NL_031518

46 | March 15, 2018 | The New Lenox Patriot Sports
newlenoxpatriot.com
West alum, soccer star takes next step at professional level
Steve Millar
Freelance Reporter
A dream came true for
New Lenox native and Lincoln-Way
West graduate Ian
McGrath when he took the
field last month for his first
professional soccer game.
McGrath, who graduated
from West in 2014, recently
signed with Nashville SC,
an expansion team that will
play this season in the United
Soccer League, one level
below the Major Soccer
League, but could join the
MLS in 2019 or 2020.
Nashville SC played the
first exhibition game in franchise
history that day, drawing
a huge crowd.
“I walked out of the tunnel
and there were 10,000 people
in the stands,” McGrath
said. “It was amazing. I took
it all in. I let myself take a
second to think about how
far I’ve come to get here.
“My family got to come
to the game, and when I
saw them in the crowd, I got
emotional. They’ve given
me such great support.”
McGrath, a 6-foot-4 midfielder,
finished a highly successful
collegiate career at
Evansville last fall. For the
second straight season, he
led the Purple Aces in goals,
scoring 12 and adding six assists.
McGrath began getting
noticed by pro scouts a year
before, when he scored 11
goals as a junior.
“I garnered a lot of attention
with my big junior
year,” he said. “Going into
my senior year, I felt like I
had a really good chance of
getting drafted by an MLS
team.”
When the MLS Super-
Draft was held in January,
however, McGrath did not
have his name called.
“I was really happy with
how my senior year went,
so I was confident I’d get
a chance,” he said. “It was
a little rough to not see my
name up there on the draft
board, but I knew there were
still opportunities. I had a
great support system to help
me pick back up and keep
working hard.”
McGrath had several
teams express interest in him
attending a free-agent tryout,
and he eventually went
to Nashville for a week-long
trial.
Nashville SC signed Mc-
Grath on Feb. 9.
“Nashville is a phenomenal
city and a great place
for a new soccer team,” Mc-
Grath said. “I’m so excited
to be here. Playing professionally
is something I’ve
been dreaming about since
I was playing youth soccer
and I’m really happy to have
made it this far.”
Nashville coach Gary
Smith is excited to have Mc-
Grath on the roster.
“Ian gives the team versatility
in both midfield and
defense,” Smith said. “He
has great competitive attributes
and is dominant aerially.
His college appearances
showed that he also has an
eye for goal from midfield.”
While McGrath was disappointed
not to be drafted,
he was certainly not defeated.
After all, he’s become
accustomed to being the underdog.
McGrath cracked the varsity
lineup at Lincoln-Way
West as an undersized freshman.
By the time he was a
senior playing for coach Jeff
Theiss, he was a dominant,
All-State player who had
grown more than a foot since
starting high school.
“He came in at 5-foot
nothing and was this little,
skinny freshman,” Theiss
said. “Once he hit that
growth spurt, we knew he
was going to be special. He
Lincoln-Way West alumnus Ian McGrath was drafted last month by Nashville SC, a team
that is expected to join Major League Soccer in 2019 or 2020. His first pro game will be on
Saturday, March 17. Photos courtesy of Evansville University
Ian McGrath scored 23 goals the past two seasons for University of Evansville.
still had the same skill set
that he had when he was
smaller, but now he had the
size, too. Back then, I knew
he had a shot to be a professional
soccer player.”
McGrath, though, was still
flying under the radar when
it came to college scouts.
“He really put in the work
to start selling himself to
college teams,” Theiss said.
“He made highlight videos,
he contacted coaches on his
own, and he worked hard to
make sure he’d get noticed.”
McGrath drew the interest
of Evansville and joined
the Purple Aces as a walk-on
initially.
“When I was in high
school, I wrote down all my
goals on a chalkboard in my
room,” McGrath said. “Most
of them involved playing in
college, and I accomplished
all those goals.
“It wasn’t until I was a
junior at Evansville that I
started thinking about new
goals. I started to realize that
it was possible I could play
professionally.”
Soccer has always been a
big part of McGrath’s family.
His father, Myles, grew
up playing the sport in Ireland
and taught it to Ian, as
well as older brother, Conor,
and younger brother, Nolan.
“I’ve been playing ever
since I was 3 or 4 years old,”
McGrath said. “I watched
Conor play on teams and
always thought it was really
cool. I was playing for fun,
and then eventually I got my
chance to play for a club and
it all graduated from there.”
According to Theiss, Mc-
Grath is a role model for future
players at West, and an
example of where hard work
can get you.
“His work ethic is what
got him to his level,” Theiss
said. “I remember there were
days in the winter when he’d
shovel snow off the turf himself
and would be out there
alone practicing. He always
went the extra mile to get
better.”
Theiss has had McGrath
speak to teams at West,
where his brother Nolan still
plays. McGrath enjoys doing
that.
“It’s great that I have my
brother still in the program,
and I love being around West
and getting to see him play,”
he said. “I’m always happy
if I get a chance to kind of
tell them my story and how
I got here and hopefully inspire
them to keep working
hard, because you never
know where it’ll get you.”
Nashville SC will play
its first regular season game
March 17 in Louisville. It
will mark the official launch
of a career McGrath hopes is
just getting started.
“I want to continue to
develop my skills and keep
getting better,” he said. “I’m
hoping that I’ll be able to
earn a lot of playing time.
I’m just really excited to get
going. I can’t wait.”