Rapids goalie Zack Steffen turns over a new mental leaf

Forget the overthinking. Forget the Copa America. Forget the noise.

In the penalty shootout against Club León, Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen blocked everything.

The two-save effort that followed last Monday capped a seven-save night for the 29-year-old in a game in which he was easily the best player on the pitch. The following game, he topped that performance with eight saves against FC Juárez in Friday’s Leagues Cup round of 16 win.

Perhaps his best save against Juárez came on a breakaway in the 74th minute to keep the game at 3-2. Forward Diego Valoyes received a pass behind Rapids defender Keegan Rosenberry and found himself one-on-one with Steffen, who stepped up and reacted to what was in front of him.

A big right foot kept the Rapids in front. And all he did was play.

“It’s amazing, man,” said Steffen, who will be in goal again on Tuesday night when Deportivo Toluca visits Dick’s Sporting Goods Park with a place in the Copa de la Liga quarterfinals on the line.

“It feels like I’m getting back into my groove again, so it’s awesome. Now I’m just focused on continuing like this, being consistent on Tuesday and just doing the job when I’m called upon, not overthinking it and just playing.”

In previous games this season, Steffen would have thought long and hard about a number of things like footwork and positioning. Somewhere in the back of his mind, expectations, perceptions and self-doubts lingered.

With a confused confusion in his head, the royal piece in front of him suffered. No more.

For Steffen, there was no precise moment when the shift from overthinker to shot-stopper and game-saver occurred. But there were discussions with his goalkeeping coach, Chris Sharpe, after being left out of the Copa America squad in June that set the process of mental detachment in motion.

“Not being called up for the World Cup definitely took a chink in my armor; it was on my mind all summer and I was trying to do a lot during games,” Steffen said. “Now I’m just focused on playing, not trying to be in the perfect position or thinking about all the different scenarios that could happen for any given play. I’m just reacting and trusting my instincts from training.”

Throughout the season, Sharpe has seen the progression between the ears of a goalkeeper who has coped with the expectations attached to playing as a backup to Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson for three years. In 2022, he finally got consistent minutes on loan at Middlesbrough, but then missed almost eight months with a knee injury before moving to the Rapids. He became a father in 2023 and had to move his entire family across the pond to join a new team.

“When you’re not playing consistent football all the time, you start to think about adjusting things, especially when we’re trying to implement new things into your game, work on your strengths and weaknesses,” Sharpe said. “There’s a point where you start to overthink things and that’s natural for any player. The new environment, new style of play, new teammates and new surroundings for your family — there’s a lot of internal and external things going on.

“We kind of went back to having more fun and not thinking about it too much. I told him to just be a 5 or 6 year old who loves to play.”

Since the 4-0 defeat to Portland in the League Cup opener, Steffen has rediscovered that joy – and form – in a way he hasn’t had all season.

He couldn’t do much about the three goals — a penalty and two rebounds from good saves — he conceded in the next two games, but he has been trying harder and making acrobatic saves.

Steffen quickly became a fan favorite during the Leagues Cup for his penalty heroics against León and 15 saves in the last two games. But for a good chunk of the season, advanced stats weren’t kind to Steffen. Nor was the perception outside Rapids HQ.

He said he doesn’t use social media much, but as a goalkeeper he knows the scrutiny will always be there.

“When you hear things that aren’t cool or not so good, of course you’re not going to feel good about it. But I try not to look at those things and just focus on what I can control and that’s playing the best I can,” Steffen said. “I just keep working hard and focusing on those things and at the end of the day, that always outweighs my mistakes and all that noise.”