It's been a back-and-forth, wait-and-see couple of months for Dom Dwyer.
Trialing with Scottish Premier League side St. Mirren, well enough to earn a loan offer. Back to Kansas City when Sporting KC balked on the loan. And now, headed to Orlando City SC as one of four players loaned to Sporting's new USL Pro affiliate.
Dwyer's staying upbeat about it. The young English forward, Sporting's first-round MLS SuperDraft pick, just wants to play somewhere.
“It's brilliant. I'm really excited,” he told MLSsoccer.com on Thursday, as he loaded up his gear for the trip. “I'm ready to fight for a place and hopefully get a lot of games, just get going and get back to what I'm good at, which is scoring goals.”
Dwyer, limited to one regular-season and one playoff appearance in MLS action as a rookie, had hoped to be in the mix already for St. Mirren after his successful trial. Now, he'll look to contend for time with the Lions – along with goalkeeper Jon Kempin, midfielder Christian Duke and defender Yann Songo'o.
“They brought me back to play here, was what I heard, but sometimes things don't work out some way,” he said. “I'm just excited to play and get games. It was unfortunate the thing in Scotland didn't work, but I'm excited about this and looking forward to it.”
The Orlando loan makes more sense than sending Dwyer to St. Mirren, manager Peter Vermes said on Thursday, for several reasons.
“If there was going to be a loan, it's better for us if he goes to a club that we have a partnership with,” Vermes said. “Two things: Oneis their style of play and the way they treat their players is similar to ours, and the other is that we can have close monitoring of him and his progress.”
Dwyer and Kempin both played against Orlando City last season, in Sporting's 3-2 victory over the Lions in U.S. Open Cup play.
“Brilliant club,” Dwyer said. “I love the way they play and I've watched alot of them online. They look really good and I'm excited to get going with them.”
So is Kempin – even though he faces the challenge of winning a starting spot from the Lions' captain, veteran Miguel Gallardo. After earning USL Pro Goalkeeper of the Year honors in 2011, Gallardo followed up last year with a league-leading .78 goals-against average.
“I know he’s a good keeper,” said Kempin, Sporting's first Homegrown player, “but in my mind I am going to go down there and work hard and I am pretty confident that I can be the starter.”
