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The offseason is kicking into gear. Yesterday, the sad news of a Jaylin Lindsey trade to Charlotte FC was announced. Today, Sporting Kansas City confirmed they have re-signed backup goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh for the 2022 season with an option for 2023.
McIntosh didn’t get on the field for Sporting KC in 2021, instead he was primarily the third keeper behind Tim Melia and Homegrown John Pulskamp. However, he did feature heavily in the USL Championship. He started and appeared in 13 games, one more than the aforementioned Pulskamp. He was second on the team in save percentage (59.7) behind Pulskamp and tied for the lead in clean sheets (3).
This will mark his second year in Sporting Blue after joining via the Re-Entry Draft following the 2020 season. He previously was signed with the New York Red Bulls and spent time with the Portland Timbers USL squad.
What Does it Mean for Sporting KC?
Presumably, it means they are done adding goalkeepers. They carried four keepers in 2021 but have since declined the option for Homegrown Brooks Thompson. The signing will give the first “veteran” keeper in a long time the chance to develop under the SKC system and learn from star keeper Tim Melia for longer than just one season.
It also allows the team to loan Pulskamp to the new MLS Next Pro team in 2022 to continue to get him minutes to develop. McIntosh and Pulskamp split time in the USL Championship pretty evenly in 2021, so it’ll be interesting to see if that continues or if McIntosh sits the bench behind Melia while Pulskamp (still just 20-years-old) gets the majority of the development minutes.
McIntosh is only 27, by no means old for a keeper. That was Tim Melia’s age when he joined SKC eight seasons ago. No pressure.
From the Archives
I’m personally happy for McIntosh. He seems like a good guy. I first met him at media day 2021 and I interviewed him with short-lived teammate Parker Siegfried. I never published it because of audio quality (some loud media folks around me). So forgive the quality, but I think there are some good answers in there.