Grinwis saved again from Maxime Chanot, low and to his right, and that was that. “That was the most surreal moment of my career,” said the red-header keeper, who was mobbed by his teammates and wore one of the widest, proudest grins you’ll ever see on a soccer field. “Initially, I just went into a kind of shock. I hardly knew the game was over. I asked myself: ‘did that just happen?’ Something just happened and I saw my teammates racing toward me and it was like ‘wow, we’re moving on in the Cup.’”
There are certain moments when there’s one hero and one hero only. In those rare moments, watch that player’s teammates to get a sense of what he means to them – on the field, in the locker room and, generally, in life. The pride on the faces of established stars like Sacha Kljestan, Nani and Dom Dwyer, the gratitude and genuine appreciation on display, told a bigger story than a man doing his job for pay on a given day. And the wide smile Grinwis wore there and then, well, that just said it all. “For 24 hours it felt like a dream,” said the goalkeeper, generously listed at 6-2 in club literature and wearing No. 99 on his back, an indication of his spot in the regular pecking order of Orlando City goalkeepers. “I woke up the next day and asked myself: ‘did that really happen?’ It was such a rare thing to have a moment with guys you genuinely care about. And to have them praise me like that – which is not my goal – it’s just an incredible thing.”
It’s no wonder Grinwis woke questioning the events of the night before. This ain’t the kind of thing that happens to him every day. His is the lot of the back-up keeper, fighting every day to be noticed. To crack the Starting XI. To do his part where and when he can as deputy to regular No. 1 Brian Rowe. Signed by Orlando in 2018 from second-tier Saint Louis FC, he had yet to make a single appearance in the league this year before coach James O’Conner took him aside and told him he’d be counting on him to be his Open Cup keeper for 2019. “It’s a funny position, goalkeeper,” said Grinwis, who’s had much work to do in Orlando City’s run to the Cup Semi. “Usually only one guy plays and if he does well, he stays. It’s rare you get a chance to change that, so when James came up to me and told me I’d be in for the Cup games, I was thrilled. Every game could be your last in the Cup. I had to have that mentality. I saw it as a real opportunity.”
