When the Vancouver Whitecaps took to the pitch July 19 against Seattle in the Major League Soccer summer series Thomas Hasal was on the sidelines as the back-up netminder.
Hasal was not expecting to see playing time.
But when Vancouver netminder Maxime Crepeau suffered a fractured left thumb after being stepped on by a Seattle Sounders player, Hasal, normally the team’s third-string reserve was thrown into the breach. Usual back-up Bryan Meredith was unavailable after leaving the tournament bubble due to his mother’s death.
In Hasal’s emergency MLS debut early in the second half of the MLS is Back Tournament group stage match he afforded himself with not allowing any further goals against Seattle.
Hasal said while not expecting to play, as back-up, he was ready.
“You’ve got to be ready to play even if you’re not expecting to. You’ve got to be ready for the challenge ... Success in sports as in life comes when you’re prepared and you get the opportunity,” he said.
So by now regular readers are wondering why a columnist who is not a particular fan of outdoor soccer is writing about Hasal?
Well, while born in Ontario, Hasal’s soccer journey is tied to Saskatchewan.
“I was kind of discovered by the Whitecaps,” he said, adding the program in Saskatchewan was a big part of that as he joined the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Saskatchewan Academy Centre in 2013.
“The Whitecaps gave me a chance to showcase my talents,” he said. “It was my first contact with the club.”
In 2016 he joined the Club’s U-18 Side and moved to Vancouver. After joining the developmental academy Hasal started in 23 games and an additional eight playoff games. In 2016 he led the U-19 team to the Academy Championship Semi-finals.
In March of last year the Whitecaps signed Hasal as a goalkeeper from the Whitecaps Academy, a deal stretching through the 2020 season, with club options for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He became the first player signed from the Whitecaps U-23 development team and the fourth teenage academy soccer player signed onto the roster.
As noted Hasal primarily served as the club’s third goalkeeper, and saw no playing time in the 2019 season.
But after the emergency call against Seattle, Hasal found himself Vancouver’s only option. He started in the next match and held Chicago Fire FC.
The match against Chicago was a huge test for the Whitecaps who had not played well, and went into the contest needing to win by two goals to advance farther. Hasal did is part holding the Fire scoreless, making four saves while the offence found the two goals needed for a 2–0 win that took Vancouver into the tournament’s knockout stage.
Hasal said there was at least three days to prepare for the Fire, although the need to win by two was keenly felt. That said he also saw it as another chance to show what he could do.
“It was a great opportunity to make some big saves,” he said, adding it was an opportunity to make a statement “I’m here. I can play. It’s good.”
Earning a shut-out of course was a bonus.
“As a goalkeeper any game you can keep a clean sheet it’s a good feeling,” offered Hasal.
The win put Vancouver into the round of 16 as massive underdogs to Sporting Kansas City.
Nobody apparently told Hasal about being underdogs though as he continued his shut-out ways making eight saves to hold the score at 0–0 through 90 minutes, before Vancouver ultimately fell to KC with a 3–1 score in a penalty shootout,
Hasal said in a shootout you hope you know the shooters tendencies, add some quickness and luck and make the saves you need to. It doesn’t always work out though.
“You try to read the play, read the shooter,” he said.
