Atlanta United 2 took on regional rival Crown Legacy on Friday night at Fifth-Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, and despite being on the unfortunate end of a 1-0 scoreline, the Two Spikes played some entertaining, chance-creating football. The likes of Javier Armas, Nick Firmino, Jacob Williams (in his start against his former club) and plenty of others had solid games, with the lone Crown Legacy goal in the dying seconds being best described as “unlucky” and nothing more. But it was goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert who kept Atlanta United 2 alive throughout the match, especially in the few moments where it felt a Crown Legacy goal was imminent.
“It’s really the training environment where I get the work in day-in and day-out so I can step on the field and have that extreme confidence to make some saves,” said Hibbert in the post match press conference. “[The goal] was super unfortunate because there wasn’t a second in the game where I thought we were going to lose the game. It felt like a slow play, a slow build up and y’know, the guy is in the perfect spot at the perfect time. I thought we had some chances that needed to be finished but it’s another one to reflect on and move forward.”
An outsider looking in will quickly notice Hibbert’s calmness in goal, and his patience and lack of fear in inviting in pressure from opposition attackers. His shot stopping ability is solid, and his distribution is both clean and intelligent. Finally, his communication – often a focus of improvement for young goalkeepers – is distinct and obvious in how he commands his box. Each of these traits were on display against Crown Legacy, though the young keeper has been consistent in each of his appearances all season.
Jayden praised the entire Atlanta United goalkeeping corp and staff, shouting out the 2’s goalkeeper coach Lewis Sharpe and the influence he’s had on improving Hibbert as a player so quickly. He also mentioned his time studying under “legend” Brad Guzan, the lessons imparted by Josh Cohen from his time in Champion’s League playing against players like Mbappe, and the daily instruction from Quentin Westberg and John Berner.
“Something that’s stuck with me is “Q” (Westberg). He comes into training 100% focused on everything and two-touch and passing and just really having that finite detail. Because in game y’know I might touch the ball one time and I have to be focused on that moment, if I mess it up it’s a goal. So in training it’s literally every single little detail you just gotta be focused, and trying to get into training with that 100% mindset so it transfers to the game.”
Hibbert, only 19, joined Atlanta United as the 19th overall pick in the 2024 Superdraft after playing two years at UCONN. However, he just recently reached another massive milestone in his young career when he received his Jamaica national team call-up for World Cup Qualifiers against the Dominican Republic on June 6th and Dominica on June 9th. It’s clear his work rate is paying dividends, and while his overall skills between the sticks are constantly improving, most folks can plainly see that he has tons of unlocked talent and potential.
“I found out a couple of days ago and I was ecstatic,” said Hibbert. “A call-up like this is unforgettable, even the opportunity, the thought, to qualify for the World Cup at 19 is ridiculous to fathom. Super appreciative to the staff at Atlanta for developing me in such a short time so I could get that look in the first place.”
Hibbert will become an Atlanta United first team player effective January 1, 2025, looking to continue the same ascendancy he’s had throughout his college years and into his still-short professional development. The 2’s will be back in action on June 26th against Orlando City, but in the meantime Hibbert will be polishing his skills in national team camp with the Reggae Boyz. Congrats Jayden!
After a couple of months of training with the club and sitting behind Berner, Hibbert has shown that the 2s are his team. Looking back at our post-draft coverage and analysis, he looks to be everything we hoped he would be. In the Zoom call right after the draft, he told us (the media) that he was ready to be a sponge, to learn everything he could from Guzan, Westburg, and Cohen. He has done exactly that and has already realized one of the dreams he shared with us on the call, to play for the Jamaican National Team.
As a player, he continues to improve at finding his passes off the throw or the dribble. He still has fantastic athleticism, strong shot-stopping ability, and does a good job organizing his defenders. We thought he was going to get a lot more time with Cobb and Morales. That hasn’t really happened due to first-team injuries and exceptional play by the young Homegrown duo keeping them in Coach Pineda’s lineup, but that’s a good problem to have.
Overall, his timeline remains an automatic promotion to a first-team contract on the Supplemental Roster in 2025 and likely a shot at the starting job in 2026 or 2027 depending upon where the club is with Cohen.
All of a sudden, our CBs and GKs look very deep for several years to come. With Cohen and Hibbert as your main two in 2025 and the chance of Westburg returning as the backup/coach, the club can take all of the time they need to allow academy standouts Jonathan Ransom and James Donaldson to progress through the system. The club will also have college prospects Owen Barnett, Kyle Jansen, and Nash Skoglund as potential options to return. This position also becomes immensely cheaper on the payroll as Hibbert and Westburg would not likely count against the cap as Supplement Roster players and Cohen only counts about $300k against the cap.
This was a great read, thanks!