Zack Steffen

On May 29, 2013, Steffen was officially unveiled as part of Maryland's 2013 recruiting class. He made his collegiate debut on August 30, making three saves as part of a 3–3 draw with no. 20 Stanford. Steffen went on to play every minute of the Terrapins' 26 games, tallying a career-high seven saves in a 1–1 draw with Old Dominion on September 24. He brought his hot form into the postseason, making five saves to help Maryland win the 2013 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament and earning himself an All-Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman Team selection. In the 2013 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Steffen made 18 saves in the Terrapins' five matches, helping Maryland make a run to the national championship game; they fell there to Notre Dame by a 2–1 scoreline. He was named as the tournament's Most Outstanding Defensive Player and earned a spot on the College Cup All-Tournament Team. As Maryland transitioned to the Big Ten Conference in 2014, Steffen kept his place and again played every minute in goal for the Terrapins over their 22 matches. He conceded just 19 goals on the season, keeping nine shutouts as the Terrapins claimed the Big Ten regular season title in their first year in the conference. Steffen made nine saves in the 2014 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament, as well as two denials during a penalty shootout in the semifinals, and was tabbed as the tournament's Most Valuable Defensive Player. His last collegiate game, however, saw the Terrapins eliminated in…

Freiburg

Following his sophomore season at Maryland, Steffen departed the Terrapins and signed a professional contract with German club SC Freiburg. He arrived at the club midway through the 2014–15 season and was assigned to SC Freiburg II, the club's reserve team playing in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Südwest. Steffen was named to the bench twice for Freiburg II, but did not make his debut for the reserves until the following season. On August 1, 2015, Steffen debuted for the Freiburg reserves with a start against 1. FC Saarbrücken; he kept a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw. He earned his first victory with the side on September 26, marking his fifth appearance with a 2–0 victory over SV Saar 05 Saarbrücken. Steffen went on to make 14 appearances for Freiburg II during the 2015–16 season, although the club finished in 15th place in the Regionalliga Südwest and was relegated to the Oberliga. Ahead of the 2016–17 SC Freiburg season, Steffen was training with the senior team; reports out of Germany stated that he would be Freiburg's third-choice goalkeeper for the upcoming season, behind presumed starter Alexander Schwolow and Patric Klandt.

Columbus Crew

Loan to Pittsburgh Riverhounds

Steffen returned to the United States on July 22, 2016, signing with Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew as a Discovery Signing. Although he had previously played for the Union Academy, he had not logged enough training time with Philadelphia to qualify as a…

2012–2015: Youth level

Steffen was the starting goalkeeper for the United States under-20 side at the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship and the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. On June 10, 2015, his save on a penalty kick attempted by Jarlan Barrera helped the U.S. to an upset of Colombia in the Round of 16 of the World Cup. On May 16, 2016, Steffen received his first callup to the United States national team for a camp based in Puerto Rico. Steffen did not make an appearance, but in January 2018, he was called again into camp for a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina, against which he made his debut. He made his second appearance in a friendly against Paraguay, recording his first clean sheet in a 1–0 victory, on March 27, 2018, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. On June 9, 2018, at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon, Steffen notched seven saves against eventual 2018 FIFA World Cup champions France, including back-to-back saves in the dying seconds of stoppage time against Nabil Fekir and Ousmane Dembélé, as the United States drew France 1–1.

Born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Steffen began playing soccer at the age of five with local rec league West Bradford Youth Athletics (WBYA). He began his travel soccer career as a defender with local club West Chester United. He switched to become a goalkeeper at the age of 10 after his team's keeper couldn't make it to a game. He joined FC DELCO in 2008, playing for the club in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy through high school. Steffen attended Malvern Preparatory School for his freshman and sophomore years before transferring to Downingtown West High School, appearing for the Whippets in the fall and playing with DELCO in the spring. With Downingtown, he was named the Ches-Mont League MVP as a senior while earning all-PIAA and all-American honors. Steffen was one of the first players to come through the Philadelphia Union Academy, playing for the Union U17 team in 2012. He was part of the team that won the 2012 Generation Adidas Cup, defeating the Toronto FC Academy in a penalty shootout; the squad also included future pros Connor Maloney, Zach Pfeffer, Drew Skundrich, Brian White, and Zach Zandi, as well as future Penn State kicker Joey Julius, and was coached by Jim Curtin. Steffen was ranked as the no. 1 goalkeeper in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer.com and committed to play collegiately for coach Sasho Cirovski and the Maryland Terrapins, part of a class that ranked third nationally and also included Alex Crognale, Daniel Johnson, and Chris Odoi-Atsem.