Brian Perk

How Acquired: Claimed by the Galaxy off waivers from the Philadelphia Union on August 4, 2010.

A young and athletic goalkeeper with experience in the U.S. National Team setup, Perk will look to solidify his spot as the Galaxy No. 2 goalkeeper following the departure of Donovan Ricketts. He made his debut last year and continues to grow and improve in his second full year with the club while also establishing himself as one of the best young goalkeepers in MLS.

MLS Highlights

2011: Made his MLS debut on 7/4, making two saves and keeping a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw with Seattle. The first of those two saves came off a Fredy Montero penalty, becoming just the second goalkeeper in MLS history and the first since 1999 to have the first save of his career be on a penalty kick. He had made his first team debut six days earlier on 6/29, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 win over the L.A. Blues in the Third Round of the U.S. Open Cup. He also played the second half of the friendlies against Real Madrid and Manchester City while also appearing in five of the club’s 10 Reserve League games, going 1-2-2 in that time. 2010: Selected by the Philadelphia Union in the fourth round of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft, Perk did not play in any MLS or Open Cup games for the Union, though he did play in three friendlies for the club. Perk made his professional debut in a friendly win over Reading United AC, playing the second half of a 2-0 win on 6/23. He played another 45 minutes on 7/14, playing the second half of the Union’s 1-0 win over Celtic. Perk was back on the field a week later, again playing the second half as the Union lost 1-0 to Manchester United. He was then waived by the club on 7/30 before being claimed by the Galaxy off waivers on 8/4, prior to the club’s friendly against Real Madrid. He was not in the 18-man squad for any of LA’s final 12 regular season games of the year, or any of the three postseason games.

College Highlights

Started all 61 of the games that he appeared in during his four years at UCLA, compiling a 29-18-12 record while helping lead the Bruins to the NCAA Tournament four times. Perk finished his college career with a 1.01 goals against average, while keeping 16 clean sheets. A Top Drawer Soccer All-Freshman second team honoree, after starting seven games in his first season in Westwood, Perk became the Bruins’ full time starter as a sophomore in 2007. He then took honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors as a sophomore, Second Team All-Pac-10 as a junior and finally First Team All-Pac-10 as a senior, when he allowed just 13 goals in 15 games for a 0.87 goals against average, despite missing five games while at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt. He was also a Second Team NSCAA All-American during his senior season as he finished his college career with 241 saves, which are the fourth most in UCLA history. He recorded the first shutout of his career on 9/8/07 in a 0-0 draw with Creighton. One year later as a junior, Perk posted a sub-1.00 goals against average for the first time in his college career, tallying a 0.97 mark thanks in large to a 657-minute shutout streak that he had from 10/12-11/8.

Academy Highlights

2008: Played for the Galaxy’s U-20 team, which competed in the USL Super-20 League, in 2008, helping them win the Pacific SoCal Division in their inaugural season. With Perk in goal, the Galaxy compiled a 7-2-1 record and kept six clean sheets, allowing a league-best seven goals on the season. He did not play for the Galaxy in 2009 due to his involvement that summer in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

National Team

Perk has represented the United States at the U-15, U-17, U-18 and U-20 levels while also being called into camp with the U-23’s in January 2012. He has played at two FIFA U-20 World Cups, as well as the 2005 U-17 World Cup, where he helped the U.S. achieve a fifth place finish. After serving as the backup for the U-20’s in the group stage of the 2007 U-20 World Cup in Canada, Perk was called into action for the Round of 16 game against Uruguay, helping the U.S. earn a 2-1 come-from-behind win in extra time. He was then the starting goalkeeper for all three of the group games that the U.S. played in at the 2009 U-20 World Cup in Egypt, serving as the captain of that team. He had a 1-2-0 record in that tournament, where he was a teammate of current Galaxy and former UCLA teammate Michael Stephens. A member of the U.S. Under-17 National Team Residency Program from 2004-06 before heading to UCLA, Perk first represented his country at the U-15 level in 2004.