Matt Freese has had time to prepare for this moment.

The New York City FC goalkeeper is ready to start Sunday’s Eastern Conference Semifinal at the Philadelphia Union (7:45 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV). He's had days to study film, to evaluate tendencies, to arrange his thoughts.

It’s quite a contrast from the last Audi MLS Cup Playoffs game he played at Subaru Park.

Against the very NYCFC team he now represents, Freese was pressed into a surprise start for Philadelphia during the 2021 Eastern Conference Final. Andre Blake was one of six typical starters and 11 players on the squad who were unavailable because of COVID-19 protocols.

Freese became the first homegrown Union goalkeeper to start a playoff match, making a trio of saves but conceding twice after the hour mark in a 2-1 win that put NYCFC into the MLS Cup final, which they ultimately won over the Portland Timbers.

“Obviously, I found out only a day or two before that I'd be playing in the game,” he told MLSsoccer.com Friday. “It was quite new to me to play. I had only had 10 games, maximum, before then. It was unexpected. In big games when you're younger, potentially that's almost the best way to have it happen. You don't have too much time to think.

“Now, I’m in a very different scenario and much more comfortable with big moments and actually very excited by big moments. It’s exciting to kind of see the mindset change and the composure change in these big moments over these last four years for me.”

USMNT emergence

Now, Freese goes into matches with the confidence of a veteran shot-stopper who knows his team will rely on him. He became NYCFC’s regular starter in 2024, playing all 34 regular-season matches and four playoff games to boot.

And while Freese will be focused heading into Sunday’s match, he's had other things to think about since back-stopping NYCFC past Charlotte FC in a Round One Best-of-3 Series. The 27-year-old started both US men’s national team matches in the November international window, as he has every USMNT game since the beginning of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.

In the fall, that's meant balancing NYCFC’s playoff push and postseason run with the intricacies that come with an international break – not only studying a group of shooters who may be unfamiliar, but also working with the back line to gain chemistry that will prove critical at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“The transition between international and club soccer is a necessary transition that you have to make very quickly. But it's a transition that is a huge honor,” he said. “The only reason it's happening is because you're getting called into the national team and an important part of your club team. So, to have both of those together is a massive honor.

“It's up to me to stick to my routine and try to maximize every opportunity that comes my way and continue to put the team before myself.”

Road warriors

Freese knows Subaru Park and the Philadelphia area, having just had a homecoming game in the United States’ 2-1 win there over Paraguay on Nov. 15. But his teammates also are feeling increasingly comfortable away from the Bronx.

Pascal Jansen’s squad picked up 23 road points during the regular season and took a huge confidence boost from two Round One wins at Charlotte, who earned a league-high 13 home wins entering the postseason.

“Playing away from home used to be a challenge for us, but I think we've grown a lot this year. Pascal has done such a great job helping us grow in that way as a team,” Freese said.

“Obviously, we've taken that challenge on and shown that we can beat the best teams in the league on the road, and there's no reason that this should be any different.”

"Never satisfied"

In a year in which he has become the USMNT No. 1 and helped push the Pigeons back to the Conference Semifinals, Freese is still searching for more to declare 2025 a success. Winning MLS Cup on Dec. 6 remains the goal, though he unsurprisingly emphasized having a process as a way to reach the top prize.

“It’s certainly been a year with a lot of growth and a lot of opportunity for me and, for that, I'm really grateful. But I'm someone that's never satisfied and really never content,” he said. “Each new challenge that comes, this now being the Eastern Conference Semifinal, I'm dedicated and eager to take that challenge on and conquer it.

“Then, get to the Eastern Conference Final and take it from there. But obviously it's one game at a time right now.”

A game that will be another chance for Freese to show how much he’s developed since his last playoff contest in Chester, and demonstrate he’s prepared for this moment.