Michael Stephens (soccer)

Michael Francis Stephens (born April 3, 1989) is an American soccer player.

Michael Stephens
Stephens in May 2010
Personal information
Full name Michael Francis Stephens[1]
Date of birth (1989-04-03) April 3, 1989
Place of birth Hinsdale, Illinois, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
2004–2005 IMG Soccer Academy
2006–2009 UCLA Bruins
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Chicago Fire Premier 8 (1)
2010–2013 LA Galaxy 94 (2)
2014 Stabæk 30 (1)
2015–2016 Chicago Fire 37 (0)
2017 San Francisco Deltas 26 (0)
National team‡
2009 United States U20 5 (2)
2012 United States U23 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 30, 2017
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of May 11, 2012

Career

College and Amateur

Stephens grew up in Naperville, Illinois, attended Edison Academic Center, and played four years of college soccer at UCLA. He was honored as UCLA's Rookie of the Year in 2006, while also being selected to the Top Drawer Soccer All-Freshman first team and to Soccer America's All-Freshman second team, playing in all 24 games in his rookie season.

He was named to the Soccer America MVP second-team in 2008, and became only the third player in Bruin history to earn Pac-10 Player of the Year honors. As a senior, he was named to the All-Pac-10 First-team and was a NSCAA All-Far West second-team honoree. He finished his UCLA career with 81 appearances, 11 goals and 20 assists.

During his college years Stephens also played two seasons with Chicago Fire Premier in the USL Premier Development League.[2][3]

Professional

Stephens was drafted in the first round (16th overall) of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by Los Angeles Galaxy.[4] He made his professional debut on March 27, 2010, in Galaxy's opening game of the 2010 MLS season against New England Revolution.[5]

In March 2014, Stephens signed a two-year contract with Norwegian Tippeligaen side Stabæk.[6] After one season with Stabæk, Stephens returned to MLS on 9 December 2014, signing with Chicago Fire.[7] After the end of 2016 season, Fire did not exercise his contract option and he became a free agent.[8]

After his release from Chicago, Stephens joined North American Soccer League side San Francisco Deltas on January 6, 2017.[9]

International

Stephens was a member of U.S. squad at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, having previously scored a goal in consecutive games against Costa Rica with the Under-20s in May. He was the US's starting forward in three games at the 2007 Pan American Games, and featured for the Under-18 National Team in 2006, scoring one goal with three assists. Previously, he had been a member of the U-17 National Team Residency Program from 2004–06, and played with the U-15 and U-16 National Teams.

Career statistics
As of 10 December 2016[10]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
LA Galaxy 2010 2510010261
2011 2702040330
2012 2701050330
2013 2111070291
Total 1002401701212
Stabæk 2014 30140-341
Total 3014000341
Chicago Fire 2015 20020-220
2016 17020-190
Total 3704000410
Career Total 16731201701963

Honors

Los Angeles Galaxy

San Francisco Deltas
  • NASL Soccer Bowl (1): 2017

References
  1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009 – List of Players" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). p. 22. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  2. 2007 Chicago Fire Premier Archived 2014-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 2008 Chicago Fire Premier Archived 2012-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 2010 MLS SuperDraft Archived 2010-01-17 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2012-08-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "American Exports: Former LA Galaxy midfielder Michael Stephens signs with Bob Bradley's Stabaek". MLS Soccer. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  7. "Chicago Fire Sign Midfielder Michael Stephens". www.chicago-fire.com. Chicago Fire. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  8. "Chicago Fire Exercises Contract Options on Nine Players". chicago-fire.com. November 23, 2016.
  9. "Deltas Add Pair Of Signings".
  10. "M.Stephens". uk.soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
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