New Minnesota United starting goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh's coach and teammates praise his shot-stopping ability, but neither of the two goals he allowed in Friday's team debut were a mighty blast clutched or turned away.
Each was an opportunistic chance that either bounced or was inadvertently redirected into an open goal during a 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City, the Loons' first game in Allianz Field since October.
The first goal came in the game's 12th minute, on a ball untouched by three converging players, including Ranjitsingh. The second was the eventual winner, a go-ahead own goal in the 55th minute when defender Michael Boxall slid in an attempt to clear a ball rolling in front of the goal and put it into his own net instead.
Loons coach Adrian Heath called both goals "poor" because of the way his team defended — or didn't — each, and not all the goalkeeper's fault.
Ranjitsingh, acquired last fall in the MLS waiver draft, considered his debut a "really frustrating night" but a performance for which he felt fully prepared.
He had known for some time that starting keeper Tyler Miller's hip hurt him, so it was no surprise he got the call to play Friday when Miller and team officials decided he'd have surgery early Wednesday morning.
Born in Ontario and educated at Mercer University in Georgia, Ranjitsingh, 27, won USL Championship titles with Louisville City in 2017 and 2018 and played two games with Orlando City last season.
"I knew this game would be coming and that I would be playing in it," he said. "So it has been a lot … of build-up towards it. Finally, I got to play in it. The result didn't go our way, but I'm happy I was able to get my 90 minutes in. I feel more comfortable on the pitch."
