Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston said that he wanted to shake things up for Sunday's match against Kansas City. He put goalkeeper Sam Reynolds in the starting lineup for his professional debut, and the youngster made plenty of waves with the start, helping TFC claim a 1-1 draw.
"He's been sitting on benches. He's been flying across the country sitting on benches hoping to get a chance," Johnston said.
Reynolds isn't even a permanent member of Toronto FC. A pool goalkeeper who is signed by the league, he is assigned to the team that needs him because of "extreme hardship."
TFC were seeing some hardship with starting goalkeeper Greg Sutton out with a head injury. After backup Srdjan Djekanovic started the last four games for TFC, Johnston gave Reynolds the nod to start against the Wizards.
Reynolds stopped six of seven Wizards shots on goal, out of 25 total shots the Wizards took, including three saves in second-half stoppage time that showed the goalkeeper's potential.
"I was confident. Every time I looked up everybody in front of me were in good positions making plays," Reynolds said. "Guys at the top, Danny (Dichio) and Jeff (Cunningham) were chasing the ball around like mad making plays. The midfielders were making plays and the guys are solid in the back.
The 26-year-old Reynolds last saw regular action in 2004, his final season at Cal State Fullerton. He was a backup for the USL First Division (second tier) Portland Timbers in 2005, but didn't make a single appearance. He saw action in a few games in the MLS Reserve Division for Chivas USA last year.
Reynolds downplayed his role, as most goalkeepers do. He was willing to give credit to the entire team, and single out a defensive play as the deciding factor in a match. He lavished praise on the Wizards too, wanting to spread around accolades.
Andrew Boyens was ejected in the 76th minute after receiving a second yellow card, putting more pressure on the TFC defense. To help stem the tide, midfielder Andy Welsh and defender Marco Reda were brought on for attackers Dichio and Collin Samuel. Welsh was able to get a foot in on Wizards substitute Yura Movsisyan and snuff out one of the chances he had over the second half.
"We just kind of left Andy out to dry on one play, and he made the play he had to make. It turned out to be the difference in the game and we got out of it with a point," Reynolds said.
One of the TFC players that deserved accolades was midfielder Ronnie O'Brien. O'Brien set up TFC's only goal, sending in a beautiful cross that hung in the air before it was headed in by Dichio in the 46th minute. O'Brien also had several chances in the first half. But none of those chances found the net.
"Ronnie is always going to be a threat," Johnston said. "He was unlucky on a couple of efforts in the second half."
TFC's luck changed with Dichio's goal in the first minute of the second half, and it held through going a man down and a remarkable performance from someone playing in an MLS game for the first time. Maybe it was Johnston's halftime talk.
"I challenged them for the second half, because I thought we should have come in even or ahead," Johnston said.
Thomas Foote is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
