Lineup will be tough nut to crack for Impact’s Bush

Evan Bush is part of a numbers game more so than any other player in the Impact’s lineup for the Major Soccer League.

Bush was named goalkeeper of the year in the North American Soccer League last season with the Impact, but now he’s behind No. 1 Donovan Ricketts and backup Greg Sutton.

“Donovan is our first goalkeeper,” head coach Jesse Marsch said. “after preseason, Greg established himself as the second goalkeeper, but we feel Evan is very close.

“I don’t really look at (goalkeeping) as a rotation of the three,” Marsch added. “We’re trying to keep three very good goalies sharp.”

Ricketts has started and played all 90 minutes of the Impact’s first two games. The 6-foot-5 Jamaican was acquired from the Los Angeles Galaxy on Nov. 28 in exchange for allocation money. The 34-year-old was named MLS ’keeper of the year in 2010 and won the MSL Cup that season with the Galaxy.

Sutton, a 6-foot-6 Hamilton native, who also is 34, began his second stint with the Impact midway through last season on loan from MLS’S New York Red Bulls. He played six seasons with Montreal from 2001 to 2006 before joining Toronto FC in 2007 for its first season in MLS.

The 23-year-old Bush, who is from Ohio, joined the Impact last season after spending 2010 with the NASL’S Crystal Palace Baltimore. He secured the starting job last year when fellow American Bill Gaudette went down with a season-ending injury.

The 6-foot-2 Bush allowed only 14 goals in 19 games for a league-leading 0.76 goalsagainst average, finishing the season with a career-high nine shutouts, including seven in his last 10 games. He took Impact defensive playerof-the-year honours as well as the league’s Golden Glove as the top ’keeper.

On Oct. 21, Bush became the third player signed by the Impact for its inaugural MLS season. “I had to dedicate myself to coming in with the right mindset every day and train as hard as I can,” he said.

Bush, who’s been on the sideline for training the last two days because the flu and a slight injury to an ankle, said he enjoys “friendly relationships” with Ricketts and Sutton, as well as the competition between the three.

“Players compete at every position, and it’s no different for us. It’s normal.”