The Houston Dynamo have signed Rio Grande Valley FC goalkeeper Callum Irving to a Short Term Agreement due to extreme hardship. The agreement was signed prior to yesterday’s MLS roster freeze deadline and Irving is eligible for selection for tomorrow’s game at Real Salt Lake (8:30 p.m. CDT; KUBE 57).
Irving joins the Dynamo for tomorrow’s game following injuries to goalkeepers Calle Brown and Tyler Deric. Brown suffered a concussion in practice on September 5 and Deric is recovering from a left elbow sprain suffered on August 21 while on loan to Rio Grande Valley FC. With Irving and Joe Willis, the Dynamo now have two available goalkeepers for tomorrow’s game. Willis has started nine consecutive games and made 17 appearances this season.
Per MLS roster rules and regulations, Clubs may add players to their roster in cases of “Extreme Hardship.” Extreme Hardship exists when an MLS club has fewer than 15 total players available or when an MLS club with three goalkeepers on its roster, has fewer than two goalkeepers available. A Short Term Agreement allows Clubs to sign players, 25-years-old or younger, from their USL affiliate (on loan) for a four-day contract for MLS league season games only in cases of Extreme Hardship.
Irving, 23, has eight shutouts in 14 appearances with Rio Grande Valley FC in 2016, his first professional season. The Vancouver, British Columbia native has allowed just nine goals this season (0.65 goals against average). He was named first-team NSCAA All-America and first-team Scholar All-America in 2015, the first University of Kentucky player to earn first-team All-America honors. He is a product of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy (2007-12) and a veteran of Canada’s youth national teams. Irving earned his first call up to the Canada men’s national team in January and was an unused substitute in a 1-0 U.S. win.
The Dynamo visit Real Salt Lake at 8:30 p.m. CDT tomorrow at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. The match will air on KUBE 57 (channel guide), with pregame set for 8 p.m.
Transaction: Dynamo sign Rio Grande Valley FC goalkeeper Callum Irving to a Short Term Agreement due to extreme hardship on September 16, 2016.
