Zach Thornton

Professional

Thornton was selected in the 7th round (69th overall) by the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft. With then-former U.S. national keeper and local star Tony Meola 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, whose starting goalie was future Metro and U.S. national teamer Tim Howard. The Chicago Fire took Thornton in the 1997 MLS Expansion Draft, 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, 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 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 Colorado Rapids 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 New York Red…

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 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. Thornton was named goalkeeping coach for Houston Dynamo on January 13, 2022. Thornton joined Chicago Fire FC as goalkeeping coach in December 2022.