Andrew Tarbell - 2023 report card
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
With the Dynamo season now over we’ll be reviewing the season by taking a look at how each player performed in 2023. In today’s article we’re reviewing the goalkeeper that helped the club lift a trophy this season, Andrew Tarbell.
2023 Grade: A
2023 in review
Tarbell started just one league game this season, but he was Ben Olsen’s choice between the posts for the team’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup run. The veteran shot-stopper was named Player of the Tournament by TheCup.US. Tarbell started the league match on the road against the LA Galaxy in September and picked up a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw, making four saves.
The veteran goalkeeper will be most remembered this season for being the goalkeeper during the run to winning the Open Cup. Tarbell made three saves in the final against Inter Miami as the club lifted silverware for the first time since 2018. It says a lot that Tarbell was trusted with the starting job throughout the tournament. Steve Clark is a very good goalkeeper, as he showed in the regular season and playoffs, but Ben Olsen staff had full trust in Tarbell for the tournament run and it paid off.
Tarbell gets an A grade for this season because he did exactly what you want from a backup goalkeeper. He filled in admirably for Clark when needed in the regular season and then won a trophy as the “cup goalkeeper”. You can’t ask for much more!
Looking ahead
Tarbell is under contract for one more season, with an option for another. Like I mentioned in the article about Clark, Xavier Valdez looks to be developing well with Dynamo 2 and is probably another year from joining the senior team. Clark and Tarbell will likely be the goalkeeping pair again and Tarbell will get plenty of action with the Dynamo adding the Concacaf Champions Cup to their list of competitions in 2024.
Best moment of 2023
Tarbell made some big saves in the Open Cup run but this double save against the Galaxy was big in preserving the clean sheet and giving the Dynamo a point on the road.
Previous report cards:
