South Jersey’s Shane Doherty signs with Galway United in Irish second division

One of the top attacking players in Division III college soccer over the past four seasons will continue his playing career with Irish second division club Galway United.

Shane Doherty, who scored 44 goals and dished 22 assists in 77 games for Rowan University, was announced as the newest member of Galway United on Saturday. The Delran High School grad holds both U.S. and Irish citizenship.

The 22-year-old had been on trial with the club and played in a preseason match against Sligo Rovers.

“Shane has a little bit of flair and x-factor that I felt was worth pursuing,” manager Alan Murphy told the team’s website. “Shane is very comfortable on the ball with both feet and has that bit of pace that is a necessity in the modern game.”

Murphy compared him to Jake Keegan, who played with Galway from 2014-15. The 27-year-old forward from New York is part of the inaugural roster for USL League One team Greenville Triumph.

“Shane is your typical graduate player from the United States,” Murphy said. “He’s a really good guy, a good professional and he’s very fit. He seems to be in the same type of mould as Jake Keegan and if he follows in his footsteps, we won’t be getting a bad player.”

During his time in Glassboro, N.J., Doherty collected a number of conference and regional honors and was a second-team All-American in 2017.

Galway United finished sixth in the League of Ireland First Division, the second level of soccer in the Republic of Ireland league system. The 2019 season kicks off for Galway United on February 22 when they host Shelbourne.