The Fire have added another Homegrown player to their 2015 roster. And it’s at a spot where they could use some help.
The club announced Monday it has signed defender Patrick Doody to a Homegrown contract. Doody, 22, is a Naperville native and graduate of Neuqua Valley High School who played collegiately at Indiana University, scoring six times in 83 matches. He was also a part of the Hoosiers’ 2012 national championship team, assisting on the winning goal that beat Georgetown for the title.
“Patrick is a talented, young player and another local product who understands what wearing the Fire badge represents,” Fire coach Frank Yallop said in a news release. “It speaks highly of the work our player development system has been doing to produce another player who can make the transition to the first team.”
The first team is currently lacking depth at the back. The Fire only have six defenders on the roster, and that includes Jeff Larentowicz after he spent the last part of the 2014 season at the position. Bakary Soumare was lost in the second phase of the re-entry draft to the Montreal Impact, and the options on Gonzalo Segares and Patrick Ianni were declined after each struggled during the 2014 season.
Doody will at least help make up the numbers for the Fire, a club whose academy and Premier Development League teams he played for when he was younger.
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to join the Fire,” Doody said. “It’s neat because I started with the Fire Academy as a 15-year-old, so to now come full circle and walk into Toyota Park as a professional is really special.”
After Doody’s signing, the Fire have four Homegrown players on the roster. He joins Harry Shipp, Chris Ritter and Collin Fernandez.
Terms of Doody’s signing weren’t disclosed.