July 28, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. ââ’¬” University of Notre Dame men’s soccer senior tri-captain Patrick Hodan will be adding an additional summer detour to his schedule before returning to campus for the 2015 Fighting Irish season.
Hodan was one of 28 players called in by United States Under-23 Men’s National Team head coach Andi Herzog for a College Identification camp that will take place Aug. 5-8 at the U.S. National Training Center in Carson, California. The camp will allow the U.S. Men’s National Team to scout additional collegiate players in preparation for 2016 Summer Olympics qualifying matches this October, ahead of the games next summer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“Any award that our individuals get, I feel, is an award to the team,” Notre Dame head coach Bobby Clark said. “Everybody connected with our program, be it players, coaches, administrators and fans, they all take a bit of pride that Patrick was selected.”
Hodan returns for his senior season with the Fighting Irish after leading all Notre Dame players with nine goals and 21 points in 21 matches (12 starts) in 2014. Hodan was named the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Offensive Player of the Year and ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, was a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America first team choice, and was tabbed to the Capital One Academic All-America first team.
“It would have been a tragedy if Patrick wasn’t selected for the camp, as a first team All-American, an academic All-American and the offensive player of the year in possibly the strongest soccer conference in the country,” Clark said. “I think his credentials stood out. We’re delighted and I think he will represent us very well.”
Hodan answered a successful 2012 freshman campaign (six goals and five assists in 22 matches) by becoming a breakout star during Notre Dame’s debut season in the ACC as a sophomore in 2013. He scored 11 goals and added five assists as one of the top offensive players on the first Fighting Irish NCAA Championship winning team in program history.
Hodan is Notre Dame’s active leader with 26 goals and 65 points from his midfield position, and has represented the Fighting Irish on all-ACC teams (second team in 2013, first team in 2014) during the program’s first two seasons as a conference member.
The training invitation to the identification camp will give Hodan the opportunity to showcase his skills in front of an influential sect of the U.S. national team program.
“The head coach with this group (Herzog) is also the Olympic coach and one of (Jürgen) Klinsmann’s assistants, so if you do well you never know where it might take you,” Clark said. “Jordan Morris from Stanford, the U.S. National Team was training at Stanford before going to the World Cup last year and they needed some players to make up numbers for some of the drills. He was called in and, before he knew where he was, he was a college player on the national team.”
Using Morris’ example as a collegiate player who has already logged multiple caps with the full national team after making the most of his own opportunities, Clark believes that Hodan has the potential to leave a similar impression on the U.S. Soccer brass.
“(Morris’) statistics weren’t nearly as good as Patrick’s, but he was in the right place at the right time,” Clark said, “It’s up to Patrick to go there and perform well. You never know where it might take him.
“Patrick will graduate in three and a half years with around a 3.9 grade point average in finance, and he will be possibly looking to go into the MLS,” Clark added. “This is a nice little step for him, and hopefully it gets him excited. Patrick will come back and be a very important player for us in the season ahead.”
U.S. Soccer College Identification Training Camp Roster
August 5-8
U.S. National Training Center
Carson, California
GOALKEEPERS (4): Wade Hamilton (Cal Poly; Murrieta, Calif.), Jonathan Klinsmann (California; Newport Beach, Calif.), Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara; Santa Rosa, Calif.), Andrew Tarbell (Clemson; Mandeville, La.).
DEFENDERS (9): Jonathan Campbell (North Carolina; Greensboro, N.C.), Alex Crognale (Maryland; Gahanna, Ohio), Chase Gasper (UCLA; Alexandria, Va.), Tomas Hilliard-Arce (Stanford, Matthews, N.C.), Grant Lillard (Indiana; Hinsdale, Ill.), Jakob Nerwinski (Connecticut; Lawrenceville, N.J.), Chris Odoi-Atsem (Maryland; Mitchellville, Md.), Sam Strong (UCSB; Santa Barbara, Calif.), Brandon Vincent (Stanford; Valencia, Calif.).
MIDFIELDERS (10): Corey Baird (Stanford; Escondido, Calif.). Andrew Brody (Louisville; Orlando, Fla.), Mael Corboz (Maryland; Green Brook, N.J.), Niko Hansen (New Mexico; Sacramento, Calif.), Ian Harkes (Wake Forest; Fairfax, Va.), Patrick Hodan (Notre Dame; Brookfield, Wis.), James Moberg (Washington; Windsor, Calif.), Adam Najem (Akron; Clifton, N.J.), Keegan Rosenberry (Georgetown; Ronks, Pa.), Jake Rozhansky (Virginia; Germantown, Md.).
FORWARDS (5): Michael Gamble (Wake Forest; Columbia, Md.), Connor Maloney (Penn State; Harrisburg, Pa.), Alex Muyl (Georgetown; New York, N.Y.), Paul Salcedo (Cal; Inglewood, Calif.), Mac Steeves (Providence; Needham, Mass.).
–ND–
— Tony Jones, Athletics Communications Assistant