Seitz, 22, played college soccer at the University of Maryland, winning the NCAA national championship as a freshman in 2005 (13-1-2, 0.89 GAA). He was originally selected by RSL with the 4th-overall pick in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft and has functioned primarily as a back-up to veteran 'keeper Nick Rimando since then, making just seven appearances over three seasons (1-4-2, 1.86 GAA). Unable to gain much playing time while stuck behind Rimando on the depth chart, Seitz was loaned out to a pair of USL teams in the most recent season, making a total of three appearances for the Cleveland City Stars and Portland Timbers.
"Firstly, we would like to thank Chris for his three years of exemplary service on behalf of Real Salt Lake and wish him all the best on this next step in his career," said RSL general manager Garth Lagerwey. "His professionalism and tremendous talent made this a very difficult move for us to make, however, we felt it was time to do right by Chris and allow him this opportunity to achieve a starting position within Major League Soccer. With the trade also giving our Technical Staff added resources to improve our roster this offseason, we believe the deal is a win for both sides."
Internationally, Seitz has made several appearances for the United States' U-20 and U-23 teams, helping the latter qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics. He has also been called into camp by national team head coach Bob Bradley several times but has yet to earn his first cap with the senior team.
It should be noted that Philadelphia used one of their ten expansion draft picks on New England Revolution backup 'keeper Brad Knighton. By acquiring Seitz, the Union could try to trade Knighton back to the Revs in a situation similar to when Toronto FC used one of their expansion picks on then-RSL forward Jason Kreis, only to turn around and trade the player back to Salt Lake in exchange for a partial allocation.
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