Reds goalie ready for reunion
Toronto FC’s Sean Johnson welcomes the New York City FC team he used to captain to BMO Field on Saturday.
The 33-year-old goalkeeper is no stranger to facing a former club. Chicago traded him to Atlanta in 2016, and Atlanta promptly flipped him to NYCFC. He was the longesttenured Fire player at the time, having joined Chicago as a fourthround pick (51st overall) in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft and having made 176 starts over seven years.
“It’s just a part of the business,” Johnson said Friday. “Now a new home, new club.”
Johnson, who joined TFC as a free agent in January, made 206 appearances in all competitions for NYCFC, logging 18,660 minutes and recording 60 clean sheets over five seasons.
New York coach Nick Cushing said his team won’t change anything against Johnson.
“We know Sean knows us but, ultimately, if we change the way that we approach games because of players that played for us, we’d be forever changing here and there with the nature of the league. I have huge respect for Sean. He was an excellent player, an incredible captain, for us. It will be nice to see him again.”
Toronto (12-6) is looking to erase the bitter taste of a 4-2 loss last Saturday at Philadelphia, which snapped a string of four straight draws and a seven-game unbeaten run (1-0-6). New York (4-2-3) has yet to win on the road this season (0-2-2).
“We have to get points on the road if we want to be a team that improves on last year,” Cushing said. “The team is really hungry for that to start. We’re pleased with getting draws at tough places like New England but we have to start getting three points on the road if we want to compete in the top of the league.”
NYCFC was 6-8-3 away from home in league play last year when it finished third in the Eastern Conference, 21 points above 13th-place Toronto.
Luis Barraza, Johnson’s former understudy, will start for NYCFC, which has conceded more than one goal just twice this season. Barraza’s goals-against average is 1.11 compared to 1.44 for Johnson, who has three shutouts to Barraza’s one.
Cushing said the club looked around for goalkeepers in the offseason, acquiring Matt Freese from Philadelphia. But the 26-year-old Barraza won the job after an impressive training camp. New York picked Barraza 12th overall in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft from Marquette University, where he was the Big East goalkeeper of the year.
“He’s become a leader in the dressing room,” Cushing said. “He’s very vocal and he has a real desire to continue to improve. So although it’s only early and he still has Matt Freese really pushing him, at the moment I’ve been really pleased with the goalkeeping department.”
Barraza can use his feet. He had 45 completed passes last week against Dallas.
“He’s an excellent goalkeeper,” Johnson said. “He’s one of my better friends on the (NYCFC) team, if not my best friend on the team when I was there. We spent most of our hours working together. Just a really good work ethic. A young talent. The sky’s the limit for him.”
Toronto midfielders Jonathan Osorio and Victor Vazquez will miss Saturday’s game. Osorio injured his knee in training Thursday, suffering a strained medial collateral ligament.
“It’s hard with MCLs to know what the time frame is … I think the news so far is pretty positive,” Toronto coach Bob Bradley said.