West Chester native on trial with Tampa Bay Rowdies

West Chester native and former Philadelphia Union Academy goalkeeper Kyle Morton is on trial with USL club Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Morton, who capped his college career at James Madison with a third-team all Colonial Athletic Association selection, started for the Rowdies in the first game of the Florida Cup against German club VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday. He conceded a pair of goals in the 2-0 loss before being subbed out at halftime for former Valparaiso goalkeeper Nico Campbell.

Morton was part of the Union Academy “club and country” setup in 2012-13, a year prior to the Union joining the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. He played club soccer at Penn Fusion and high school soccer at West Chester Henderson while also placekicking for the football team.

He played 69 games over five seasons at James Madison – earning a medical redshirt after six games his sophomore year – and finished his career with 19 shutouts and a 1.13 goals against average. Kyle’s brother Todd is the starting goalkeeper at Delaware.

The Rowdies will be playing their first season in the USL after announcing their departure from the North American Soccer League at the end of last season. The Rowdies play Brazilian club Atlético in their next Florida Cup match on Saturday.