Sounders FC goalkeeper thrown into the fire

Ben Dragavon was inches from perhaps keeping Seattle Sounders FC undefeated in four games.

The fingertips of his right hand reached a knuckling shot from Kansas City Wizards forward Davy Arnaud. But they weren't enough to keep the ball from getting past Dragavon and into the net for a Wizards goal in the 80th minute Saturday night at Qwest Field.

Kansas City won 1-0, and Dragavon, a Monroe native making his Major League Soccer debut in the perfect storm of situations, was left to dwell on what might have been.

"It was tough," he said.

It was a game in which few could have envisioned Dragavon playing such a key role.

The 25-year-old was thrust into action when No. 1 keeper Kasey Keller was given a red card in the 29th minute for using his hands on the ball outside the 18-yard penalty area. Keller, Sounders FC's captain and most experienced player, was ejected, and under normal circumstances, backup Chris Eylander would have come on. But Eylander, who led the United Soccer Leagues First Division in saves in 2007 and 2008 while with the former Sounders, was still not greenlighted to dress for a game after suffering a sprained right knee in early March.

With Eylander unavailable — he is expected to be ready to suit up for full practices this week — Sounders FC needed an extreme-hardship call-up, as it is referred to in MLS player rules. Teams may add players to their roster if they have less than two available goalkeepers. Keller was the only available keeper for the first four games, so Dragavon was the call-up.

When Keller was ejected, Dragavon, with only a handful of USL-1 appearances to his credit, was the only option. He'd turned down a chance to be the top goalkeeper for another USL team, the Austin Aztex, to sign a contract with MLS and become part of a pool of goalkeepers available to teams in emergency situations.

"Relax," Dragavon, who led his Monroe High School Bearcats to the Class 3A state boys soccer title in 2001, told himself. "Take a breath and relax. Once you get out there it's just like, block out everything else as much as you can."

Dragavon trained with Sounders FC for much of the offseason and into the regular season. He used the practice time to learn from Keller and goalkeepers coach Tom Dutra, having chosen to use this area as his home base and therefore being allowed to train with the team while not under contract.

He made two saves against Kansas City, the second one most important. It came in the 77th minute when he knocked away a good Wizards opportunity to keep the game scoreless.

Moments later, however, Dragavon couldn't get to Arnaud's shot. Arnaud, the Wizards' top scorer who has a reputation for a good long-distance shot, had time to load up and fire with Seattle playing one man down. The ball twisted away and got past Dragavon.

"I'd love to have it back, for sure," Dragavon said.

Now Dragavon could find himself competing with his former USL Sounders teammate, Eylander, to start Saturday against Chivas USA in Carson, Calif., in a key Western Conference matchup. Keller must sit out the game as part of the penalty for receiving the red card.

"Eylander's getting close," Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said. "Who starts between Dragavon and Eylander, I'm not sure, but those should be our two goalkeepers."

Eylander said he can do everything in practice now, and that it's up to the coaches to decide who plays.

Dragavon hopes to learn from his 60-plus minutes of MLS action.

"You try and make it like training as much as you can," Dragavon said. "I'm wound up before every game like I'm going to play. You have to be, especially at my position.

"I don't feel like a league reserve keeper," he added. "I feel like I'm a part of this team, that's for sure, and I think the guys see it that way as well. It's pretty nice."

Case in point: Defender Tyrone Marshall rushed to Dragavon's defense after the Wizards' Josh Wolff collided with Dragavon in the game's final minutes. Marshall exchanged words with Wolff.

"I got undercut," Dragavon said. "It was nice to have Tyrone cover my back, though."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com