Bryan Dowd Loaned to Fire II

Chicago Fire goalkeeper Bryan Dowd has been loaned to the team's MLS Next Pro affiliate, Chicago Fire II, the club announced this afternoon. Dowd's previous loan at USL Championship club FC Tulsa was terminated last week.

Dowd, 23, was the sixth overall pick in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft out of Notre Dame. He has yet to appear at any level for the Fire since he was signed in January of last year and has been sent on two separate loans (to Huntsville City in 2024 and FC Tulsa in 2025). Last season, then-16-year-old Patrick Los kept him on the bench and Dowd was loaned to fellow MLS Next Pro club Huntsville; Los has played every minute for Fire II this season.

While Dowd will stay in Chicago as a member of the second team for the foreseeable future, he will still be available for the first team as a third goalkeeper if needed. He will remain in "Slot 31" on the MLS roster and could be called up to the first team in four short-term agreements, similar to how Harold Osorio and Diego Konincks were earlier in the season. His extreme hardship call-up last week did not count toward one of the four call-ups.

While Dowd has had a difficult year-and-a-half since he was drafted – including being benched at both Fire II and Tulsa – he finds himself in a decent position to bounce back this year. By virtue of being just one of three under-contract professional goalkeepers on the Fire's books, he'll be the next man up if either Chris Brady or Jeff Gal has to miss a game for any reason. Academy prospects Patrick Los and Patryk Stechnij are both ineligible to play for the first team without a pro deal, and both are set to join college teams in the fall.

Should Dowd stay with Fire II through the end of the summer, he's well positioned to get major minutes at the tail end of the MLS Next Pro season; Los will be playing at Michigan and Stechnij will be at Wisconson-Madison, leaving the #1 spot for Fire II vacant.

Read more:

https://meninred97.com/bryan-dowd-recalled-in-extreme-hardship-call-up/