OKLAHOMA CITY (April 2, 2021) – Anthony Trabichet's goalkeeping numbers speak for themselves. He leads NCAA Division II men's soccer with 49 saves. His 7.0 saves per game is tied for fourth in Division II. He has eight career games with double-digit saves. 
 
Trabichet, an Oklahoma Christian junior from Amphion, France, ranks among the top goalkeepers, not just in the Lone Star Conference, but all of Division II.
 
Trabichet started playing soccer at a young age for a club team in his home city. He said he fell in love with soccer, because of the opportunity to play with his friends.
 
"Most of them in the afternoon were at the (soccer) club playing, and I was at home bored, so I wanted to join them as well," Trabichet said.
 
As a young boy playing club soccer, he played every position, because the club played a 5-vs.-5 format, with everyone switching positions. Trabichet said he started playing goalkeeper when he was around nine years old, because his coach told him "he was not good at playing with his feet."
 
"I was okay with the change, and I wanted to give it a shot," Trabichet said. "A couple of years later, I asked my coach to return to playing on the field, and he told me no. He said it was better for me and my future to stay in the goal. It's like he already knew, so I stayed, and I got better and better."
 
When Trabichet was 12 years old, he started getting noticed for his talent and skill set. He decided to transfer to a professional soccer academy, Thonon Evian Savoie FC, which was playing in France's 3rd Division at the top level. He played in the pre-formation league there, and then began playing for the real academy and club from the ages of 15-19.
 
At 15, Trabichet helped guide his club to winning the National Cup.
 
"It was tough, because our club contained a lot of players from all over France," Trabichet said. "Every weekend, we played big games against the best academies in France. That was tough, but it was also the best time of my life."  
 
For the next three years, Thonon Evian Savoie FC competed at the highest level in France, the National Championship. Trabichet started in the goal for the club for three consecutive years.
 
Despite his father's initial negative feelings towards soccer, Trabichet said his parents supported him at every single one of his games and always supported his dreams of moving to the United States.
 
"My dad didn't want me to play soccer at first," Trabichet said. "Soccer has a different reputation in France. It's more of a street sport. Sometimes you have a lot of fights and arguing, and he thought it would be the same for me, even at a young age. After I started playing, they came to pretty much every single game, especially every home game."
 
Trabichet turned 19 years old, and his club only had under-19 age-group options for playing, because it was going through bankruptcy. For a year, Trabichet studied at a university in France before deciding he wanted to continue his studies and soccer career in the U.S. He said OC coach David Scott was the first to offer him the opportunity.
 
Scott said Trabichet's technique and athleticism stood out on the recruiting videos and he knew Trabichet would be a great asset to the Eagle program.
 
"From his video, we could tell he was a very good goalkeeper," Scott said. "I spoke with the recruiting service about him, and they spoke very highly of him – as a player, as a person and as a student. I got in contact with Anthony and could tell he was very focused on both his academic career, his desire to pursue a degree and his desire to improve as a player."
 
On his way to becoming one of the best goalkeepers in Division II, Scott said Trabichet has worked hard to make some amazing saves.
 
"Anthony reads the game extremely well, so his positioning is very good," Scott said. "In addition, his technique and athleticism are very high, which enables him to cover a lot of ground and make some unbelievable saves."
 
Trabichet said he had never been to the U.S, but he felt it was meant to be when he got the offer from Scott to play at OC.
 
"I just played a lot of NBA 2K," Trabichet said, "and my team was always the Oklahoma City Thunder, so I thought 'Okay, maybe that was a sign.'"
 
In 2018, Trabichet made his collegiate debut against Southwest Baptist (Mo.), recording a shutout and two saves. In his Heartland Conference debut against Newman (Kan.), Trabichet recorded another shutout and 11 saves.

As a freshman, he earned All-Heartland third-team honors, and he was a third-team All-LSC pick as a sophomore during the 2019 season.
 
This season, Trabichet and the Eagles have dealt with different difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing their season to be moved from the fall to the spring and players having to go through extended stints of quarantine.

Nevertheless, Trabichet and the Eagles staged an impressive 2-1 win over longtime Division II power Midwestern State (Texas) at home on March 6. Trabichet recorded 10 saves in the Eagles' first win over the Mustangs in program history (dating back to 1988).
 
Trabichet said the game against Midwestern State was the most memorable game of his career as an Eagle.
 
"We had never won against them, so that was a huge game for us," Trabichet said. "It was crazy."
 
Trabichet followed his performance against Midwestern State with 11 saves against Texas A&M International. After those two double-digit save performances, Trabichet was named as the Lone Star Conference Goalkeeper of the Week, the fourth weekly conference honor in his career.
 
Trabichet currently studies Mechanical Engineering at OC and plans to work on a master's degree after graduating.