The Philadelphia Union announced today that they have signed backup Carolina RailHawks Goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre on a short-term loan as well as MLS pool goalkeeper Trey Mitchell. Sylvestre will start on Saturday against Vancouver while Mitchell will be the backup for the Union.
“We have evaluated all of our options and feel that Brian gives us the best opportunity to get a result in Vancouver,” Chris Albright, Union technical director, said in a Union press release.
Sylvestre, 22, was originally a Homegrown player for the Vancouver back in 2010, but did not log any minutes for them. More recently, Sylvestre was a part of the Union affiliate Harrisburg City Islanders from 2013-2014 and joined the RailHawks this season.
Internationally, Sylvestre was a part of the Under-18 United States Men's National Team player pool as well as started a game for the Under-20 USMNT against France.
To Philadelphia Union fans, Sylvestre may look very familiar. He was the opposing goalkeeper against the Union for Harrisburg City Islanders, where he faced 13 shots on target and almost led Harrisburg City to a victory but the fell due to some overtime heroics by Andrew Wenger.
Interestingly, Union goalkeeper Rais M'Bolhi, who rejoined the team this week after a month-long sabbatical, did not travel with the team. This note leads to some speculation that his days in a Union jersey are over. On the M'Bolhi matter, Albright was later quoted in the press release saying, "Rais remains a member of the Philadelphia Union and we will continue to evaluate all options in the best interest of the club.”