Former Maryland goalie Zack Steffen named MLS Player of the Month

There is a very good chance that Zack Steffen is a significantly better goalkeeper than you are.

The Columbus Crew keeper did not allow a single goal in the entire month of May. That is not a typo. That’s an entire calendar month—five matches—without having a ball cross the goal line. And that is insane.

As a result, he has been named MLS’s Player of the Month.

Steffen’s 495-minute shutout streak, which is still active, is the ninth-longest in MLS history for an individual goalkeeper, and the longest in Crew history. His seven shutouts on the season lead the league, and have helped Columbus into third place in the Eastern Conference table.

Steffen was called up to the United States Men’s National Team last week, but didn’t play in a 2-1 loss to Ireland, the Crew’s 3-3 draw with Toronto FC or Wednesday night’s U.S. Open Cup match against the Chicago Fire. He’ll miss this Saturday’s MLS match against the New York Red Bulls because he’s still with the USMNT in France. He’s likely to play in that match.

In other news

The Maryland track & field team doubled its NCAA finalist count from last year, and is in a position to keep building.

Maryland basketball will host a service in honor of Cliff Tucker at 11 a.m. this morning at the Memorial Chapel, if you happen to be in the area.

Four Terps were selected in the MLB Draft this week. Two of them have yet to play a game in a Maryland baseball uniform, and two have to decide whether they’ll play in one again.

Sticking with (former) Terps baseball, Brandon Lowe was selected to the Southern League All-Star Game.

And rounding this back out to soccer, Maryland commit Justin Gielen is the Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year. The Terps have had a Gatorade Player of the Year on the roster every year since 1994.