ROGERS — Skylurr Patrick achieved one goal of playing Division I college soccer when she signed with Purdue in February, but the senior has some work left to do before she leaves Rogers High.
Patrick is hoping to lead the Lady Mounties to a Class 7A state title and that journey begins Friday when Rogers (16-5-1) takes on the Conway-Rogers Heritage winner at 4 p.m. in the state tournament quarterfinals on its home turf at Whitey Smith Stadium.
She didn’t play for Rogers the past two seasons, opting instead to play for the Tulsa Hurricanes club team in order to test herself against some of top players in the country, after excelling as a freshman at Rogers.
Lady Mounties coach Aaron Crouch said getting an elite player to blend with the team wasn’t always easy, but it’s worked out well in the end.
“I knew that it would take time,” Crouch said. “We went through some patches where we weren’t sure it was going to work or where we thought it could work. It was up and down for a little while, but in the end, once we started playing it really helped a lot.
“It really allowed her to blend in and find her fit.”
Patrick has been a prolific scorer to the tune of 39 goals and 11 assists this season. She scored three goals in less than five minutes in one 7A-West match and three in less than nine minutes in another.
“The way she would lead training also, but also lead the younger kids, the freshman and sophomores, it was pretty clear she needed to be one of our captains.”
— Rogers High girls soccer coach Aaron Crouch
But her leadership qualities became apparent quickly, Crouch said.
“The way she would lead training also, but also lead the younger kids, the freshman and sophomores, it was pretty clear she needed to be one of our captains. Her leadership as far as her performance, but also bringing some of the younger kids up and setting an expectation that I want to set for our program for the next four years.”
The Lady Mounties made the state tournament a year ago but lost in the first round. Crouch said his team definitely peaked too early in his first year as coach a year ago and struggled late in the season. He made some changes in several aspects of training to make sure the team was strong late.
“I had a brief fear of did I change enough, but the fact that we’ve had a really good second half and I haven’t seen any worries or concerns of peaking too early this year,” Crouch said.
Crouch talked to Patrick early on about setting the example daily in practice and setting the bar high for a team with great potential.
“I told her ‘When you train and even if not everybody’s there it doesn’t matter,’” Crouch said. “Because I can show what it should look like. That allowed me to set that expectation by just going ‘Do you see how hard she’s training? Do you see for two hours, she never quits? She doesn’t want to lose running to the water bottles.’”
Patrick understood she had to prove herself to her new teammates, and there was a certain amount of pressure that comes with being that example.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself coming into it,” Patrick said. “There were freshmen coming in on the team, and I did want to be the best that I could be for them because I can see they’re gonna go far with soccer as well. I just wanted to show them through game or practices this is kinda how it is. They responded well, stepped up, and I love playing with them.
“That was just the pressure just showing up all the time, because there’s gonna be off days. I feel like every time I step onto the field I have something to prove.”
Crouch said Patrick never backed away from any challenge this season.
“I think that giving her more expectations actually played in her favor,” Crouch said. “She likes to have the goal laid out in black and white. She’s like ‘What do you want, how do I do it, and I’ll make it happen.’ That’s the way she is.”
Paul Boyd can be reached at pboyd@ nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAPaulb.
SKYLURR PATRICK
SCHOOL
Rogers High
CLASS Senior
HEIGHT 5-7
NOTABLE Signed to play soccer at Purdue University… Finished with 20 goals as a freshman and was named All-NWADG Newcomer of the Year. … Currently has 39 goals and 11 assists heading into the state tournament later this week.