Reis drawing blanks

The night (June 7) the Revolution beat the New York Red Bulls, 4-0, Jay Heaps registered his 300th career appearance and striker Taylor Twellman became the youngest player in Major League Soccer history to reach 100 career goals.

While most of the attention was given to Heaps and Twellman, Reis became the seventh MLS goalkeeper to earn 50 shutouts.

Reis has built his career on taking advantage of opportunities. Missing a match is unusual for the California native, but this season has been out of the ordinary.

Knee inflammation and a concussion have limited Reis, who has missed five of the Revolution’s 12 matches. Before last season, Reis had not missed a start since 2005.

Rehabbing from injuries took away valuable time for Reis to work with a new backline that is led by Heaps. Rookies Kevin Alston and Darrius Barnes and newcomer Emmanuel Osei make up the defensive unit. The combination of working with a new group and rehabbing has made this year one of his toughest.

“Every year there’s a different challenge and every team is different, and it brings different dynamics,’’ Reis said. “This year is tough because we do have a lot of young guys and it’s a work in progress. I think we’ve been blessed in years past with having that consistency [on the backline] and having the same players come in year in and year out and you kind of know what to expect. Now we have to learn on the fly and deal with some of the mistakes that are being made.’’

Reis is up for the challenge. In his senior season at UCLA, his first as the No. 1 keeper, he was a key factor in the Bruins’ 1997 national championship, earning NCAA College Cup Defensive MVP. His postseason success included 221 consecutive shutout minutes and a school-record 11 saves in the semifinals.

Reis owned a 0.64 goals-against average and a 17-2 record that season.

The Galaxy took notice of Reis and drafted him in the third round in 1998. Reis again would have to wait his turn. He saw limited action in his first three seasons with the Galaxy, unable to wrest the starting job away from fellow ex-Bruin Kevin Hartman.

In 2000, Reis played in six matches, which included his first MLS shutout. The sporadic action led Reis to ask for a chance with another club and he was traded to the Revolution in 2003 in exchange for Alex Pineda Chacon and a 2004 conditional draft pick.

Once in New England, Reis was handed a chance to play when a concussion ended Adin Brown’s season in 2003. He secured the starting spot in 2004, went 7-10-7 with a 1.36 GAA, and was selected the team’s defensive player of the year.

A year later, Reis developed a reputation as a formidable keeper, being selected to the MLS All-Star game and rewriting the Revolution’s record books.

When he recorded his 50th shutout he said it was a proud moment but added, “hopefully, there’s more than 50.’’

Reis said he believes he is past the physical ailments that have plagued him this year and is looking forward to building on the season. He is 3-3-1 with a 1.43 GAA this season as the Revolution take the first step to defend their SuperLiga title with Sunday’s match against Santos Laguna.

With each match, there is more pressure on the Revolution’s defense as Twellman continues to battle whiplash symptoms and the offense sputters. The team’s 15 goals are tied with three other teams for the second fewest in the league. Meanwhile, the team is allowing 1.67 goals per game, which ranks 13th in the league.

“We know that maybe we’re only going to get one or two goals a game,’’ Reis said. “We don’t really have the offensive output where we know we’re going to score three goals a game or more. We know we’re going to have be strong and tight in the back.’’

Against the Wizards last Saturday, the Revolution (4-4-4) left Kansas City with a 3-1 loss. Osei was kicked out in the 31st minute after picking up a red card. Despite the Revolution’s struggles, coach Steve Nicol said he has been pleased with Reis since his return.

“When you lose three goals, it’s not great defensively,’’ Nicol said, but he added that Reis came up with key saves. “If anything, he was one of the positives from Saturday.’’

“We have to be mentally stronger and we’re not doing that,’’ Reis said. “A lot of the games that we’ve lost have been our mistakes and we have to stop doing that. We have to realize coming into every game that from minute one to minute 90-plus that we’ve got to be ready to play and we’ve got to be ready to give everything to the team.’’

The Revolution signed goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth yesterday to a developmental contract and waived University of Massachusetts graduate Zack Simmons, who will begin law school at Yale in August. Shuttleworth played three seasons at the University of Buffalo and played with the Austin Aztex of USL-1.

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com.