Trio with Naperville ties have Fire in their future
They traveled different roads to arrive in Chicago Fire gear for the start of preseason training, but those roads all started in the same place.
Three of the Fire's newcomers this season - midfielder Michael Stephens and defenders Patrick Doody and Bryan Gaul - got their soccer start in Naperville.
"It's awesome," said Stephens, 26. "It goes to show that that area - for a while, I don't know how it is now - when we were coming up there was a lot of good players coming out of there in the Western Suburbs in general. And it's nice to have people that you're familiar with just to with in general on a day-to-day (basis), and they're both really good guys."
Stephens briefly attended Benet Academy before going to U.S. Soccer's U-17 residency program in Florida, then to UCLA. After four seasons and two MLS Cup championships with the L.A. Galaxy, he spent a season with Stabaek in Norway. Then he decided it was time to come home, signing with the Fire in December.
Doody played at Neuqua Valley High School and the Fire's youth academy. He won a national championship at Indiana University, then signed a contract to join the Fire as a homegrown player.
"It's awesome," said Doody, 22, who was promoted to the Neuqua Valley varsity as a freshman when Gaul was a senior there. "It's really been great. It's been such a fun week being able to be at Toyota Park now as a pro."
Gaul also played for the Galaxy, winning one MLS Cup championship after graduating from Bradley University. But the Galaxy let him go, and he spent last season with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in second-division NASL. He's got a contract for the 2015 season with Saint Louis FC of third-division USL PRO but earned a trip to preseason with the Fire by winning the club's open tryout competition. He'll go to England with the Fire next week, hoping to work his way back to first-division MLS.
"They've been keeping that close to their chest, but I've been training really well," said Gaul, 25. "I'm just hoping for the best, trying to fit in and hopefully it works out."
If he makes the club he'd follow in the footsteps of Pari Pantazopoulos of Mount Prospect, who won the open tryout and spent the 2011 season with the Fire.
"It's been so fun training here just because I know half the team," Gaul said. "I go into the locker room and I say what's up. It's natural. It's family. It's awesome."
Gaul remembers going to Fire games when the team played at North Central College while Soldier Field was being renovated.
"When the Fire played out in Naperville I lived 10 minutes away," Gaul said. "It was fantastic. My parents would take me to games, we'd meet the players after. It was a great place to watch soccer."
This week Gaul has been commuting to training with Doody from Naperville. Stephens is living in Chicago.
"We're all pretty close," Stephens said. "We chat about the local cuisine, favorite pizza joints, things like that. So it's good fun."
Gaul, Stephens and Doody aren't the only Chicago-area natives in Fire uniforms. Mike Magee (Long Grove), who played with Gaul and Stephens at the Galaxy, is working his way back from hip surgery. Eric Gehrig (Crown Point, Indiana, and Loyola University) joined the club this off-season via trade. Second-year players Harry Shipp (Lake Forest, Notre Dame University) and Chris Ritter (Winnetka, Northwestern University) also joined the Fire as homegrown players, as did newcomer Collin Fernandez (Downers Grove).
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