The clock had struck zero. They’d done it. A childhood dream fulfilled — they were national champions.
Doody, a senior defender on the IU men’s soccer team, almost didn’t come to IU.
A native of Naperville, Ill., Doody was recruited by current IU soccer Coach Todd Yeagley, who, at the time, was the head coach at Wisconsin. He had not been recruited much by IU.
Doody was almost ready to make his decision to go play for Yeagley and be a Badger when Yeagley accepted the head coaching position at IU, his alma mater.
After taking the job, Yeagley knew he had one recruit to call.
“I’ll never forget,” Doody said. “I was coming home from Wisconsin with my dad, and we had heard about the previous staff at IU getting let go, and it was an interesting situation. I loved Wisconsin; I knew some guys there. I really liked the coach. Then (Yeagley) called and said, ‘Hey, I want you to come to IU.’
“It was the coolest thing ever. Just the way it happened. It’s everybody’s dream to come to IU, so the fact that coach still wanted me at IU, that meant a lot to me, and it was a no-brainer at that point.”
As soon as he got off the phone, all of the other schools were out. He was headed to IU.
“I saw him as a very dynamic attacking outside back, and he’s proven to be just that,” Yeagley said. “I really liked him as a kid, and I knew he’d be a great team player and leader down the line.”
Doody had toured IU and said he loved the campus and all of its academic opportunities. He had friends that attended IU in prior years and, on top of it all, IU had one of the most prestigious soccer programs in the country. He couldn’t say no.
In his freshman season, he made a list of season and career goals. One of those goals was to become team captain.
At the beginning of this season, he was able to check the captain goal off his list.
“You ask who’s a great teammate, and that’s Patrick,” Yeagley said. “It makes him a very effective leader because he looks out for everyone else. He doesn’t cut corners. He puts the team first and foremost, and those are the types of things that you want. He leaves it out there every day.”
Yeagley calls Doody a leader on and off the field and added that he’s become an excellent defender after being moved to defense from the midfield his freshman season.
Despite his defensive position, his attacking mindset still remains. He has two goals this season, including a highlight reel shot against UCF from 25 yards out that tweeters were calling to be on Sportscenter’s Top 10 plays.
“I sometimes think I’m still a midfielder when I say I want to score five to 10 goals a year,” Doody said. “I’m still kind of on pace for that, so we’ll see.”
Doody has left an impression on teammates as a guy with fiery celebrations, including one after IU’s win against Notre Dame in the 2012 Sweet 16.
“He went to go hug a few guys after the game, and you could tell he wanted to hug like five guys but he kept running in circles like he wasn’t sure who to go to,” Yeagley said. “The video is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.”
Another goal of Doody’s is to make sure he stays happy and enjoys playing soccer every day here at IU. To this day he said he loves every minute of representing the Hoosiers.
“He’s got great zest for life,” Yeagley said. “He wants to be better, he has a positive outlook and that’s contagious to a team. That’s what I really liked about him. He wants to win. He’s passionate about every opportunity and I really like that.”
In 2012, the Hoosiers won their eighth national title in school history. Doody was a starter on that team and assisted on the game-winning goal in the final against Georgetown.
Now, two years later, he wants to lead this team to the school’s ninth national championship. Currently ranked No. 1 in the RPI and No. 5 in the coach’s poll, the Hoosiers have high expectations.
“We have six games left,” Doody said. “We have a Big Ten tournament to play in and hopefully an NCAA tournament. We weren’t ranked at the beginning of the year. We’re ranked now. The rankings don’t matter, let alone in mid-October. Staying concentrated is not an issue for this team. We know what we want, and that’s still far from being achieved.”
After his career is over at IU, Doody hopes to make it in the MLS like many of his teammates before him. A part of the Chicago Fire Academy team before college, he said his dream would be to play for the Fire, his hometown team.
But first thing’s first for the captain. He’s got another title on his mind before looking at turning professional.
“I’m going to give it a run,” Doody said. “I’m graduating in December, a semester early in hopes of doing that. But there’s still a lot of business I have to finish here before I worry about that.”
Described by Yeagley as a great leader, a great teammate and a great representative for IU soccer, Doody’s passion for the game and the school he plays for is still as high as ever.
“I still get goose bumps when I get to put my jersey on,” Doody said. “I think that’s how it should be for everyone. It’s such an incredible opportunity to be here. I’m very grateful for it. It really does mean a lot to me. The fact that I get to tell people I play soccer for Indiana; it’s the coolest thing ever every time I get to say it.”
