With Andre Blake injured, Andrew Rick has solidified his place as the Union’s No. 2 goalkeeper

Andre Blake will return to the net for the Union at some point, though it probably won’t be for Saturday’s game at Atlanta United (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, and free via EA Sports’ EA FC video game). A game indoors on turf isn’t an ideal one to bring back a player who’s been dealing with a knee problem.

In the past, Blake’s absence for even the shortest time set off alarm bells among Union fans. These days, while injuries are never good, there’s a lot less concern. Andrew Rick has proven to be a capable backup. The latest proof has come in the club’s last three games, the first time the 19-year-old has started three in a row for the first team.

“As a goalkeeper, it’s important to build momentum, and when you get three games in a row, it’s really easy to build relationships with players and get on the same page quicker,” Rick said.

There is certainly momentum right now, thanks to Wednesday’s dramatic comeback win over the Los Angeles Galaxy. But there isn’t much time to celebrate. Saturday’s game is followed by a U.S. Open Cup round of 16 game vs. Pittsburgh on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., Paramount+) and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami visiting next Saturday.

Rick doesn’t have to run around on the field as much as his teammates do, but that packed schedule is still a mental test.

“It’s a different type of challenging,” he said. “It’s 100% more mentally challenging, making sure that — especially [against the Galaxy], I mean, I think I probably had four touches in the second half. So, just making sure that all the guys in front of me are in good spots, and making sure that we’re not switching off in moments that we need to be switched on for.”

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He enjoyed standing across the field from one of Blake’s former backups, Northeast Philadelphia native John McCarthy. Rick watched McCarthy as a fan growing up, and got a picture with him once back in the day.

Did he ever think they’d play against each other?

“No, I did not,” Rick said with a laugh. “But it’s an honor. I don’t know if he knows this, but we played for the same club team growing up. It’s kind of cool to see that.”

That club was FC Europa, part of the Tredyffrin-Easttown Youth Soccer Association — and obviously, Rick came along well after the 32-year-old McCarthy.

Though Rick doesn’t have Blake’s athleticism, he has made most of the stops he needs to. Perhaps he could have done better on Columbus’ late equalizer last Saturday, but it’s hard to blame him for Los Angeles’ two goals on Wednesday — the rest of the Union’s defense was totally out of sorts on both.

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Where Rick really has an expertise is in saving penalty kicks. This came in handy in the U.S. Open Cup win over Indy Eleven, when he made a decisive stop in the penalty shootout.

He has honed that skill with the Union’s reserve squad, because MLS Next Pro games that end in ties go to shootouts for an extra standings point. There would rightly be an outcry if MLS ever tried the rule in the big leagues, but having it in the developmental circuit is less of an issue.

“I’ll be the first to say this: Taking penalties in training is very different from a game,” Rick said. “When you look on the field at the guys that took pens, we had five takers and a goalkeeper, and three of them had played in MLS Next Pro and been in those situations: me, Frankie [Westfield] and Rafa [Jeremy Rafanello]. … To get that high-pressure experience, it definitely helps with decision-making and all that stuff.”

Coincidentally, four days before the Open Cup game, Rick was involved in one of the longest shootouts you’ll see: 12 rounds. They start at five rounds and then go to sudden death, so it’s unusual to go that long. It was so long, in fact, that both teams’ entire lineups took part, including goalkeepers. For the 12th round, the opening shooters returned to the spot.

“I remember saying to myself, I think on the fifth penalty, I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m going to take a pen in this, right?’” Rick said. “And then we get all the way to 11 rounds, and I had to take a penalty. But it was crazy, yeah. Very unexpected.”

In the bigger picture, Union manager Bradley Carnell said his confidence in Rick “has grown since preseason,” and that Rick “just shows that he can grow in big moments” in games.

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“His distribution is good, it’s clean,” Carnell continued. “I think he’s got the respect of the guys as well, and that exudes confidence on the rest of the group in front of him. If there’s a confident goalkeeper back there, it usually filters through to the rest of the team.”

Rick, in turn, is comfortable being competitive in the short term and seeing the bigger picture in the long term. His contract is guaranteed through 2028, and though he won’t overtake Blake as a starter, he knows how often Blake will be gone with Jamaica: for much of June this summer, and hopefully at his first World Cup next summer.

“I always had full confidence in myself to work as hard as I can to get that spot,” Rick said. “My goal since I started training with the first team was to get to this point, and the next goal is to be the starter. … I think I’ve made some pretty big strides this year, and I want to continue that momentum.”