Following a positive first season in the USL with the Tulsa Roughnecks, goalkeeper Zac Lubin joined the Swope Park Rangers in December 2015 after catching the eye of head coach Marc Dos Santos during November’s open tryouts.
The 26-year-old led the USL with 4.87 saves per game as club captain in the Roughnecks’ inaugural season last year, with Tulsa falling one place and three points shy of claiming a postseason berth. Born in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and raised in Bozeman, Montana, Lubin made 15 appearances for the Roughnecks, recording two shutouts and being named to the USL’s Team of the Week after an eight-save shutout performance against the Austin Aztex on May 23, 2015.
While in college, the 6’5 ‘keeper set a program-record with 288 saves in 67 games at DII school Saint Martin’s University, while Lubin was also a first team all-conference selection as the Saints won the school’s first team title in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2009. Lubin also played in the USL PDL with the Tacoma Tide while he was in college.
Once Lubin’s college career was over, he signed for USL PDL side the Kitsap Pumas and won the national title in his first season with the club. Following the 2012 season, Lubin moved to Seattle Sounders FC Under-23s before making the decision to search for opportunities abroad in 2014.
Like his new Rangers teammate Alex Molano, Lubin found himself in Sweden with IFK Lulea of Division 1 North, making 22 appearances in all competitions and recording five shutouts, helping his side comfortably avoid relegation before joining Tulsa a few months later.
"We knew about Zac before he attended our open tryouts,” Dos Santos said. “He's a goalkeeper with an excellent presence and work ethic. He has the type of mentality and experience that we are looking for in our first season. We are happy that he's joining the club."
