Brotherly Game Archive
West Chester native Kyle Morton signs with Houston Dynamo
After four seasons in the USL Championship, Morton is heading to MLS
After four seasons as one of the top goalkeepers in the USL Championship, West Chester native Kyle Morton is heading to MLS.
The Houston Dynamo announced the signing of the 26-year-old on Thursday to a one-year contract with club options for 2022 and 2023.
“Kyle has worked hard through the last couple of years to earn this opportunity at the MLS level and we look forward to welcoming him to our Club” Dynamo Senior Vice President and General Manager Matt Jordan said in a news release. “He is a player who has the talent and upside to provide strong competition within our goalkeeping corps.”
Morton becomes the third keeper on the Dynamo roster and also the oldest. Marko Marić, 25, started all 23 games for the Dynamo in 2020 and 25-year-old Michael Nelson has been on the team for three seasons but still has not made a first team appearance.
“In an effort to expand our depth and competition with our goalkeepers, we wanted to add someone with the right mentality and experience to compete every day,” Dynamo head coach Tab Ramos said in a news release. “Kyle has been doing the work over the last few years and we feel he is ready to compete.”
A 2012 West Chester Henderson graduate who did some placekicking for the football team (All-Area First team his senior year), Morton played both high school soccer and starred for Penn Fusion Academy while also spending time training with the Philadelphia Union Academy setup at the time. His younger brother, Todd Morton, played for Bethlehem Steel FC and for Union II until retiring from soccer midway through the 2020 season.
Kyle signed his first professional contract with the Rochester Rhinos in 2017 after four seasons at James Madison and summer stints with Reading United and Lehigh Valley United. He spent two seasons with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and was a Goalkeeper of the Year finalist in 2020 with Saint Louis FC.
His signing marks a wave of recent news for Penn Fusion Academy alums.
Philadelphia Union homegrown goalkeeper Matt Freese earned his first full national team call-up, Union Academy grad Kalil ElMedkhar signed with FC Dallas after his homegrown rights were traded and a pair of fellow Penn Fusion alums were drafted in the MLS SuperDraft: AJ Marcucci by the New York Red Bulls and Aiden McFadden by Atlanta United.
Current MLS players who spent time with Penn Fusion include Colorado Rapids defender Keegan Rosenberry and Union midfielder Anthony Fontana.