As Orlando City prepares to launch its third Major League Soccer regular season under Head Coach Oscar Pareja, we’ll be taking a position-by-position look at the 2022 Lions to give you a full roster breakdown leading up to Orlando’s home opener, presented by Orlando Health, against CF Montréal at Exploria Stadium on Sunday, February 27 at 1 p.m.
Today, we’ll begin with the goalkeepers. No new faces to learn about between the pipes for Orlando City in 2022 – this is a stacked group that returns all three of its members from last season.
You can’t talk Orlando City goalkeeping without talking about Pedro Gallese. El Pulpo has been one of MLS’ top keepers since joining the Lions before the 2020 season, becoming a huge fan favorite thanks to his seemingly never-ending stream of highlight-reel stops. Gallese has a 22-11-14 record in all competitions across his two seasons in Orlando, recording 11 clean sheets and saving two of the five penalty shots taken on him.
Gallese was named an MLS All-Star in 2021, one of just two goalkeepers (along with New England’s Matt Turner) initially named to the side. The Peruvian should set some Orlando City records this year – he is four wins and three clean sheets away from passing Joe Bendik for the all-time club record in both of those categories.
El Pulpo continues to star for the Peruvian national team as well. Los Incas’ No. 1 since 2014, Gallese is on the precipice of taking his country to the World Cup for the second consecutive cycle, with Peru sitting in the CONMEBOL playoff slot going into the final qualifying window. Prior to Gallese’s ascension to the starting job, Peru had not qualified for the World Cup since 1982.
Mason Stajduhar and Adam Grinwis return as Gallese’s understudies. After six years of waiting and overcoming a battle with cancer, the Homegrown Stajduhar broke through to the First Team last season, starting six games and posting a solid 2-1-3 record. Grinwis, remembered for his heroic penalty save in the “Running of the Wall” 2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal against New York City FC, returned to the active roster last summer after rehabbing a torn ACL and started two games for the Lions.
