Freese focused his research on the soccer field: While at Harvard, he did a paper on penalty-kick analytics. He left school after two years to sign with the Philadelphia Union, his hometown Major League Soccer team, in 2018. He struggled to adjust to professional life in his first 18 months as a pro. But working with Harvard professors to finish his degree remotely actually helped revive him on the field. Â
“Sometimes it can be difficult to keep a routine, keep a regimen that keeps you focused and keeps you hungry,” says Freese. “For me, taking classes was something that occupied my time, occupied my mind, and gave a very natural release off the field that I think at that age was necessary.” Freese earned his economics degree in 2022.Â
He was primarily a backup during his four seasons in Philadelphia, from 2019 through 2022. In January 2023, the Union traded him to New York City FC: he won the starting job at the end of that season. He didn’t receive his first national-team call-up until January 2025. Given the slow start to his pro career, a spot at the World Cup, never mind the starting nod, was far from preordained. “You work for the opportunity, but you never know if it’s going to come,” says Freese. “I learned probably nine years ago that the ones that work hard without the promise of reward are the ones that usually succeed.”
