Noeh Hernández is leaving Fire II with a bang

18-year-old Noeh Hernández scored his second goal of the MLS Next Pro season in spectacular fashion last Sunday, but it didn’t just cap off an excellent move: it caps off an excellent summer. When Hernández slotted the ball into the far corner, he helped his team earn an exciting win at home, building on an impressive couple of months, but tomorrow evening, he’ll will take the field in a Fire shirt for the final time… for now.

“I'm gonna miss it and I'm leaving soon,” Hernández said Sunday, “but I love this place and it will forever be my home.”

Noeh’s appearance off the bench will go down as his penultimate one, but his goal came in an important moment. The visiting New England Revolution had just taken the lead a few minutes prior, and Fire II were looking for a response. A wonderful cross from Charlie Ostrem found Hernández, who played a quick one-two with Luka Prpa, before blasting the ball into the net with a first-time shot. He also converted his penalty in the shootout, helping hand Fire a rare shootout win.

When his academy journey comes to an end with the conclusion of his Fire II adventure, Noeh won’t have to travel far. He’ll be joining DePaul for the fall soccer season, where he’ll look to continue his growth as a player, but while many college players come straight from MLS Next Pro, Noeh has something most don’t, and that is international experience. As he was a part of Puerto Rico’s senior men’s national team squad for the CONCACAF Gold Cup play-in matches, he got a taste of competitive international soccer, even though he didn’t see the field and his team came up just short of reaching the group stage at the final hurdle to Martinique.

Noeh is now getting ready to make the jump from the Fire to college soccer, and while it is a bittersweet moment, he’s well prepared for it by the opportunities granted to him at the club.

“I think this culture is setting me up to be a professional,” he says. “I think if I just carry that on with me to college, I think I should be all good.”

While it is indeed true that college soccer isn’t the main pathway to MLS that it once was, there are still plenty of reasons it can be a valuable next step. For those who aren’t quite ready to jump straight into first team action when they are 18, going to school, whether that be for one year or four, presents a great opportunity to get an education whilst still playing at a competitive level.

One can look across the aisle in last Sunday’s Fire II match for an example. New England’s Jack Panayotou, a gifted young winger who has earned many calls to U.S. youth national team camps in the past, made the jump to play soccer at Georgetown last fall after graduating from the Revolution Academy. After a strong Big East season he returned to New England in the Spring and signed a Homegrown contract with his club.

“Noeh is a very talented player,” Fire II head coach Ludovic Taillandier says. “Of course, he's a little young still. We'll see way more, we'll definitely follow him at college and go to the games he will play there. He can be a guy that comes back later, a little older. Very full of talent, amazing left foot, one of the best finishers that we have for sure.”

As with any teenager, Hernández has a long way to go before he becomes the player that he one day hopes to be. One chapter may be closing now, but the next one is just as exciting, and perhaps, one day, he’ll be back in Fire colors.