A Quick Look at Adam Larsen Kwarasey and MLS's Young Keepers

In the 2014 season, Donovan Ricketts was the second oldest goalkeeper in Major League Soccer with more than 10 starts, just a year younger than the venerable Jon Busch. Now, with Ricketts off to Orlando City SC, the Timbers find themselves in a very different position as Adam Larsen Kwarasey is one of the league's youngest projected starters.

Kwarasey, who just turned 27, is just over ten years younger than Ricketts. He will be the Timbers youngest regularly starting keeper since the team joined MLS, beating out Troy Perkins who was 29 at the start of the 2011 season.

Kwarasey is younger than all but seven of the keepers who received ten starts or more in the 2014 season; a list  comprised of Tyler Deric, Jeff Attinella, Bill Hamid, Clint Irwin, Joe Bendik, Sean Johnson, and Zac MacMath. Deric and Attinella were backups on the year, but got plenty of playing time thanks to injuries and call-ups respectively, while the rest were bona fide starters.

Hamid, of course, was the winner of the 2014 Goalkeeper of the Year award.

Looking at this crop of young keepers, Kwarasey certainly compares favorably. His appearance in the 2014 World Cup is something that none of the keepers above can match, while his 2013 Tippeligaen Goalkeeper of the Year win outs him in good standing on the club side of things.

In fact, with Strømsgodset's 2013 Tippeligaen winning season and the club's 2010 1st place finish in the Norwegian Football Cup during Larsen's first season as the club's first choice keeper, the hardware that Kwarasey has collected compares very favorably to his peers.