Andre Blake spent most of his rookie season on the bench
or the practice field, but he showed his ability
for Jamaica this week. (Times File)

For all the hype surrounding Andre Blake 10 months ago when the Philadelphia Union made him the first goalkeeper ever taken No. 1 in the MLS SuperDraft, the 2014 season was spent on the sidelines with most of the talk of his potential staying just that. Two MLS matches, two U.S. Open Cup ties against lower-division sides and an international friendly isn’t exactly a large body of work to judge progress or value for the club. There was some good, some less than stellar and a lot more of, well, promises that lacked in-game information to back them up.

In at least one sense, though, that promise seems to have manifested itself in the performance Blake just authored with the Jamaican National Team.

Tuesday night, Blake finished up a performance in the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup that showed his obvious ability: Three days short of his 24th birthday, Blake earned the Golden Gloves award for the tournament, giving up just one goal in four matches in leading the Reggae Boyz to the title of the eight-team tournament on home soil.

The Golden Glove Award goes to Andre Blake of Jamaica
— Official J.F.F (@ItsTheJFF) November 19, 2014

In keeping with the basic script Blake followed for the Union, there were stops and starts, like what sounds like a goalkeeping error that cost his team a win in the opening 1-1 draw with Martinique.

Beyond that, though, there were very few points of criticism. Blake kept clean sheets in wins over Antigua and Barbuda (3-0) and Haiti (2-0) to make sure Jamaica finished atop Group A with seven points from three matches. (It was also fueled by three goals from Vancouver's Darren Mattocks, while Leeds' Rodolph Austin won the most outstanding player award.) In keeping with his shades-of-brilliance reputation, the Haiti win included a save of Emmanuel Sarki late on.

In the final Tuesday against Trinidad and Tobago (sadly, sans Keon Daniel), Blake helped keep the game scoreless through 120 minutes. In the penalty kick shootout, Blake started with a stop of (an admittedly poorly-taken) spot kick by Soca Warriors captain Kenwyne Jones. Blake got a hand on the second attempt before it snuck into the side netting, then watched as the fifth and final attempt sailed over the crossbar to lead Jamaica to a 4-3 advancement in PKs. (Video of the PK shootout is here.)
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A quick look at the Stoke City roster makes it clear why the Barclay’s Premier League club would want to head to the United States for its preseason trip. That junket concludes Tuesday when the Potters come to PPL Park to face the Union.

It should be an interesting meeting between the English club, which is wrapping up a three-game swing that includes a 1-0 win over FC Dallas and a 2-0 loss to Houston. Both of those clubs are ones with which the club has done previous transfer business – Brek Shea from Dallas, Geoff Cameron from Houston – making the Union unique in the fixture list.

Here’s the preview of the game via Stoke’s site (including a refreshing outsider’s look at the Union’s standing), while this blog from The Sentinel in Staffordshire is informative in providing info on the Potters’ trip.

A handful of quick bullet points on the team:
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