After leaving UIC, where he would later return
to finish his finance degree, Pat ventured down to
Puerto Rico to trial for an expansion USL team,
but nothing came of it. Returning to the Chicago
area, Pat enlisted in Bridges FC, a program for
unsigned and out-of-contract players that gives
them the connections and visibility to different
clubs in hopes of signing a professional contract.
After a year of hard training with Bridges FC and
an international trial with Danish club HB Køge
that ended with a fractured ankle and a long layoff
for rehabilitation, Pat joined semi-pro Australian
team Wynnum District Wolves FC in 2011, along
with two other players from the program.
While gaining valuable game experience, Pat
found himself working a litany of jobs – from
cleaning the team’s clubhouse, to bartending, to
pouring concrete foundations – in order to keep
his prospects of playing professionally alive. He
featured an impressive 55 times over a pair of
seasons, winning the Brisbane-centric regular
season league title in his first year and taking the
playoff trophy the succeeding season, all while
earning Player of the Year honors. Although
Pat was a fan of the lifestyle and climate, he
had outgrown the league, and yet the option
of the A-League (Australia’s top division) was
unlikely due to the gauntlet of paperwork and
visas needed to become a full professional. On a
trip abroad with Bridges FC to the quite literally
polar opposite side of the globe, Pat earned his
first professional contract.
Ljungskile, Sweden, is home to an eponymous
club, which has been in the nation’s second
division most of its existence. Ljungskile Sport
Klub signed Pat ahead of their 2013 campaign,
having previously penned Pat Hopkins, a
teammate of Pat’s in Australia. Bringing his
imposing presence in defense, Pat helped shore
up the injury-blighted team’s defense, and the
team maintained their second-division status
despite having stared down the possibility of
relegation.
Pat returned home after his contract wasn’t
renewed for the following season. Having
played abroad for the last three years, he sought
something closer to home and an opportunity to
trial with the Rochester Rhinos came up.
In Pat’s first season with the Rhinos in 2014, he
took part in 26 contests en route to a sixth place
regular season finish and an appearance in the
playoff quarterfinals. Following a competition
restructuring in the league for the 2015 season
(largely due to an influx of expansion teams,
including Louisville City), the Rhinos dominated
in the newly formed Eastern Conference. In 28
regular season league games, the Rhinos conceded
only 15 goals and lost just once before going on to
top LouCity in the Conference Championship. Pat
and company would then go on to edge Western
Conference representatives LA Galaxy II in an
extra time USL Final, thanks in large part to Pat’s
presence in the back line, which ran to 27 starts,
including going all 120 minutes in the Final, a
record that Pat hangs his hat on.
Finding himself again out of contract after the
2015 Championship season, he joined upstarts
FC Cincinnati for the following season, and again
found himself well up the team sheet, netting 27
appearances in the league. After a big turnover
in players between the 2016 and 2017 seasons,
Pat remained in the squad but found himself
surplus to requirements with only 92 minutes
of playing time on the 2017 season.
Following the path of his former teammate
Luke Spencer, who switched the year previous,
Pat swapped sides of the USL’s most exciting
rivalry and is now a member of LouCity’s team,
fortifying the already formidable defense that
counts Sean Totsch (a former teammate in
Rochester and his roommate for this season)
and Paco Craig as centerpieces, as well as fellow
signee and first-year pro Alexis Souahy.
Thanks in part to his being a native of the
Chicago area, Pat enjoys listening to Motown
and blues music, and collecting records in
down time. Fueled by his years abroad, Pat
also enjoys traveling in the offseason and seeing
old friends. During the season, he likes to bond
with teammates, something that will keep him
in good stead with Coach O’Connor.
For what some may call a “journeyman career,”
Pat has been successful most of the places he
has played and presents an eminently likeable
personality. He considers himself fortunate to
have been on a number of strong sides, and on
top of all of that, he will definitely move the needle
when it comes to follicle excellence.
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