Jake Keegan Aims To Take Another Step Forward With FC Edmonton

Photo credit: Tony Lewis/FC Edmonton

FC Edmonton reached new heights in 2016, finishing with the NASL’s top defensive record to qualify for The Championship, the NASL’s four-club postseason tournament. The club found timely goals to compliment their defensive work, with several of those goals coming off the foot of forward Jake Keegan.

Signed during the 2015 offseason, Keegan added a hardworking, attacking option up front for FC Edmonton, finding the back of the net on five occasions during the 2016 season. 

“I was very pleased with the first two-thirds of my season,” Keegan said. “I thought I did well, I scored some goals and maybe the last ten games or so I was a little disappointed with the way things went. Looking into next year I’ll look to build on the first two-thirds of the year and hopefully make a full season out of it.”

Keegan resides in Stormville, New York, during the offseason, located about an hour outside of New York City. The striker has opted to stay busy for the majority of his time off.

“I might take a week or two off after finishing the season where I don’t do too much,” Keegan said. “But I’m the kind of person that when I get bored, I feel antsy if I don’t do something, so I’m right back into it. I’ll be in the gym and doing some stuff on this nice artificial surface that I have near my house - an indoor facility.”

Keegan completed a four-year varsity career with the Binghamton University Bearcats in 2013 and helps out a former classmate on occasion to train college and high-school soccer players at a local gym throughout the winter.

“Sometimes if he works with them and they want to do some stuff on the field, he’ll bring me in and we’ll work together,” Keegan said. “It’s good for me because I’m training and it’s good for them because they are getting to see what I’m doing [at the professional level of soccer].”

After a breakthrough season that saw FC Edmonton finishing third overall in the league’s Combined Standings and qualifying for  The Championship Semifinals, the young forward who scored five times last season is optimistic about this upcoming year. 

“It’s all about building on last season,” Keegan said. “There were a lot of positives to take from it, but looking back there are obviously things that I can work on, the team as a whole can work on and, I think if we can correct the little things, it could go a long way into making the season better and for the team and myself personally.”