ESPN/Soccernet has a nice article on former Missouri State Bear’s goalkeeper, Matt Pickens. It covers his professional experience, and there’s a great quote by Diego Gutierrez (a long time favorite of mine at Chicago, and a KC native) that every player should consider:

“Often times when young players get the opportunity to step in and contribute, they fail because the moment gets to them, put too much pressure on themselves, or perhaps they have a run of bad luck. Matt was able to make the most of his opportunity and run with it,” said Diego Gutierrez, a former teammate on the Fire. “When his moment came, he stepped up, played with confidence, made saves that were both routine and extraordinary, and made his teammates better. With the goalkeeper position, you want someone who projects confidence to your team, and Matt was able to that and more.”

Cody Reinberg (Drury 2007) has scored his first goal for the Harrisburg City Islanders. Reinberg is a defender but scored late in a losing effort.

City Islanders rookie Cody Reinberg nodded home his first professional goal in the closing moments. Reinberg’s score was set up by service from Anthony Peters, one of two players loaned to Harrisburg (1-1-1, 4 points) for the weekend journey by Major League Soccer’s D.C. United. Peters entered in the 88th minute for Nicki Paterson, while John DiRaimondo came on the 65th for Middletown’s Jason Pelletier.

DiRaimondo is a DC United signee who was on loan for the weekend USL-2 game. He’s also a St Louis boy, having played for the SLU Billikens (2006) as well as St Louis University HS.