From cap and gown to keeper's garb, Minnesota United's Fred Emmings makes first-team debut in friendly victory

On Wednesday, Minnesota United's Fred Emmings wore a cap and gown on graduation day at St. Paul Central High School.

On Saturday night, he wore an aqua goalkeeper's uniform and made his Loons first-team debut in the second half of their 4-3 international friendly victory over SC Paderborn 07 of Germany's Bundesliga 2 at Allianz Field.

"Crazy week," he said afterward. "A lot of emotions."

Emmings completed his high school degree online after the club signed him as its first homegrown player when he was just 15 in January 2020.

He didn't expect to attend graduation because the Loons' MNUFC2 reserve team played a game that night in San Jose.

"It actually worked out," Emmings said. "Originally, I wasn't going to go because I had the game in San Jose and they had plans to play me there. But they rested me on Wednesday, so I was able to go, which was good."

He was asked if they still remembered him at school.

He allowed two second-half goals after veteran Tyler Miller played the first half.

Emmings came out of goal to make a diving save right away in the second half before he allowed goals in the 54th minute on Marco Schuster's one-timer and defender Jonas Carls' left-footed volley in the 80th minute.

By then, the Loons had built a 4-2 lead on second-half goals by Luis Amarilla and Aziel Jackson that Paderborn couldn't match.

"Your first one is always memorable," Emmings said of his first-team debut. "Obviously, the goals are something we have to go look at and build upon. But there's a lot of things to be proud of and a lot of good things to learn from, as there always is … It's a different experience. It's hard to explain, but it's definitely a change.

"You need to prepare properly. That's the biggest thing you can learn from these games because you can't replicate them in training. There's nothing you can do in training that will get you ready for this. That's part of the fun."