Zach Thornton (born October 10, 1973) is an American former goalkeeper who spent 16 seasons in Major League Soccer with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars (1996–97), Chicago Fire (1998–2006),

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

(2007),

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

(2008) and

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. G ...

(2008–11). He was the starting goalkeeper for the Fire when it won

MLS Cup '98 MLS Cup 1998 was the third edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States. It took place on October 25, 1998, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, with an attendance of 51,350 people. T ...

in its inaugural year. He,

Chris Armas Christopher Armas (born August 27, 1972) is an American professional soccer coach and former player. He is currently sharing interim head coach duties at Leeds United with Michael Skubala and Paco Gallardo after the sacking of Jesse Marsch. ...

,. and C. J. Brown are the only three Fire players to be a part of all six of the club's domestic championships from 1998 through 2006. Thornton is currently the goalkeeping coach for Houston Dynamo.

Youth and college

The youngest of four siblings, Thornton began playing soccer at age five and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

a year later. His father Ernest, who had endured his share of injuries while playing football at

Kentucky State College Kentucky State University (KSU and KYSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Frankfort, Kentucky. Founded in 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons, and becoming a land-grant college in 1890, KSU is the second-ol ...

, had gently steered him away from the gridiron sport. Thornton was a three-sport star in soccer, lacrosse and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

The John Carroll School The John Carroll School Inc., established in 1964 and incorporated in 1971, is a private Catholic school for grades 9–12. It is located in Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland, United States in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. History ...

. He attended Essex Community College before completing his education at

Loyola College in Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a private Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is the ninth-oldest Jesuit college in the U ...

. At Loyola, he played both soccer and lacrosse, the latter as a third-team All-American. He was named to the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and ...

40th Anniversary Men’s Soccer Team on September 1, 2020.

Playing career

Professional

Thornton was selected in the 7th round (69th overall) by the

New York/New Jersey MetroStars New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

in the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft. With then-former US national keeper and local star

Tony Meola Antonio Michael "Tony" Meola (; ; born February 21, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented the United States national team at the 1990, 1994, and 2002 World Cups. From 1996 to 2006, he ...

entrenched in Metro nets, Thornton played only six games during his first two seasons in MLS. In 1997, he played a few games on loan with the North Jersey Imperials of the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

, whose starting goalie was future Metro and US national teamer Tim Howard. The Chicago Fire took Thornton in the

1997 MLS Expansion Draft The 1997 MLS Expansion Draft was held November 6, 1997. Two teams participated, the Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion F.C., both expansion Major League Soccer clubs starting play in the 1998 season. Format Each team in the league made ten players, in ...

, and his career took off. Beating out Mexican international Jorge Campos for the starting job, Zach lead the expansion Fire to that year's

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

, and was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Year. He spent six years with the Fire, an automatic starter throughout his time there, and frequently at the top of MLS goalkeeping charts. In 2004, Thornton signed a six-month contract with

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

club Benfica. He didn't get a single first-team match with them, however, and re-signed with the Fire late in the MLS season. Thornton did not get any playing time, as his former backup Henry Ring had taken hold of the position in Thornton's absence. In 2005 Thornton reclaimed his spot in the Fire's net missing only a few matches due to injury. Thornton was traded to

on March 2, 2007, where he was a backup behind Bouna Coundoul during the 2007 season, before he was waived at the end of the year. He was subsequently picked up by

as the team's reserve goalkeeper for 2008 behind Jon Conway. Thornton was traded to

on August 2, 2008. He and enjoyed an impressive first two seasons with the team, ultimately winning the 2009 Goalkeeper of the Year Award. Thornton was injured during the 2011 season with Chivas USA and lost his starting role. At season's end, the club declined his 2012 contract option and he entered the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Thornton was not selected in the draft and became a free agent.

International

Thornton's first cap with the US national team came in 1994 in a friendly against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. He backed up

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup partici ...

at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Thornton wasn't able to translate his success in MLS to the international level, collecting only eight caps. On December 22, 2009, Thornton received another call up to play a friendly against Honduras on January 23.

Coaching career

Thornton returned to his alma mater as a part-time volunteer goalkeeping coach for the Loyola University Maryland men's soccer program on July 5, 2012. He was named to a similar position on a full-time basis for both the men's and women's programs at

Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown College (informally E-town) is a private college in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. History Founding and early years Founded in 1899, Elizabethtown College is one of many higher learning institutions founded in the 19th century by ...

just over six weeks later on August 20. He was appointed Associate Head Coach with the Villanova University men's soccer program on January 17, 2013. In 2015 Thornton was hired as Goalkeeping Coach for MLS franchise

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. Thornton was named goalkeeping coach for Houston Dynamo on January 13, 2022.

Honors

Chicago Fire

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

(3):

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, 2003 * Major League Soccer Eastern Conference Championship (1): 2003 * Major League Soccer MLS Cup (1):

* Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield (1): 2003 * Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship (1):

Individual

MLS Goalkeeper of the Year MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award, known as the Allstate MLS Goalkepeer of the Year Award for sponsorship purposes, is an annual Major League Soccer award established in 1996. It is voted on by media, MLS players and club management based on regular ...

: 1998, 2009 *

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

: 1998, 2009

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Zach 1973 births Living people American expatriate soccer players United States men's international soccer players African-American soccer players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars New York Red Bulls players North Jersey Imperials players Chicago Fire FC players S.L. Benfica footballers Colorado Rapids players Chivas USA players Association football goalkeepers People from Edgewood, Maryland Soccer players from Maryland Loyola Greyhounds men's soccer players D.C. United non-playing staff American soccer players Association football goalkeeping coaches Lacrosse players from Maryland Loyola Greyhounds men's lacrosse players Loyola Greyhounds men's soccer coaches Elizabethtown Blue Jays College women's soccer coaches in the United States Villanova Wildcats men's soccer coaches Houston Dynamo FC non-playing staff