm clocks in the morning to avoid sleeping in, arrives at the stadium before anyone else on game days, and infamously claimed on New York City FC’s Instagram that his favorite Halloween candy is ... salad? That one I’ll never understand. Nonetheless, it underscores his relentless pursuit of finding an edge over his opponents.
Matt found that edge during the 2024 MLS season. He enjoyed the best year of his young professional career. Over 2,982 minutes of regular season play, Matt recorded 121 saves - good for third in the league - along with six clean sheets and a 72.9 save percentage. He tied a club record with two nine-save matches and made seven saves in a particularly impressive clean-sheet win against New England on May 25. In the postseason, Matt added his first MLS playoff clean sheet in a 0-0 draw against FC Cincinnati and played a key role in the penalty shootout victory.
If Matt’s routines suggest anything, it’s that consistency in preparation breeds on-field excellence.
While Matt’s professional career is characterized by consistency, his youth career was anything but. Matt moved - a lot. To be precise, he relocated seven times, all to accommodate his father’s work career as a leading neuroscientist, before landing with the Philadelphia Union Academy. He played for a whopping eight different clubs along the way.
That’s not exactly a recipe for athletic development, nor is it the traditional path to the pros. Furthermore, it’s a stark contrast to Matt’s regimented lifestyle today. The types of things that make him successful professionally, like relying on his routines and scarfing down delicious salads, weren’t afforded to him as a youngster. Still, Matt attests the countless changes were not disruptive to his development as a player.
“Goalkeeping is very mental, tactical, and technical,” he once told me. “But in the beginning levels, it's really just based on athleticism, and my athleticism is what I can always just go back and rely on.”
Leaning into his athleticism made each transition easier. He could seamlessly transfer the skills he developed in one sport to the next. After all, athleticism is a valuable asset for a goalkeeper. In many ways, his moves from state to state even enhanced his development in the net. For instance, in Minnesota - a hockey state - he played goalie, and he credits that experience with teaching him valuable kick-out save techniques.
But Freese’s journey didn’t stop there. In South Carolina, he played quarterback, which helped refine his hand-eye coordination. He then moved back to Pennsylvania, where he competed in track and hurdles. Each of these sports contributed to his growth as a well-rounded athlete, helping him become the star goalkeeper he is today in MLS.
“That athletic diversity helped me thrive and get beyond the first few levels before becoming a pro," Matt told me.
After navigating the turbulence of childhood moves and conceding two goals to me in Princeton, Matt seems to have found a home in New York and is now fighting for a place with the U.S. men’s national team. It’s a landscape in which his routines can prosper and our carpools can flourish.
And in the spirit of talking rituals.
“My favorite carpool tradition is after big wins when we stop and get ice cream at the gas station,” Matt said.
Of course, I couldn’t agree more.
As we gear up for Saturday’s carpool to Yankee Stadium, excitement is in the air. This home opener isn’t just another match - it’s a celebration of 10 years of New York City FC, a decade of memories, passion, and unwavering support. And with the new stadium set to open in 2027, the future has never looked brighter.
One thing’s for sure: on March 8, we’ll be focused, preparing to cheer and make new memories in front of old and new fans - starting with the perfect playlist for that ride from Hoboken to The Bronx.
Kevin O'Toole is a defender for NYCFC who has been with the club since 2022.
