Back to the Philadelphia Union Newsfeed

Sign Up for Union News

Donovan Ricketts looked intimidating. He was slightly hunched in goal, and when he charged out it always felt sudden and suffocating. He was also the starting goalie for the Jamaican national team.

So when a young, lanky Jamaican shot stopper left UConn and took a Generation Adidas deal with Major League Soccer, he both looked up to and drew comparisons with Ricketts. "I remember when I was with the [Jamaica] U-20s and he came back from England and that was the first time I came in touch with him and he came to a practice," Blake said of the Jamaican number one back at the 2014 MLS Combine.