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Sunday Statistcal Showdown: Joe Bendik By the Numbers

Joe Bendik, the new man between the sticks for OCSC, has been playing well so far in 2016. The Mane Land takes a look at Orlando's number 1 in comparison to other keepers in the league.

By Daniel McGann
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

(Editor's note: The data included in this piece does not take into account Orlando's 2-2 draw with New England last night.)

Tally Hall may not be a distant memory--and really, how could he be? Most can still recall Brek Shea standing with Amobi Okugo and Tally Hall, probably sure that each would be playing integral roles with the newly minted MLS club for years.

But, here we are today with only Shea still on the roster and a new keeper in the net. Joe Bendik may not have been the first name to come to mind when naming a successor to Hall, but he has been someone that has shown the ability. Bendik has played the past few seasons in MLS, starting with Portland then moving to Toronto where he held the starting job after the injury and departure of Stefan Frei. During his time in Toronto, Bendik was blamed for a lot of defensive shortcomings, and he was used as the scapegoat so often that the Toronto Sun felt the need to defend him with this piece.

However, so far this season Orlando has seen some positives from the goalkeeper who is cheaper and possibly more reliable than Tally Hall. With that in mind, we wanted to dive a bit deeper and compare Bendik to the other starting goalkeepers around the league through the 2016 season.

Some of the relevant stats include:

CS Clean Sheets

Saves Per 90 Saves Made per 90 Minutes of Play

Six Yard Box Saves per 90 Saves Made in the Six Yard Box per 90 Minutes of Play

Penalty Saves per 90 Penalty Saves Made per 90 Minutes of Play

Out of Box Saves per 90 Saves Made Outside the Box per 90 Minutes of Play

SPct Total Saves Divided by Shots on Goal Faced



Looking at just the comparison with Joe and the league average goalkeeper, many would gravitate towards first comparing the save percentage. That unfortunately would give a negative view of Bendik as he has a save percentage of 68.4% compared to the league average keeper at 71%.

Perhaps a reason for Bendik having a slightly below average save percentage is because he has been part of a team that has allowed 106 shots against--fourth highest in the league--while also facing 38 shots on goal, the fifth highest in MLS. That type of pressure on any keeper would be daunting and is even further explained when looking at Nick Rimando, arguably the best MLS keeper, who has a current save percentage of 66.7%.

Bendik has also been part of a club that is allowing an above average amount of shots within the penalty area, as seen by his 2.6 saves per 90 minutes in the penalty area. The league average is two per 90. This again speaks to the amount of pressure and the difficult situations that Orlando is currently putting its keeper in.

Overall, Joe has been playing well as of late and many could make the point that on most of the goals Orlando has let in this year Bendik could not have done any better. However, a point to be made here is that if Orlando does not improve on not only pressuring teams when they have the ability to shoot but also closing down space in the penalty area. It doesn't matter if Orlando has Joe Bendik or Manuel Neuer in goal, because this type of pressure will make anything leak.

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