Reading United AC News Release -- www.readingunitedac.com
Saturday, January 21, 2012
HARRISON, N.J. – After spending a year overseas with Finland’s AC Oulu, Downingtown, Pa. native Jeremy Vuolo is back stateside with the New York Red Bulls after officially signing a contract with the MLS squad this past week. Vuolo, who had played with the Reading United since he was age 16 through his senior campaign at Syracuse University, made quite the impression on the Red Bulls after putting up 11 shutouts in 24 matches, and one goal or less in all but five games.
“I received a phone call from Todd Hoffard, the Red Bulls goalkeeper coach, in mid-November. He told me they were aware of my success in Finland and would be interested in bringing me back to the States. I signed an official contract earlier this week for the 2012 MLS season,” said Vuolo.
While in Reading, Vuolo played in the most games (66), and accumulated the most minutes (5176) of any United player since 2005. His last season with United was among the finest of his Premier Development League career as he put up an 8-2-3 record with a .946 goals against average.
A prototypical 6-foo-3, 200 pound goalkeeper, Vuolo did have offers to play in the United States last year after being passed over in the MLS SuperDraft. Several MLS clubs offered him a chance to come into training camp, and some USL PRO teams had expressed interest. However, a move to Finland seemed to be in his best interest, gaining match experience as a first team goalkeeper. Jeremy was naturally enthusiastic about a return to the United States after the year in Finland.
“I'm excited. I was not planning on returning to the States for some time unless a situation opened up like it did in New York. It is an ideal situation for me and so the decision was an easy one. Of course it is nice to be close to family and friends but the decision to return Stateside was based solely on the benefits it presented for my career.”
Despite the obvious challenges of playing in a brand new environment, let alone a new country altogether, Jeremy found the positives in his time overseas.
“I learned so much from my time in Finland both on and off the pitch," Vuolo said. "Having to adjust to an entirely different way of life in a foreign culture was enjoyable at times yet quite difficult at others. It caused me to lean with a greater dependence on the Lord than I ever had before and I am very grateful for that. I was able to deepen my relationship to my parents, spending hours talking to them on Skype, while also building new friendships.
“On the pitch I learned so much, being forced to step out of my comfort zone and develop many different parts of my game. I would say I improved the most in the mental aspect of goalkeeping in terms of decision making and overall awareness.”
He’ll be coming to a Red Bull team that only has one goalkeeper currently on their roster, former Jersey Express counterpart and 2012 SuperDraft pick Ryan Meara. But forcing former rivals to room together has brought out not only some of the competitive fire in both of them, but also a few stories of their PDL experiences.
“Ryan and I have been sharing a hotel room for the past few days and it has been good hearing different stories from our PDL days," Vuolo said. "The one that I remember best is the trip both of our teams took to Ottawa for the 2010 PDL Eastern Conference Finals. Ryan described it as the ‘worst trip ever’ while it still remains one of my best memories with Reading after we left as champions with a 12-man roster! But it has been good getting to know him off the field as opposed to only seeing him on opposite end of the pitch.”
Vuolo will also be joining United alumni Corey Hertzog, a Reading, Pa. native and 2011 first round pick, and 2012 Supplemental Draft selection Christian Barreiro on the squad. While never having the opportunity to play with Barreiro, Vuolo mentioned that he’s been spending a lot of time reconnecting with Hertzog, and looks forward to exchanging stories with both of them during the 2012 season.
And as for that starting goalkeeper position that is currently up for grabs?
“Anywhere I go, my mentality is to be the number one goalkeeper, and that does not change in my coming to New York. My focus is to work hard in training every day and earn my job.”