Just a few weeks after acquiring former Rapids keeper Matt Pickens and then selling him to the NASL's Tampa Bay Rowdies, the New England Revolution have reportedly signed another goalkeeper.
According to Palo Alto Online, the Revs have signed former Santa Clara University keeper Larry Jackson. There is no official word from the team or league about the signing.
Jackson was an undrafted rookie last year and spent some time on the Colorado Rapids roster before trialing with Chivas USA this preseason, and even featured against the Revs, allowing two goals.
According to the Palo Alto article, Jackson, a native of East Palo Alto, was named the 2012 West Coast Conference Goalie of the Year at Santa Clara and to the 2012 Continental Tires NSCAA All-Far West Region Third Team. His senior year, Jackson played and started in 18 of SCU's 19 games, posting an 8-2-1 record in league play. He led the WCC with a 0.70 goals against average and six shutouts in league play in 2012. Logging nearly 1,700 minutes, he had 60 saves his senior year and led the team to an 11-5-1 record with seven shutouts.
The crack TBM research team, Seth Macomber, dug up a few interesting nuggets about Jackson. Last year he was the undergraduate assistant coach at Santa Clara which featured former Rev Ryan Cochrane on the staff as well. Jackson also had stints with FC Tuson and the Des Moines Menace both members of the USL PDL. Jackson was also listed as the 9th best keeper in this 2013 MLS SuperDraft mock draft. Luis Soffner, the Revs current third keeper on loan at Rochester was 2nd on that list.
Bobby Shuttleworth's form and perceived role as the starter aside, this brings up possibly more questions than the Pickens signing. Pickens is an established MLS veteran, and he could have been signed to take over the starting role before he was sold. With Shuttleworth and Brad Knighton as the regular match day keepers and Soffner in Rochester, there is probably zero chance Jackson will get any first team minutes barring an injury crisis and/or being loaned to Rochester.
Another question that was asked when Pickens was signed is why the Revs are adding goalkeepers to the depth chart with holes at defensive midfielder and a strikers corps that has struggled to find its form in 2014. GM Mike Burns was on an international scouting trip recently but as of now there is no news to report on any players that trip might have discovered.
We'll see if the team announces this move officially in the coming days.