John Berner Officially Signs With Rapids

At the start of the off-season, the goalkeeper situation was murky for the Colorado Rapids. We knew Clint Irwin was going to stick around, but Steward Ceus looked to be gone and Matt Pickens seemed to be getting paid too much to be a back-up in MLS. Almost immediately, Ceus was let go, and Pickens has been trialing with Bob Bradley's team in Norway.

With the two of them essentially gone, the Rapids had two goalkeeper slots to fill, and they finished off their new squad between the sticks on Tuesday when they signed second-round draft pick John Berner. (The other vacant spot was taken by former Atlanta Silverbacks goalkeeper Joe Nasco, who signed for the Rapids a couple of days back.)

The former Southern Illinois University Edwardsville starter will likely start the season as the third goalkeeper on the squad, with the Irwin obviously being the starter and the more experienced Nasco likely acting as the backup.