Fire II comes up short in MLS Next Pro playoff debut
Earlier today, a professional team representing the Chicago Fire took the field in a playoff game for the first time since 2017. Like in 2017, the opponent was the New York Red Bulls, and like in 2017, the Fire saw four goals fly into their net.
The Red Bulls, who were led by a few first-team regulars who were included in the squad for the game, jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first half. Luka Prpa managed to find the net with a free kick early in the second half to reduce the deficit, but it wasn’t enough, and the Red Bulls found a late dagger through Ugandan international Ibrahim Kasule to secure the win. 15-year-old Julian Hall, who last night became both the first 2008 to play in MLS and the second youngest-ever player in league history behind Freddy Adu when he debuted against the Fire, made an appearance as well.
Fire II’s 4-1 defeat at Pittser Field in New Jersey marks the end of the team’s second season in MLS Next Pro. While the season ultimately goes down as unsuccessful following elimination, the platform the reserve league gives to many players is a benefit to the organization.
Dylan Borso, for one, broke through with Fire II towards the end of the season; the 17-year-old midfielder, committed to Wake Forest for next season, earned the start over Sergio Oregel in the playoff game. Javi Casas, who was an unused substitute for the first team at Red Bull Arena last night, started for the first time since late August.
The reserve season is now at its end, but for the first-teamers like Casas who are usually with the second team, it might not quite be done yet. They’ll remain as options for the Fire as they look to make a final push for the playoffs in the final three games.
Casas made three MLS appearances early in the season, with the most notable being at Inter Miami in March, when he came off the bench at the hour mark and went on to set up the game-winning goal. Oregel was arguably Fire II’s best player last season and probably should’ve been given more than the 11 minutes of MLS soccer he was in 2022 so he could also make a push. Missael Rodríguez debuted against Montréal in July but has yet to feature again for the Fire despite the dwindling performances of Kacper Przybyłko. Justin Reynolds is a talented young player who shows lots of promise and could be very useful for the first team, if not this year, then certainly next year.
In reality, none of the second-team players on Fire II really showed that they necessitate a first-team deal, but many showed promise for the future. The aforementioned Borso proved to be a good talent and one of the better prospects in the Fire’s pipeline, Charlie Ostrem and Andreas Ueland looked like future MLS-level players, Omari Glasgow is continuing to grow and could be a Fire contributor before too long, and Noeh Hernández emerged as an exciting young player and a senior Puerto Rican international before his departure for DePaul in late Summer.
MLS Next Pro is still a young league trying to figure out what it wants to be, but after two seasons of Fire II, it’s been a moderate success so far. Having a reserve team at Bridgeview has been a very useful tool and has the potential to be an important mainstay for years to come. This is only the beginning, not just for this team but for all of these young players who continue to grow and develop.
See you in 2024!
