Given the manner in which the 2025 USL Championship Playoffs played out, it was hardly a surprise that in the end a shootout was needed to separate Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC and FC Tulsa.

While Hounds goalkeeper Eric Dick claimed the Prinx MVP award as he delivered a key stop in the second round to lead the visitors to a 5-3 victory from the spot after an outstanding five-save shutout across regulation and extra time, he was in plenty of company from the goalkeeper’s union across both the Eastern and Western Conferences who ended up defining a postseason in which only 16 goals were scored in 15 games.

Here's a look at the numbers that sum up what November delivered.

19 – Across the 15 games in the postseason, the league’s goalkeepers recorded 19 shutouts, with Dick leading the way with four clean sheets in the Hounds’ run to the title, three of which went through extra time. Pittsburgh’s goalkeeper ended up outdueling Hartford Athletic’s Antony Siaha, Detroit City FC’s Carlos Saldaña and FC Tulsa’s Tyler Deric from the penalty spot, with the other three combining for six shutouts between them as seven goalkeepers posted shutouts overall.

81.8 – Across the postseason, the competing goalkeepers combined to record a save percentage of 81.8 percent, recording 72 saves on 88 shots on target. Three goalkeepers – Dick (15), Rhode Island FC’s Koke Vegas (10) and New Mexico United’s Kris Shakes (10) – recorded double-digit saves as each of their sides advanced to at least the Eastern and Western Conference Final.  

-7.75 – The 18 goalkeepers that saw action in the USL Championship Playoffs recorded a combined -7.75 Goals Prevented mark, allowing only 16 tallies on 23.75 Expected Goals on Target Conceded per Opta. While Dick led the way with a -2.29 Goals Prevented mark, 12 goalkeepers overall ended with numbers in the black, with Vegas ranking second at a -1.86 Goals Prevented mark, and Shakes sitting at -0.23 despite conceding the most goals (4) of any goalkeeper in the postseason.

104 – While the goalkeepers led the way, the defensive corps of each club did their part to deny scoring opportunities with 104 blocked shots out of 334 shots overall in the postseason, a 30.2 percent block rate. The postseason rate rose 4.4 percent compared to the regular season mark of 25.8 percent, with FC Tulsa’s Lamar Batista and New Mexico United’s Kalen Ryden leading all players with five blocks apiece.

5 – Including the USL Championship Final, there were five scoreless draws in the postseason, with both Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC and FC Tulsa becoming the first two finalists to end the postseason without having conceded a goal. In the prior 14 editions of the USL Championship Playoffs, there had been six scoreless draws total, and no more than one in each postseason in which they occurred.