Last year, TFC II’s goalkeeping situation got about as messy as the first team’s defensive woes. Between three injuries, two of them season-ending, and a mid-season departure to take up a college scholarship, the team fielded a grand total of six goalies, topping the Reds’ 2007 record.

As such, it won’t take much for things to run smoother this year, if only because of the shorter schedule. So, barring any 11th-hour transactions (we’ve seen how Ali Curtis loves a loan), here’s a look at the goalies Rabasca has to choose from.

Eric Klenofsky

24-year-old Eric Klenofsky comes to Downsview via the unlikely route of the Israeli second division Liga Leumit. Drafted by DC United in 2017, he got the standard draftee care package, loaned out to Richmond (Sh*t)Kickers and waived at year’s end.

Richmond kept him on as a backup until last July, when he was picked up by Liga Leumit side Hapoel Marmorek. Like TFC’s press release says, Eric played 16 games for the team. What they tactfully omit is what a baptism-by-raging-inferno it was for him.

The ride was always going to be rough. Marmorek avoided a relegation play-off by all of 1 point last season, and manager Eldad Shavit was new on the job. After a brief grace period in some pre-season cup games, sh*t got real pretty bloody quickly.

Marmorek embarked on a 17-game winless streak in Liga Leumit. Eric started 14, conceding 30 goals in the process. 11 games in, Shavit was dumped and Klenofsky benched. The next coach gave him another shot, and it was this stint that doomed him.

In the next 4 games, he was scored on 17 times. In fairness, 5 of those came in a cup tie against Maccabi Haifa (of UCL fame) Marmorek were bound to lose, but still not great. Ironically, Eric’s last game for them was also their first league win, but he was released on January 15th.

הפועל מרמורק מודה לעיסאם עיישה, ג׳ורג׳ אמסיס, דניאל בורחל ואריק קלנופסקי על תרומתם לקבוצה, ומאחלת להם הצלחה רבה בהמשך דרכם האישית והמקצועית! pic.twitter.com/6msKQOJJ8h — הפועל מרמורק הרשמי (@MaRmoreky) January 15, 2019

So yeah, while his numbers in Israel weren’t great, I should add there were a couple of clean sheets in there. Also, I’d bet there’s not a keeper in the league with as much recent game-time under their belts, which will definitely give him the edge over Fillion, depending on the Caleb situation. More on him later.

Yann-Alexandre Fillion

This 23-year-old survivor of the FC Montreal experiment has had a pretty sh*tty time of it since being snapped up by Swiss giants FC Zurich in the 2016 summer window.

An untimely broken hand not long after he arrived stalled whatever plans management might have had laid out for him. Once he was fit, a year-long loan to the Swedish third division gave him his first extended run of first-team football.

Come the end of 2017, he arrived back in Zurich with a broken arm. He spent last year out on a loan again. His most recent game was a one-off appearance in the Norwegian second division, and his stint as a backup for FC Aarau was cut short by another injury, but not an arm-related one.

This loan deal is presumably a try-before-you-buy arrangement for TFC. FC Zurich appear to have given up on him (they just grabbed a 23-year-old Austrian keeper), and if things don’t work out, he’ll at least be in the shop window for CPL teams.

Cynical speculation aside, I’d ideally like to see Rabasca rotate him and Klenofsky until someone stakes a claim. While I’d argue he still counts as unproven, his form in Sweden – 29 goals allowed in 17 games – was hardly crap.

Caleb Patterson-Sewell

The status of Caleb Patterson-Sewell in the team right now is about as clear as the rationale behind the Ager Aketxe acquisition.

Technically still on the first-team roster, it looked like he’d taken over Clint Irwin’s spot until Quentin Westberg touched down at Pearson. Did Vanney get cold feet over making him second-choice? Was the fire under Bono not hot enough? Or was this to free him up for TFC II detail?

I’m sure the remnants of TFC II’s 2018 squad would be happy to see him back. Caleb alone is the reason they didn’t collect the award for most goals allowed (that honour went to Richmond) on top of the wooden spoon. The numbers bear this out: in 19 games, Caleb let in 35 goals while his five deputies conceded 40 in 15 between them.

In spite of this, and the fact he captained the team through the second half of 2018, it’s not altogether clear Rabasca will even want Caleb. At 31, he can’t be mistaken for a long-term investment, he’ll be off-contract come 2020, and the man himself might feel someone with his résumé can do better than the American third-tier.

Up Next: The Backline