VANCOUVER — Goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau sees himself as part of a bright future for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The 25-year-old from Candiac, Que., cemented the vision on Tuesday, signing a new contract that will see him play with the club through the 2022 Major League Soccer season, with an option for 2023.
"I want to be part of something better here," Crepeau said after training on Tuesday.
"It's going to take time, of course. We know it, we've seen it. We're not at the place where we want to be and we've dropped points where we shouldn't. But it's the first (part) of a process to build something."
The Whitecaps acquired Crepeau from the Montreal Impact, where he played sparingly, in a December trade.
Crepeau made just three appearances for the Impact in 2017 but had a breakout season in 2018 when loaned to the United Soccer League's Ottawa Fury. He won goalkeeper of the year honours while setting a USL single-season record with 15 shutouts in 31 appearances.
This year, the 'keeper has been a rare bright spot in a disappointing season for the 'Caps (4-11-9).
He's made 18 appearances since joining the club, collecting four clean sheets and posting a 4-8-6 record. His 4.06 saves per game are second among goalkeepers with 15 or more starts, and his 70.9 save percentage is tied for sixth in MLS.
Crepeau also earned back-to-back MLS Team of the Week honours in Week 11 and Week 12.
The performance comes as no surprise to Whitecaps coach Marc Dos Santos.
"He arrived in a mentality of 'This is my big chance, I have to take it," he said. "Normally goalkeepers don't show a lot when it's difficult or it goes in a very negative spiral. And he's stayed on course, he's given his best. … He deserves this extension."
Crepeau and the coach have a long history, stretching back to when the goalkeeper was 15 and Dos Santos first invited him to train with the Impact, then of the USL.
Even then the young athlete showed potential, Dos Santos said.
"He was already showing commitment, passion. He had a dream and he fought for it," he said.
Having an established relationship with the coach helped Crepeau adjust to his new role in Vancouver.
"We've known each other since I was a kid. He was the first coach to bring me to first-team training. So coming in here with familiar faces and people that I know have values and how they work, it's been great," he said. "It's one of the big parts of why I'm here as well — they believed in me."
The Whitecaps have been in rebuild mode since the off-season, bringing in Dos Santos as coach and entirely revamping the team's roster.
While the change has been difficult at times, Dos Santos said young players like Crepeau are part of a core that could give the club stability in the future.
"We have a very good goalkeeper in Max," he said. "We wanted to have him here for a longer term because of his age. We liked what he showed until now and we're comfortable with him being one day one of the very good goalkeepers in MLS."
Still, Crepeau believes he has a long way to go in establishing his career.
"At the end of the day, it's my first year as a starting goalkeeper in this league so I've proved nothing so far," he said. "I just need to keep going years after years after years, weekends after weekends, just show up and do what I do best."
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
