Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
By AVI CREDITOR
Stephen McCarthy's journey to Major League Soccer has spanned three time zones, two colleges and one famed club team, but he's finally approaching his final destination.
McCarthy, one of the top defensive midfield prospects available in next Thursday's MLS SuperDraft, spent three years at Santa Clara University prior to transferring to North Carolina for his senior season.
Before his collegiate career, though, McCarthy honed his skills in the Dallas Texans youth organization, the same program that has churned out the likes of Clint Dempsey and Omar Gonzalez, among many other professional soccer players.
"(The Texans) made me the player that I am," McCarthy said. "Coaches like Hassan (Nazari) and Dave (Hudgell) really instilled strong tactical awareness in me. I worked on tactics so much that I have that much better of a brain for the game and a way to think instead of having to be the best player physically."
While at Santa Clara, McCarthy was an All-West Coast Conference selection on two occasions, but like fellow 2011 draft prospect Jalil Anibaba, he transferred to North Carolina after three seasons as a Bronco.
"I felt like I was getting lackadaisical in the day-to-day training, and I love the school, team and coach, but I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could be the best player I think I could be," McCarthy said. "I found out through my years of being at school that the (Atlantic Coast Conference) was the place to do that, so I decided I wanted to go there.
"The ACC is one of the toughest conferences out there. Just seeing the skill level and intensity of ACC games from week to week, every single team is trying to and can win each game. I grew greatly in just learning to be up for every week."
McCarthy settled on North Carolina because he had family in the area, among other reasons. Though the NCAA didn't require him to sit out a year because he transferred to a different conference, he developed a sports hernia and missed the 2009 season anyway.
McCarthy received a medical redshirt and watched from the sidelines as North Carolina made a run to the College Cup, but that year acted as an unintentional transition period that allowed him to get more acclimated into the Carolina system.
"The time that he had prior with us allowed him to understand how we play and allowed him to integrate himself over time and find his role," North Carolina coach Elmar Bolowich said.
When the 2010 season rolled around, McCarthy was ready to tackle it as if it were an opposing attacker streaking into his path.
McCarthy performed well enough to earn All-Atlantic Coast Conference Second Team honors, starring at defensive midfield.
Toward the end of the season, with the Tar Heels struggling through an injury bug, McCarthy was used in more of an attacking role. He displayed his scoring touch in the Tar Heels' NCAA semifinal loss to Louisville, getting onto the end of a cross and heading home a short-range goal that levelled the score at the time.
"It was incredible," said McCarthy, a longtime fan of the Dallas Burn/FC Dallas and an admirer of Patrick Vieira. "I'd always had the goal of playing in a College Cup and never really thought I'd be seeing myself there."
Given his 6-foot-4, Peter Crouch-esque frame, McCarthy is a great aerial asset, especially off set pieces. His strengths as a player, though, should define his professional role as a ball-winner in the back of the midfield protecting the centerbacks.
"That suits him best to set the tone out of that position," Bolowich said. "He's good in the air. He wins every ball played long. He's a pretty versatile player, very mobile for his size. He can get around the field quite well. He's very safe with the ball."
Among teams in need of a defensive midfielder is FC Dallas, which currently employs an effective, but injured and aging Daniel Hernandez at the position. Given McCarthy's coast-to-coast travels through college, he'd likely have no problem planting a flag in his home town should he hear his name called when the MLS Cup finalists make their first-round selection.
