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The Chicago Fire have found a new back up to Sean Johnson. As rumored earlier in the week, the Fire have signed goalkeeper Kyle Reynish from the New York Cosmos. The Fire have been searching for a back up to Johnson since parting ways with Italian international Paolo Tornaghi.
Per the official press release, Reynish is coming off a very successful season in the NASL:
Reynish was awarded the 2013 North American Soccer League (NASL) Golden Glove award after recording a 0.92 GAA during the regular season, starting and playing 13 games, earning an 8-4-1 record and tallying five shutouts as the Cosmos finished first in the NASL Fall Season standings. Reynish preserved the clean sheet as the Cosmos defeated to Atlanta Silverbacks 1-0 to capture the 2013 Soccer Bowl
With Johnson likely going away to Brazil for the World Cup during the summer, Reynish is going to play a pivotal role for the Fire in the upcoming season.
This is not Reynish's first stint in Major League Soccer. Reynish was drafted by Real Salt Lake in 2007. Unfortunately, that was the same year that Salt Lake acquired Nick Rimando. After six years in Salt Lake, Reynish had only seen eight appearances.
Reynish could also be playing a pivotal role with the Fire beyond this season. After being a back up for six years in MLS, one big motivating factor for him to leave a starting job with the Cosmos and return to MLS as backup is the possibility of an eventual starting job. 2014 is likely to be Sean Johnson's last year with the Fire, and if all goes well, Reynish could be his successor.
