Nick Rimando (born June 17, 1979 in Montclair,
California) is an American soccer goalkeeper who
currently plays for Real Salt Lake of Major League
Soccer.
Rimando played two years of college soccer at UCLA.
Prior to playing at UCLA, Nick played high school
soccer at Montclair High School in Montclair,
California. As a rookie in 1997, he tended goal as
the Bruins won the College Cup; after his sophomore
year, he signed a Project-40 contract with MLS.
Rimando was selected 35th in the 2000 MLS SuperDraft
by the Miami Fusion, and, to the surprise of many,
quickly took the starting position from Jeff Cassar.
He started 22 games as a rookie, and 25 as a
sophomore, helping the Fusion to win the 2001 MLS
Supporters' Shield. When the Fusion were contracted
after the 2001 season, Rimando was selected third
overall by D.C. United (his coach at Miami, Ray
Hudson, was the new United boss) in the subsequent
Allocation Draft.
For DC, Rimando played in every game in 2002 and in
25 games in 2003 until he missed the end of the
season with an injury. In 2004, with Hudson gone, he
lost his starting job to Troy Perkins, but regained
it for the stretch run, backstopping DC to the MLS
Cup. In 2005 he regained his everyday starter
status, but was beaten out by Perkins again in 2006,
playing only two games during the whole season.
Although mostly a backup to Tim Howard, Rimando
played for the United States at the 1999 World Youth
Championship in Nigeria. He earned his first cap
with the senior team on November 17, 2002 against El
Salvador.
In December 2005, Nick Rimando married his long time
girlfriend, Jacqui Little. She played for the
Washington Freedom in the now-defunct WUSA and is
also from California. The wedding was performed by
teammate Ben Olsen in Malibu, California.
On December 11, 2006, Nick Rimando was traded along
with Freddy Adu to Real Salt Lake. He was then
traded to Red Bull New York on February 9, only to
be traded back to Real Salt Lake on February 23
following the sudden retirement of the latter team's
first-choice keeper Scott Garlick.
Rimando was RSL's first-choice keeper during the
2007 season. His team struggled constantly and never
seriously contended for a playoff berth, but Rimando
did a great job in the nets. He led the MLS with 146
saves in 27 games, including heroic efforts against
New England (13 saves in a 0-0 draw on June 2) and
Toronto (12 saves in a 0-0 draw on September 15).
His hard work was rewarded at the end of the season
when he was named Real Salt Lake's 2007 Most
Valuable Player.
