As Andre Blake’s Gold Cup departure looms, his role in the Union’s unbeaten streak shouldn’t be overlooked

As Andre Blake turned a corner in the visitors’ locker room at Citi Field last week, something unusual came into view.

You wouldn’t have noticed from the stands, and perhaps not from recent television broadcasts either. But standing next to the Union’s veteran goalkeeper and vice captain, one couldn’t help asking: Were those soccer ball-shaped beads supporting Blake’s braids?

Yes, they were, he responded, and he didn’t just buy them at a store. They were finely crafted wood, and were a gift from the wife of former Union striker Cory Burke when the Union visited Burke’s New York Red Bulls a few weeks earlier.

“Gave me some good luck,” Blake said, after the seventh of what’s now eight straight regular-season games unbeaten.

But there hasn’t just been luck. In six games since that Red Bulls contest, Blake has made 16 saves and allowed just five goals. Three of the goals (plus a few penalty kicks) came in the U.S. Open Cup loss at Minnesota, where the Union played a rotated lineup.

» READ MORE: Why Andre Blake is the most important player in Union history

The lighthearted moment in Queens came after Blake made six saves in the latest Union-New York City FC grudge match. He also showed off his improved distribution skills with a long throw to José Andrés Martínez that launched the team’s second goal.

All of these moments were the latest reminders of Burke’s importance to the Union on and off the field. Burke would know as well as anyone, being a fellow Jamaican who grew from an unknown reserve to a national team striker playing with Blake in Chester.

So would Union manager Jim Curtin, one of the only people who’s been with the team since before Blake was drafted in 2014.

“We all know how great of a shot-stopper he is, how great he is on crosses,” Curtin said. “But with his feet now and the distribution, [goalkeeper coach] Phil Wheddon and him do a great job of trying to add a layer each game. ... These balls that he clips to the sidelines that give us outs, and he stays composed, [they] are huge and they can start your attack.”

Now the calendar has turned to June, and that brings another reminder. It won’t be long before Blake leaves the Union to backstop Jamaica in the Concacaf Gold Cup. Jamaica opens up the tournament against the United States in Chicago on June 24.

» READ MORE: Jason Kelce almost broke the Union’s drum mallet — then chugged a beer — at their latest game

Blake has two games left with the Union before heading to national team duty: Saturday vs. CF Montreal (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, free) and June 10 at San Jose. The Gold Cup runs until July 16, and Jamaica should make a deep run.

“We lose the best goalkeeper that our league has, so it’ll be an opportunity for somebody else to step up,” Curtin said, with veteran Joe Bendik and rookie Holden Trent as the candidates. “We’re trying to get them minutes now with Union II and see them in real games. They’re both doing a good job in training and competing for that position.”

When Blake missed three games after suffering a groin injury during the March 11 game vs. Chicago, Bendik got all the minutes. Trent has played four games for the Union’s reserve squad this year, but no minutes for the first team.

“It’s an open competition,” Curtin said. “We’re going to have to be a little bit stronger defensively as a group, and find ways to maximize points in the middle of the summer.”

» READ MORE: The Union’s Leon Flach is playing better lately. Here’s why.

MLS is only scaling back its schedule for the Nations League final four from June 15-18. Teams with players on the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Panama squads can benefit from that. But the league will charge right through the Gold Cup, even though Jamaica, Costa Rica, and other countries not in the Nations League quartet feature several MLS players.

Blake and Damion Lowe were named Thursday to the preliminary list of 60 players from which the Reggae Boyz’ tournament squad will be picked, and both are locks to make it. (Fortunately for the Union, those are their only players on any nation’s list.)

The Gold Cup is undoubtedly on Blake and Lowe’s minds, and it should be. Jamaica flubbed an all-time chance to top Mexico in their Nations League group, and failed to qualify for last fall’s World Cup after a disastrous start to qualifying.

» READ MORE: Folarin Balogun, Medford’s Brenden Aaronson highlight USMNT roster for Nations League

There’s plenty to do before Blake leaves, starting with Saturday’s shot at extending the Union’s regular-season unbeaten streak to nine games. Expect to see substantial lineup changes after Curtin picked the same starters last Saturday and Wednesday, and deployed the same 3-5-2 formation.

It especially matters to Blake that all three of his team’s available centerbacks played every minute of both games. Had the Union been able to run up a lead on Charlotte instead of winning 1-0, Curtin would have been able to get one of the centerbacks some rest.

“Whatever it is, we’re going to have to go out there and do it,” Blake said. “Last year and for the most part of this year, we’ve been playing four in the back, so whatever Jim wants, we adjust. I’m pretty sure he’s going to make the right decision, and whatever it is, we go out there and we do whatever we have to do — if we have to play three or five or four.”

» READ MORE: The Union’s José Andrés Martínez gets a multi-year contract extension