When FC Cincinnati drafted goalkeeper Jimmy Hague, it selected an award-winning goalkeeper who worked his way up a depth chart into becoming an integral member of his team.
That was at Michigan State. Now, he’s hoping to repeat the depth-chart climb in Cincinnati.
Selected with the No. 30 pick in the 2019 Major League Soccer SuperDraft in Chicago, Hague is a 6-foot-4 goalkeeper who’s good in one-on-one situations, stopping low shots and commanding his box — all strong traits that can hopefully grow in the professional game.
In college, he arrived at Michigan State as a self-titled “fourth-or-fifth stringer” behind the school’s winningest keeper. Within two years, he worked his way into becoming the 2017 Big Ten Conference Goalkeeper of the Year.
State head coach Damon Rensing called Hague “certainly one of the best keepers we’ve had here at Michigan State.”
Not playing his first two seasons in school — he redshirted one year — he started 62 games the next three campaigns, amassing 26 clean sheets and two straight trips to the NCAA College Cup Quarterfinals. In 2018, he was also honored as a Second Team All-Conference goalkeeper.
But that was college. Beginning in 2019 and beyond, Hague will be one of the first keepers to compete for a spot on FC Cincinnati’s inaugural MLS squad.
“Honestly, it feels incredible,” he said at the SuperDraft about his new opportunity. “This is a dream come true and this is a moment I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”
Hague was the first of two goalkeepers FCC selected in the second round of the draft. The club also took Ben Lundt from Akron with the No. 37 pick. Goalkeeping coach Jack Stern said both arrive with attributes the club prioritizes.
“I’m really excited,” Stern said of Hague and Lundt. “It was always going to be goalkeepers with potential that we found in this draft. They tick a lot of boxes in terms of physical profile, also being able to play with their feet, good shot stoppers — goalkeepers that are able to command their box.
“We have quite a strong profile we want to stick to. We have a certain profile to our goalkeepers and both goalkeepers today fit that and we can see them coming in and having success at the club.”
Including the two rookies, FC Cincinnati also signed Przemysław Tytoń and Spencer Richey as goalkeepers ahead of 2019. Richey returns following a successful loan spell with the team last season after Vancouver Whitecaps FC loaned him to FCC.
Regardless of how the expansion roster orders its initial goalkeeping depth chart, Hague has experience waiting his turn and quickly providing quality once he debuts.
