Win or lose, Harry Shipp is getting a ring this month.
Seven days after competing in Saturday’s MLS Cup against Toronto FC at BMO Field, Shipp will marry his fiancée, Maria, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Such is the life of an MLS player, where the window between the season – especially the MLS Cup – and preseason is astonishingly short.
“For us, we were planning it last December, I didn’t know what team I was going to playing on, whether it was with Montreal or somewhere new,” Shipp said. "Obviously for us, if we’re in MLS Cup, we knew it would be crazy.”
After getting engaged on December 8, 2016, Shipp was acquired by the Sounders in a trade with the Impact on December 22. Harry and Maria, who met during their freshman year at Notre Dame, made the cross-country move to Seattle.
Fast forward nearly 12 months and Shipp finds himself in just about the busiest week one could imagine.
“It’s going to be hectic, it’s going to be crazy,” Shipp said. “Hopefully we’re in a parade on Tuesday and then I am taking a red eye on Tuesday night to go there and get ready for it.”
After the wedding, though, life will slow down for the 26-year-old midfielder. Shipp, who had two goals and an assist in 18 league appearances this season, will honeymoon for two weeks in Australia before prepping for the 2018 campaign.
“We’re excited,” Shipp said. “We have never been there and it’s a great excuse to leave the country for two weeks and go somewhere that’s really far.”
As far as potentially getting two rings in a seven-day span, well, the lede to this story isn’t the first time that’s been mentioned.
“We’ve made that joke a couple times,” Shipp smiled.
