Jimmy Maurer

James "Jimmy" Maurer (born October 14, 1988) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo.

Career

High School Maurer graduated from St. Pius X Catholic High School, Atlanta GA in the spring of 2007.

College Maurer attended college at the University of South Carolina and was the starting goalkeeper for four years. During his four-year career, he started all 78 games for the Gamecocks. He finished his collegiate career with 28 shutouts, second in South Carolina history. In his first year in 2007, Maurer started all 19 games for the Gamecocks and recorded a 1.08 goals against average. He was also named Conference USA Freshman of the Year. In 2009 as a junior, Maurer played every minute in net for South Carolina and had a 1.22 goals against average to go along with five shutouts and being named to the All-Conference USA Third Team. He was named to the 2010 All-Conference USA Second Team during his senior campaign in which he recorded nine shutouts and a career-high 2,028 minutes in net, including the South Carolina–Clemson rivalry, where he finished off an unprecedented shutout of the derby archrivals.

Maurer played with various clubs in the USL Premier Development League during his collegiate career. In 2008, he played for the Atlanta Silverbacks U23's and in 2009, with Chicago Fire Premier. While with Chicago, he was named the 2009 PDL season Goalkeeper of the Year and played in the PDL Championship game. He concluded his PDL career playing with Atlanta Blackhawks in 2010.

Professional Maurer was selected 4th overall in the 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft by the New York Red Bulls. He spent the pre-season with the club but was not signed to a contract. However, the club did sign him to a one-game contract to serve as a backup for a match on March 26, 2011, due to an injury and an international call-up to its two regular keepers.

NASL and Chile On March 31, 2011, Maurer signed with the Atlanta Silverbacks of the North American Soccer League. He made his professional debut on April 9, 2011, in a game against the NSC Minnesota Stars

On January 31, 2012, Maurer signed with Club Deportivo Universidad de Concepción of the Chilean Primera División. His relocation to Chile was filmed for an episode of the HGTV show House Hunters International, where he was negotiating on low income rentals as he had not yet signed a contract with the team.

Maurer signed with NASL club New York Cosmos on April 26, 2013. He served as the backup goalkeeper to starter Kyle Reynish during the 2013 NASL season, which ended with a championship when the Cosmos defeated the Atlanta Silverbacks 1–0 to claim the NASL Soccer Bowl. Maurer made his debut with the Cosmos on November 2, 2013, against the Atlanta Silverbacks making four saves and posting a 1–0 shutout victory.

Maurer entered the 2014 NASL season as the starting goalkeeper for the Cosmos. He allowed just three goals during the 2014 Spring season, posting 29 saves and an NASL-leading 0.33 GAA (goals against average) in nine games. Maurer also posted a modern-day NASL record 372 minute shutout streak during the Spring season and achieved a record of 6–1–2 (W-D-L). He recorded a league-high 11 shutouts in 24 appearances for the Cosmos in the 2014 regular season. His 0.91 GAA was second best in the league, and he finished tied for second in the league in saves (67). Maurer posted a 10–7–6 record on the year and was named to the NASL Team of the Week twice during 2014. These accolades resulted in Maurer being named to the NASL Best XI at the conclusion of the 2014 season. Prior to the 2024 season, Maurer joined the FC Dallas front office as a Player Development Executive in addition to serving his on-field role as a goalkeeper.

International Maurer was a member of the United States U-17 player pool from 2004 through 2006.

Club statistics

Honors

New York Cosmos NASL Soccer Bowl: 2013, 2015, 2016 NASL Regular Season: 2015, 2016

North Texas SC USL League One: 2019