Vancouver Whitecaps Goalie Pulls Off Three Spectacular Saves In A Row

If there’s one thing better than a good goalkeeper boner, it’s a goalkeeper thwarting an attacking onslaught by turning into a brick wall. Think Tim Howard at the 2014 World Cup, or David de Gea last season (before his brain broke and he became sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit).

So when Whitecaps goalie Max Crépeau faced down the barrel of an Atlanta United counterattack in the 59th minute of their match in Vancouver on Wednesday, there were two possible outcomes: a boring garden variety goal, or a goddamn triple save. Crépeau chose the latter, by sheer force of will:

An unscientific and unofficial ranking of the three saves:

The third, since Crépeau is on the ground and has to get back up quickly to block Pity Martínez’s diving header

The second, since he had to turn across the goal and jump to save a well-placed shot with good power

The first, which is just a solid save on Héctor Villalba, one that most goalies would make from that angle but one that kickstarted the whole beautiful sequence

Unfortunately for Crépeau and the Whitecaps, Atlanta United hung on to the 1-0 lead they earned in the 29th minute off a penalty kick by Josef Martínez, continuing their streak of five consecutive games with a shutout. No shame for Crépeau, though, who should be rightfully pissed at his teammates’ inability to snatch up a point after his heroics. Maybe he should have taken cues from his Australian counterpart and scored his damn self.