Mitch Hildebrandt

Mitchell A. Hildebrandt (born November 12, 1988) is an American former professional soccer goalkeeper. He is currently a coach for the Michigan Wolves youth academy.

Mitch Hildebrandt
Hildebrandt after an FC Cincinnati match in 2017
Personal information
Full name Mitchell A. Hildebrandt
Date of birth (1988-11-12) November 12, 1988
Place of birth Livonia, Michigan, United States
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
2004–2007 Michigan Wolves
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Oakland Golden Grizzlies 53 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2009 Kalamazoo Outrage 13 (0)
2010–2011 Michigan Bucks 32 (0)
2012–2015 Minnesota United FC 15 (0)
2016–2017 FC Cincinnati 61 (0)
2018 Atlanta United 0 (0)
2018 → Atlanta United 2 (loan) 8 (0)
2020 Sporting Kansas City II 0 (0)
Managerial career
2020 Sporting Kansas City II (goalkeeping)
2021– Michigan Wolves
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 25, 2022

Career

College and amateur

Hildebrandt played his entire college career at Oakland University. He redshirted in 2007. In his first season as a starter for Oakland in 2009, Hildebrandt finished with seven clean sheets and a 0.73 goals against average and was named to the All-Summit League first team. He had another solid year in 2010, finishing with a 1.24 goals against average and 0.77 save percentage and was again named to the All-Summit League first team. Hildebrandt went on to be named to the All-Summit League second team in his senior season in 2011 and finished his career with a total of 249 saves and 19 clean sheets.[1]

During his time in college, Hildebrandt also spent time in the USL Premier Development League with Kalamazoo Outrage[2][3] and Michigan Bucks.[4][5]

Professional

On April 3, 2012, Hildebrandt signed a professional contract with Minnesota Stars FC (renamed Minnesota United FC in 2013) of the North American Soccer League.[6][7] He made his professional debut on May 25, 2012, recording up a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw with the Atlanta Silverbacks.[8]

In 2016, Hildebrandt moved to FC Cincinnati in the United Soccer League. Fans of Cincinnati would frequently chant "Mitch Says No" when Hildebrandt made a save. Hildebrandt agreed to a multi-year contract with Cincinnati following the 2016 season.[9] He received national attention for his performance in the 2017 U.S. Open Cup semi-final against Chicago Fire, making three saves in the deciding penalty shootout.[10]

Hildebrandt played for FC Cincinnati for two seasons before moving up to Major League Soccer, signing with Atlanta United FC on December 1, 2017.[11] As of June 27, 2018, Hildebrandt had yet to come off the bench for Atlanta's first team, but he had made two appearances for Atlanta United 2 in the USL.

Hildebrandt was released by Atlanta at the end of its 2018 season.[12]

On February 23, 2019, Hildebrandt announced via his social media accounts that he was retiring from professional soccer. He then joined Chicago Fire FC as a video scout.

In January 2020, Hildebrandt was appointed goalkeeping coach for Sporting Kansas City II of the USL Championship.[13] Hildebrant came out of retirement to join the Sporting Kansas City II playing roster on September 16, 2020, becoming the first ever player-coach for the club.[14]

Following the conclusion of the 2020 USL Championship season, Hildebrandt returned to Michigan to coach with the Michigan Wolves SC academy where he had played as a youth.[15]

Honors
Individual
  • USL All-League Team: 2016
  • USL Goalkeeper of the Year: 2016

References
  1. "Mitch Hildebrandt Bio". Oakland Golden Grizzlies. Oakland University. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  2. 2008 Kalamazoo Outrage stats Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 2009 Kalamazoo Outrage stats Archived 2009-07-12 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 2010 Michigan Bucks stats Archived 2012-09-14 at archive.today
  5. 2011 Michigan Bucks stats Archived 2012-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Mitch Hildebrandt Signs Professional Contract". Oakland Golden Grizzlies. April 3, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  7. "Stars add three signings". Minnesota Stars FC. April 3, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  8. "Stars Tie Rowdies To Remain Unbeaten". Atlanta Silverbacks. May 25, 2012. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  9. "FC Cincinnati Re-Signs Mitch Hildebrandt". FC Cincinnati. November 11, 2016. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  10. Lauletta, Tyler (June 29, 2017). "A lower division club pulled off a huge upset over the Chicago Fire in the US Open Cup behind the heroic effort of their keeper in a shootout". Business Insider. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  11. Creech, Hayes (December 13, 2017). "Mitch Hildebrandt takes the long road to MLS opportunity in Atlanta". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  12. "Atlanta United announce year-end roster moves". atlutd.com.
  13. "Sporting Kansas City II appoints Mitch Hildebrandt as goalkeeper coach". SportingKC.com. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  14. "Sporting KC II goalkeeper coach joins playing roster". The Blue Testament. September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  15. "Coach Hildebrandt". MichiganWolves.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
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