Danielle Lerner

The Courier-Journal

A familiar face will be back in goal for Louisville City FC this weekend.

Goalkeeper Scott Goodwin, who left Louisville City in July to attend Harvard Medical School, will briefly rejoin the club for Saturday's game in Montreal, the team announced Monday.

With shot-stopper Greg Ranjitsingh absent this week playing for the Trinidad and Tobago national team, Louisville City coach James O'Connor said he immediately thought of Goodwin.

"When we found out Greg had been called up (Goodwin) was my first port of call," O'Connor said. "I spoke to him and just said, 'Look, we have an opportunity where we're going to need a goalkeeper, so A: Are you interested? B: Can you do it? And C: Don't put yourself under too much pressure to feel as if you have to do it."

Goodwin said yes.

In a text message, Goodwin said he wasn't expecting O'Connor to reach out to him last week.

"I was initially surprised, but was mostly delighted for Greg to get the opportunity to play international football," Goodwin wrote.

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Since signing with Louisville City FC for the club's inaugural season in 2015, the University of North Carolina product was regarded as a leader both on and off the field. Goodwin's goals-against average ranked second-best in the United Soccer League.

Goodwin's last game for Louisville City before his retirement was, coincidentally, against FC Montreal. He made three saves to preserve a shutout in Louisville City's 2-0 win July 4 at Louisville Slugger Field.

FC Montreal sits at the bottom of the USL's Eastern Conference standings with 19 points in 25 games. Louisville City is second in the conference with 50 points in 26 games. Montreal, however, is on a four-game win streak in which it has averaged 3.5 goals per game. Saturday, Goodwin will have the chance to help halt the Canadian side's scoring run.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity to join the team, and will approach it like any other game in my career, regardless of the opponent," Goodwin wrote. "That being said, Montreal has some real quality and it will be a good game."

O'Connor has had this scenario in mind since Goodwin departed the club. O'Connor said he purposefully asked Goodwin to keep his league registration open in case Louisville City FC needed him to make a guest appearance.

Before the announcement of Goodwin's return, it was assumed that backup goalkeeper Tim Dobrowolski would play all 90 minutes against FC Montreal. Dobrowolski, who signed with Louisville City FC in June, has yet to feature in a game for the club.

O'Connor was quick to shoot down the suggestion that his decision to call on Goodwin denotes a lack of confidence in Dobrowolski.

"Tim's not to worry about it," O'Connor said. "Tim understands what we think of him and I've got tremendous belief in Tim. He's a great goalkeeper and there's no issues there."

Goodwin said he has still been playing soccer since moving to Boston — "I could never go cold turkey!" — and has played all over the field as well as in goal.

"Has been a blast but I'll always miss playing in a stadium full of fans with Louisville City and battling for a win," Goodwin wrote. "I'm looking forward to getting to experience it again."

As of Monday afternoon, the team had yet to formally notify all the Louisville City FC players of Goodwin's impending return. In his one-and-a-half seasons with Louisville City, Goodwin was not only a favorite among fans, but among his teammates as well.

"Probably half of them are finding out now," O'Connor said with a chuckle. "We spoke to a couple of them so I think they're aware of it. A lot of them still speak to Scott anyway, so they'll be pleased."

Goodwin will head up to Montreal on Friday evening after his classes finish for the day. He won't have the chance to train with Louisville City before the match, but that doesn't worry him.

"The familial bond we have on this team doesn't go away in a couple months!" he wrote.

O'Connor declined to name which goalkeeper would be starting between the posts in Montreal.

"I think people will assume that Scott's going to start, but we know who's going to start," he said. "We'll just have to wait and show everybody on Saturday our decision."