Avery Patterson

Senior Avery Patterson, left, and junior Emily Colton celebrate UNC's win over Towson in Friday's first round of the 2023 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship at Dorrance Field.

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

Avery Patterson
University of North Carolina Women's Soccer v UCLA
Dorrance Field
Chapel Hill, NC
Sunday, September 4, 2022

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

Position:
Forward/Midfielder
Height:
5-6
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Jacksonville, Fla.
High School:
Bolles School

Selected with the fifth pick in the second round (19th overall) by Houston Dash in the 2024 NWSL Draft

Senior Season (2023)
United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-America • United Soccer Coaches All-Atlantic Region First Team • All-ACC First Team • ACC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 12 • Served as team co-captain • Played in 22 matches, starting them all • Logged 1,453 minutes, highlighted by a season-high 90 vs. Pitt in the first round of the ACC Tournament • Averaged 69.3 minutes across four games during the NCAA Tournament • Capped off her senior campaign with nine goals, two assists and 20 points • Ranked second on the team with nine goals and 20 points • Had a brace vs. Syracuse on Senior Day, the third of her career • Scored in three straight games against SEC powerhouses Arkansas, South Carolina and Alabama • Also netted goals vs. Cal, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Towson • Dished out assists vs. Gardner-Webb and Miami • Took 43 shots, 21 which were on frame • Ranked No. 40 on Top Drawer Soccer’s Midseason Top-100 Players to Watch list • Selected to United Soccer Coaches’ preseason Forwards to Watch list.

Junior Season (2022)
Named United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-Atlantic Region • Second Team All-ACC • ACC All-Tournament Team • College Cup all-tournament team • ACC All-Academic Team • College Sports Communicators Academic All-District • Started all 26 matches • Logged 1,682 minutes, averaging 64.7 minutes per match • Led the team with 13 goals, fifth-most in the ACC • Ranked third in the ACC and first on the team in total points with 34, 11th-most in Division I • Tied for eighth in the conference in total assists (8) and ninth in assists per game (0.31) • Tenth in the league with three game-winning goals, second-most on the team • Scored six goals in the first five matches of the season with a brace at Texas • Netted game-winning goals versus Texas, Baylor and UCF • Assisted on both of UNC's goals against Virginia • Assisted on each of the Tar Heels' game-winning goal in their first three matches of the NCAA Tournament (Old Dominion, Georgia, BYU) • Dished out a career-best three assists against BYU • Recorded her second brace of the season with a pair of the goals in the national title match versus UCLA • Played all 200 minutes of the College Cup, plus all 90 minutes against Notre Dame in the quadrant final.

United States U-20 WYNT (2022)
Named to the U.S. Under-23 Women's National Team in March 2023 • Competed for Team USA in the Under-20 Concacaf World Championships in the Dominican Republic and the Sud Ladies Cup in France • Scored four goals, all in the first half, and added an assist against Puerto Rico in the Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship becoming the seventh player in tournament history to score four goals in a game • Scored a goal against Haiti in the Concacaf opener • Nailed the game-tying (4-4) penalty kick against The Netherlands in the final of the Sud Ladies Cup.

Sophomore Season (2021)
Started all 17 games which she played • Missed the game against NC State due to injury • Ranked fourth on the team in minutes played with 1,392 • Tied for second on the squad in goals scored (5) • One of four players on the team to finish the season with double digit points, ranking third with 13 • Led the Tar Heels with three game-winning goals (Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame) • Her overtime goal against Notre Dame gave coach Anson Dorrance his 900th win as the UNC women's soccer coach • Recorded two shots on goal in five games with three total shots in three games • Assisted on goal against Illinois, Northwestern and Miami • Played every minute of matches against Ohio State (90), Northwestern (90), Stanford (96), Florida State (110), Notre Dame (101) and South Carolina (90).

Freshman Season (2020-21)
Didn’t see any game action in the fall due to injury • Played and started seven games in the spring, which included a three complete games • Recorded a season-high two shots at Tennessee in a 7-0 win • Registered her third shot of the season against Villanova on April 1 • Played every minute against Santa Clara in the NCAA College Cup.

High School
Attended The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla. • ECNL Southeast Player of the Year in 2018 • ECNL All American in 2018 • United Coaches Alliance All American in 2018 • ECNL Southeast All Conference in 2019 • ECNL National Training Camps in 2018 and 2019 • Member of the girl's varsity cross country, soccer, track and field teams • Inducted into the National Honors Society and the Spanish National Honors Society.

Personal
Daughter of Lori and Andrew Patterson • Born June 14, 2002 in Jacksonville, Fla. • Father, uncle, and two great uncles played college football (U.S. Naval Academy sprint football; Fairleigh Dickinson University; University of Michigan; and Ohio State University, respectively) • Great uncle played for the Rams and is in the NFL Hall of Fame.