Atlanta United signed goalkeeper Justin Garces to a Homegrown contract, announcing the acquisition on Monday. The contract includes options through the 2024 season.
Garces, 21, spent the past four years at UCLA after playing briefly with Atlanta United 2 in 2018 and the U19s in the academy in 2017-18.
“Justin is someone we are very excited about bringing back to the club,” Atlanta United Vice President Carlos Bocanegra said in a statement from the club. “We saw the raw talent he had when he came through our Academy and made some appearances at the USL level. He has really progressed over the last four years after playing at a top program like UCLA. He has a great frame and is comfortable with the ball at his feet. We are excited to see him continue his development with our club.”
He has appeared for U.S. youth national teams several times at various levels.
With the Bruins, Garces appeared in 57 games and had a save percentage of 64.7 with a goals-allowed-per-game average of 1.58. He was named to the Pac-12 Conference second team in 2021.
Garces will be the third goalkeeper on Atlanta United’s roster behind Brad Guzan and Dylan Castanheira.
Garces said he’s looking forward to learning from Guzan, whom he trained with when he was with the academies and a few times during summers when he returned from college.
“He’s just a great guy to be around and training and, you know, seeing how he trains and the effort that you put in day in and day out, along with his performances in the matches,” Garces said.
Garces said the most important thing for him is to continue to get minutes. That will most likely happen with Atlanta United 2.
“I‘m starting up and I want to be able to learn as much as I can and get as much experience as I can to get to the position that I want to be in my professional career,” he said. “That’s going to take time, and it’s going to take a lot of work.”
He said while at UCLA he improved his ability to play out of the back, something that Atlanta United and Atlanta United 2 also do. Garces said he tries to model his game after Liverpool’s Alisson and Manchester City’s Ederson, two of the best in the world with the ball at their feet. Garces said he wants to continue to develop that skill and hopes it’s something else he can learn from Guzan.
Garces also noted that playing opponents with different styles in the Pac-12 helped him develop during the past four years.
Other Homegrown signings on the roster include fullback George Bello, centerbacks George Campbell, Bryce Washington and Efrain Morales, midfielders Machop Chol and Tyler Wolff and striker Jackson Conway. Past Homegrown signings who are no longer with the team include Andrew Carleton, Patrick Okonkwo, Chris Goslin and Lagos Kunga.
Atlanta United’s roster:
Goalkeepers (3): Dylan Castanheira, Justin Garces, Brad Guzan.
Defenders (10): Mikey Ambrose, George Bello, George Campbell, Alex De John, Alan Franco, Andrew Gutman, Brooks Lennon, Efrain Morales, Miles Robinson, Bryce Washington.
Midfielders (11): Osvaldo Alonso, Ezequiel Barco, Jürgen Damm, Emerson Hyndman, Franco Ibarra, Marcelino Moreno, Jake Mulraney, Matheus Rossetto, Amar Sejdic, Santiago Sosa, Tyler Wolff.
Forwards (5): Luiz Araújo, Machop Chol, Jackson Conway, Erik López, Josef Martínez.
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Atlanta United’s 2022 MLS schedule
Feb. 27 vs. Sporting KC, 3 p.m., FS1
March 5 at Colorado, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
March 13 vs. Charlotte, 4:30 p.m., FS1
March 19 vs. Montreal, 4 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
April 2 at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
April 9 at Charlotte, 3 p.m., ESPN
April 16 vs. Cincinnati, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
April 24 at Miami, 1 p.m., ESPN
April 30 at Montreal, 4 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
May 7 vs. Chicago, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
May 15 vs. New England, 2 p.m., ESPN
May 21 at Nashville, 7:30 p.m. FOX
May 28 vs. Columbus Crew, 7 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
June 19 vs Miami, 4 p.m., ESPN2
June 25 at Toronto, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
June 30 at New York Red Bulls, 8 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 3 at NYCFC, 5 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 9 vs. Austin, 7 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 13 vs. Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
July 17 vs. Orlando, 3 p.m., ABC
July 24 at L.A. Galaxy, 9:30 p.m., FS1
July 30 at Chicago, 5 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
August 6 vs. Seattle, 3 p.m., ABC
August 13 at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. BSSO/BSSE
August 17 vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
August 21 at Columbus, 6 p.m., FS1
August 28 vs. D.C. United, 4 p.m., UNIV
August 31 at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 4 at Portland, 5:30 p.m., FOX
Sept. 10 vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Sept. 14 at Orlando, 6 p.m., BSSO/BSSE
Sept 17 vs. Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m., UniMas
Oct. 1 at New England, 1 p.m., UniMas
Oct. 9 vs. NYCFC, TBD, BSSO/BSSE
