UNH’S Worra Walls Up DC Net in Debut
- Updated: March 14, 2016
Photo credit: Jeff Bernstein
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – DC United keeper Travis Worra was given approximately 24 hours notice of first MLS start. A start that’d not only pit him against a Revolution side that scored three goals a week earlier, but at a locale less than two hours away from his alma mater.
No pressure, right?
Worra, who attended the University of New Hampshire from 2011-2014, initially took the news in stride, and not long after, made three saves against the Revolution to pick up his first MLS clean sheet in a 0-0 draw on Saturday.
“I’ve gotten in one game already, so it was not as hard as the first time,” Worra, who made one substitute appearance last year, told the media after the match. “But at the same time the last game I was thrown in in the middle, so it was all instincts.”
Worra’s 32-minute debut came in an Apr. 25, 2015 contest at Vancouver, where he made one save and conceded a late goal but helped United hold on for a 2-1 victory.
While the 22-year-old keeper was given short notice of Saturday’s clash in Foxborough, he said that the prospect of taking a spot between the posts against the Revolution was on his mind for days.
“(I) was just thinking about it all week, all day today,” Worra said. “I was starting to freak out in the hotel but as soon as I got here to the stadium, honestly, it just all came together and I felt pretty good.”
And that was a very good thing as far was Worra was concerned. In addition to his parents, who flew in from Seattle, Worra’s girlfriend and “a lot” of former Wildcat teammates were in the crowd at Gillette Stadium to watch him in action.
“I had my best people in my corner,” Worra said. “That was pretty cool…It means the world. I’m totally blessed and lucky. They’re the real motivators for me. I mean of course you want to win games, want to do well for everybody in DC, but family is family, and they’re the most important thing to me.”
In the course of Saturday’s conference clash, Worra helped organize a seasoned backline that, according to veteran defender Bobby Boswell, didn’t feel any added pressure to help their inexperienced keeper out.
“If you’re at this level,” Boswell told the media after the match, “you’re at this level for a reason.”
Worra had to show he was up to the task right up to the very end.
In the dying seconds of a scoreless match, Revolution midfielder Kelyn Rowe found himself with an open, close-range opportunity to beat the young DC keeper. But Worra stayed close to his line, giving Rowe a window that proved to be too narrow as the midfielder’s eight-yard shot missed its mark.
“As soon as I split the ball through, I think I got a good angle on the ball and honestly, I fell in a pretty good position,” Worra said. “Even if he put that on frame, I think unless he megged me, I felt I guess in a pretty good position to make a save, but it helps that he put it wide.”
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