Travis Worra is picking up with the Richmond Kickers where his D.C. United goalkeeping predecessors left off. He’s doing it with flair, too.
Last weekend Worra helped seal the Kickers’ first win of the season, a 3-0 defeat of the Wilmington Hammerheads, with a 79th-minute penalty kick save on Sunny Jane. But it was more than the save itself that could forever endear Worra to the Kickers faithful.
The 22-year-old rookie launched himself to his right, parried Jane’s shot, then hoisted himself back up with an emphatic double fist pump. After the sequence concluded and the ball made its way harmlessly out of bounds, Worra skipped toward the Kickers fans to his left with a scream and another pair of fist pumps.
“He guesses right, and it was a great save,” said United teammate Jalen Robinson. “But I think his reaction was better than the save. He actually celebrated with the fans.”
Worra, Robinson and Luke Mishu are on loan with the Kickers for the USL season. They share an apartment before games and travel back and forth together from D.C.
Prior to the penalty kick, Worra and Robinson conferred over what Jane might do. Worra eventually figured it out without help.
“I had a strong feeling of where he was going to go before he even took it, just the way he set the ball down,” Worra said. “I have a couple different tells, and everything was saying he was going to open up to my right side. As he was running up, I was like yeah, he’s going to go that way. I got a good jump, got a hand, and fortunately, it kissed the post on the right side and went out.”
Like Andrew Dykstra and Joe Willis before him, Worra is looking to benefit from the game experience.
It was the first penalty he’d faced and saved since his sophomore year at the University of New Hampshire.
While he was much calmer then, he felt the need to acknowledge the supporters who’d been cheering him on throughout the game.
“Even just a simple play, like catching a cross, they were happy about, and I could hear that,” Worra said. “I wanted to do it for them and the team. It was kind of like giving it back to them, a thank you for helping me out.”
