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Bridgeview, Ill. • It's not easy being a backup keeper. Kyle Reynish has been that to Nick Rimando for six seasons now. With Rimando nursing a minor shoulder injury, Reynish made just his fifth career start in league play Wednesday night against the Chicago Fire and kept a clean sheet in a scoreless draw.
It almost didn't happen when, in the fourth minute, Chicago's Dominic Oduro headed a cross off the crossbar.
"Obviously as a goalie, sometimes you need a little help from your posts," said Reynish. "We had a little bit of a breakdown to let him get that open on that one. As a goalie, sometimes [the posts] help you out and sometimes they go in off them. We caught a break on that, but outside of that, the defense did a pretty good job of keeping them off me for the rest of the time."
Reynish, who was playing in front of family in Bridgeview, Ill., only had to make two saves on the night and never really had to do anything spectacular on either. Still, he remains unbeaten in his five career starts (1-0-4 in league play) and was excited to get some minutes.
"It's tough being behind Nick [Rimando], but whenever I can come in and help and especially get the team a point, it always is a good feeling. It's a long season, and those points add up."
RSL coach Jason Kreis praised Reynish on his performance.
"He was good. I don't think he had to make too many incredible stops, but when he was called upon, he made them. I'm really pleased for him. He's given an opportunity and he takes advantage of it."
And Reynish did indeed take advantage of the opportunity, helping earn his team a vital point on the road.