Cavalry Announces Goalkeeper Coach Change-Up

Cavalry’s consistency between the sticks has kept them in many a match, though the goalkeeper coach behind that mission is now set to take his next steps elsewhere.

Having served with Cavalry since day one, Jordan Santiago now departs for a new opportunity, with Jake Davis stepping in as his replacement.

Hometown coach Santiago had helped Marco Carducci collect two Golden Glove awards, having once even rode the bench for Cavalry as an emergency selection himself. After four-and-a-half seasons in Alberta, however, he’s off to the next adventure.

The outbound coach had signed for the likes of Cardiff City and SC Veendam in a playing career that was cut short by a transition to coaching: at just 21, he began working with the West Ham U-16 team and returned to hometown Calgary to pursue an education, starting his own coaching business in the process.

He joined Tommy Wheeldon Jr. at the Calgary Foothills preceding the launch of Cavalry FC, and the rest is history. Beyond the obvious in Marco Carducci, Santiago has coached numerous goalkeepers who have now established themselves as starters around the league: Niko Giantsopoulos is in his second season as York United’s top pick, while Nathan Ingham is doing the same with Atletico Ottawa.

In his stead, former Houston Dynamo FC Academy goalkeeper coach Jake Davis will step in at Spruce Meadows. A former assistant manager and goalkeeper coach of the USL’s Hartford Athletic, he brings a unique blend of coaching capabilities to the role.

“The ambitions of the club align with mine and I am very proud and grateful to be here working with Cavalry,” said Davis himself. “Coming here was such an easy decision for me to make and I cannot wait to work with one of the most exciting goalkeeping units in the country and to get started with our goalkeepers.”

The goalkeeper unit he’s now charged with sees Marco Carducci in the midst of an iron man campaign, donning the armband for the club after committing to a new three-year deal. The club has leaned young behind him, with Sterling Kerr and Joseph Holliday still waiting for their first senior minutes with the club.

Header Image Photo Credit: Cavalry FC