USL PRO Combine Feature
Monday, January 28, 2013
BRADENTON, Fla. – The last time Chris Dillon and Nuno Gourgel were on the same side, FC London were celebrating claiming the 2012 PDL Championship.
This past weekend they were teammates again, both in pursuit of a chance to move into the professional ranks at the USL PRO Combine at IMG Academy.
“That’s a nice surprise,” Gourgel said, “because he knows my game, I know his game, so it makes it easier for us to play.”
FC London’s run through the PDL Playoffs last year still remains fresh in both players’ memories. An underdog entering the postseason, London upset both the Thunder Bay Chill and Michigan Bucks to claim the Central Conference title, and then recorded a remarkable comeback to claim a 3-2 win against the Sounders FC U23 in the national semifinals.
“No, nobody could have written that,” Dillon said. “We were underdogs all the way, and that was kind of our motto, to be the underdogs and to play out of skins all the time, and we ended up doing it. It was great.”
London’s comeback came in front of its home fans, who according to Gourgel, had been behind the team from the start of the season. The level of support the side had seen was evident at the PDL Championship Game, as nearly 250 fans made the trip to Greensboro, N.C. to see their side take a 2-1 victory against the Carolina Dynamo.
“Home games, we expected the support, but when they came down we realized how much it meant to the community,” Gourgel said. “It gave us that extra support to go and win the game.”
After the title celebration, London’s players returned to college, but Dillon and Gourgel, who both played in the NAIA, joked with one another that they would see each other again at the national finals. They would, with Gourgel’s Ashford and Dillon’s Mobile both reaching the tournament.
“It was good, because when we left [London], we were like ‘see you at nationals’, just messing around,” Gourgel said. “Next thing we know we’re in the last 16, so it was great to meet up with the boys, great to know he was doing well too.”
Dillon’s Mobile side reached the championship game before falling to Belhaven, continuing the program’s history of top-level soccer. Dillon has already seen one of his teammates reach the professional ranks, with former Reading United standout and NAIA Player of the Year Stephen Okai being taken by the Philadelphia Union in the second round of the MLS SuperDraft two weeks ago, and he is grateful to have had the opportunity to grow as a member of the Rams.
“It’s a really good program,” Dillon said. “It’s got a lot of history, there’s a great bunch of boys there as well.”
Now he and Gourgel are both hoping to make the same jump as a number of their predecessors at the USL PRO Combine have, with both believing they have the necessary tools to make it at the next level.
And if they make it, they’ll be bringing the same attitude that helped their side earn a championship last summer.
“If I get the opportunity, I feel like I’m ready to put the hard work in and make it successful,” Gourgel said. “I feel like I could be ready for the next level if I work hard.”