Charlie Hatch | chatch@enquirer.com

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The Enquirer/Meg Vogel

For the first time in Futbol Club Cincinnati’s brief history, there’s no clear No. 1 for the No. 1 position.

After two years of Mitch Hildebrandt essentially cemented as the club’s starting goalkeeper, FC Cincinnati begins its third season with something it’s never had before: An open goalkeeping competition.

That’s not to say there’s an issue in finding a keeper. Rather, head coach Alan Koch has more consistent depth at the position than Cincinnati has seen previously.

Following the 2017 season, all three keepers from the last two seasons departed.

Three were signed, including full-time goalkeeping coach Jack Stern. Mark Village was signed from the now defunct Vancouver Whitecaps 2, Spencer Richey joined on loan from the Whitecaps' parent club and Evan Newton signed from Sacramento Republic.

Entering the preseason, the club made it clear there was a position battle for the starting role. Now two months removed, the message remains.

“We really left the door open to any of the three goalkeepers,” Stern said last Friday. “It was really a challenge to say, ‘Listen, who can perform the best? Who can be the best in training everyday and in games?’ Ultimately, all three of them rose to the challenge and made it a very difficult decision for the first game.”

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With all three receiving minutes in the preseason, Newton started in FC Cincinnati’s USL season-opening win over the Charleston Battery on March 17.

Then, he produced one of the club’s best goalkeeping performances to date, finishing with five saves and a clean sheet against a team Cincinnati had never beaten. Following the match, Koch said Newton made saves he wouldn’t expect any keeper to make.

Stern said the season opener should be the expectation, regardless of who’s playing.

“That night in Charleston, I sent a message to the group chat we had, ‘That’s down to all of you,’” he recalled. “’Evan was on the field tonight, but that’s a clean sheet and a win that was got as a group.’ We’ll go week by week. That’s the level we expect from all three of them every week.”

Currently, it appears the job is Newton’s to lose, with Richey behind and Village in third. On Tuesday, the latter said he felt as though he needs to catchup.

"With Evan, he got his chance, got put in a game and he’s shown himself," Village said. "He deserves that spot 100 percent. Speny and I are right there behind him and it might be just one blunder that changes things, or something. We’re all right there. It’s a unique situation that we have."

But all three keepers, as well as their coach, have praised the union between the four of them, who were unfamiliar with one another and looked at FC Cincinnati as a fresh start.

Michael Rincon/Buckeye Valley News

"The other two guys, Mark and Spencer, are great goalkeepers and we have a good working relationship, which is sometimes hard to find in a goalkeeper union," Newton said last week. "Everyone says we’re a union, but it’s one guy that gets to play.

"We’ve all got along well. Those two have been great. And it keeps us pushing. We push each other every day to get better and ultimately, that’s gonna hopefully show for the team if we’re constantly getting better and helping the team win."

Considering it’s an open competition, an expected consequence could have led to unfriendly or overly competitive relationships. Former keeper Hildebrandt, who joined Atlanta United in Major League Soccer, left the day Stern joined Cincinnati, and never had serious competition between Dallas Jaye and Dan Williams.

And perhaps unlike any position on the field, the keeper is the one least likely to see a mid-game substitution. Meaning, whoever is asked to start is probably going to play the full match. (Hildebrandt was subbed once in 2016 after receiving a red card.)

But so far with the competition, it’s only been motivating and beneficial.

“We all really embraced it as a fresh start for everyone," Stern said. “Everyone comes here without pre-judgement. Everyone has a chance to prove themselves. For me, it’s nice to work with three new goalkeepers who are receptive of my ideas and my stuff that I do in training before, so it’s good to see the reaction from them.