MIAMI (Aug. 23, 2019) - Anyone interested in a Panther success story should look no further than the ongoing rise of Paul Marie and Santiago Patino.
The two former FIU men's soccer standouts have climbed to the highest ranks of professional club soccer in the United States after sharing the pitch as FIU teammates for three years.
Both arrived on campus in 2015 — Marie as a sophomore and Patiño as a freshman — and helped lead the Panthers to one of the program's best seasons ever in 2017.
Marie went on to be selected No. 12 overall in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft by the San Jose Earthquakes, and in 2019 Patiño followed suit by becoming the highest drafted player FIU soccer has ever produced, going to Orlando City SC at No. 3.
Now, Marie plays for one of the best soccer clubs in the country alongside the likes of former MLS MVP Chris Wondolowski, who is the league's all-time leading goal scorer.
Patiño is back in the city where it all began for him in the U.S., sharing the field with MLS All-Star and USMNT member Dom Dwyer, and attempting to help Orlando City reach the post-season for the first time in its young history.
Both players took time to share their experiences on navigating life as Major League Soccer players.
"It feels great to play in Orlando again", said Patiño. "Orlando has been a club that has opened the door for me since I was there in the academy, and now they opened the doors again for me to be on the first-team."
Patiño moved to Orlando from his native country of Colombia when he was 11 years old, and has roots not only in the local community, but also with Orlando City SC after spending time as a youth developmental player for the organization.
"I have a lot of family here and friends," said Patiño. "That helps a lot with the transition, and for me to be here and be close to them, I'm really happy to be here."
Marie, a product of France, has been in the pro ranks for a year longer than Patiño but saw most of his game action during the 2018 campaign with Reno 1868 FC, the Division II affiliate of the Earthquakes.
"I would practice with the MLS all week, then travel on Fridays [with Reno] and come back on Sundays," said Marie. "It was a great experience for the first professional year. I had the chance to play all the friendlies up here with [the Earthquakes] and work with them all week long. It's always a good experience to learn, and to become better and better."
Now in his second professional season, Marie is a full-time participant with San Jose's first-team and focused on garnering maximum exposure in his reserve role. On July 6 versus Real Salt Lake, Marie earned his first-ever MLS assist in dramatic fashion as he setup the Earthquake's epic game winning-goal during stoppage time.
A day later on July 7, Patiño claimed his monumental first MLS goal during a battle against the Philadelphia Union.
"It's hard to forget because it's your first one ever," Patiño said of the special moment. "This year hasn't been easy. Looking for that goal the whole season, sometimes I'm not involved, sometimes I go for 10 minutes and for those 10 minutes we have to defend, so it hasn't really been easy for me. I was very happy that I was able to help the team and score this goal."
Marie and Patiño have gone from being the leaders of their squad at FIU, to young and inexperienced rookies in MLS. FIU men's soccer head coach Kevin Nylen, who helped guide the Panthers to a No. 8 national ranking and an undefeated regular season in 2017, offered effusive praise of both his former players.
"Santi, a goal scorer at night and a great person during the day," said Nylen. "He scored goals at FIU and he's working hard everyday with more experienced professionals to continue to improve. He's in a great environment and I know he does everything for his team."
As a Panther, Patiño was an All-American and a two-time recipient of the C-USA Golden Boot Award — an honor given to the conference's leading goal scorer. Marie garnered All-American status as well and cemented himself as one of the country's best collegiate players while with FIU.
"Paul is exceptional, a big time professional in how hard he works daily," said Nylen. "He continues to grow. He was always driven while with us, we loved him for it. He made all of us better."
Marie and Patiño agree that competing at the sport's highest level in the U.S. comes with differences and new challenges.
"There's a big jump from the USL [Championship] to the MLS," said Marie referring to his leap up from Division II. "When you become a professional, it's a family as well but it's more a job, whereas in college it's more of a passion. That would be the biggest difference I think."
"I think the biggest difference is it's faster," said Patiño. "There are more quality players. You kind of like start over again. My last few seasons [in college] I'm an upperclassmen and people look up to me, kind of like the leader or the captain. Now you're the young guy and you gotta earn your respect [and] nobody really gives you anything."
Now that minutes and goals are harder to come by, Marie is grateful for certain lessons he learned at FIU. He mentioned the values of selflessness and leadership as areas in which FIU helped him grow the most.
"If you put the team first, you'll end up successful," said Marie. "I think that's what helped me a lot and helped the team a lot [at FIU], is kind of like this value of putting the long-term goal in front of all your personal goals, and end up helping everybody. Thinking about the team first helped me feel better if I don't play [with San Jose]. If we win, it doesn't matter because it's the team first."
Each of the former Panthers seem happy to be with their current clubs yet look back on their FIU tenures with fond recollection.
"Those times where you could just hang out with friends in the middle of campus doing nothing," said Marie. "Just the group of guys that we had were very close friends. It was very good in terms of the relationships that I had, the people. It felt good to be a part of FIU. Overall, for me it was a great experience."
"I mean time goes by so fast," said Patiño reminiscing. "I was there for three and a half years in Miami and it went by really fast. I'll miss hanging out with my friends, always with them training every day. Miami is a really nice city, where you have the beach and a lot of things to do every day."
Although they no longer don the Blue & Gold, Marie and Patiño are still in constant communication with coach Nylen.
"We always stay in touch," said Patiño. "He's a busy man. I'm always also training or resting, but we always find a way to communicate, and make sure both of us are doing well."
"He's very good at keeping in touch and making time," said Marie. "People respected him and he respected them. Coach Kevin and his whole staff — Pat [Lopez], Ben [Mallue], before we had Jean [Camere], Scott [Calabrese] — all great persons, all great coaches. We always had a really good program. Everybody always enjoyed each other on the team.
Marie mentioned Nylen when asked if he leans on anybody for help as he navigates life as a professional player.
"Kevin is always good with that," said Marie. "Kind of like, understanding situations and explaining, not telling me what to do, but putting me on the right path to make the right decision. Even if he supports me in any decision, he's kind of orienting me. I leaned on Kevin a lot the last year that I was [at FIU], and even now when I have a question about something. He's my trusted guy."
Patiño spoke of how much he enjoyed his time at FIU, yet stated he does not miss the past due to how focused he is on the present moment with Orlando City, and helping the club earn a playoff spot.
In about a week's time, Marie and Patiño will meet on a soccer pitch for the first instance since leaving FIU, however this time in an effort to defeat one another, when the Quakes host Orlando City in California.
"He's a close friend," said Marie of Patiño. "It's even better when you're playing someone you know. We have a history together so it's really cool. It doesn't happen often so I'm going to enjoy that."
"That's going to be a special game for me," said Patiño of the upcoming match. "To be able to maybe play against each other, or be able to see him, it's going to be a nice experience. Probably going to try to change jerseys and take a picture together for the memories."
"But I mean, it's not going to be easy," reminded the competitive Marie, before quipping. "After the 90 minutes it can be easy."
Coach Nylen will assuredly be keeping tabs on the match when his two protégés face off for the first time in the MLS.
"I stay in touch with the two of them," said Nylen. "I get to watch two players whom I worked with play at the professional level, it's awesome following them. I could not be more thankful to be their friend and supporter."
As Major League Soccer continues to grow and develop within the United States, so does the FIU soccer program. The university is once again showing that it can serve as a stepping stone for young soccer athletes seeking a pathway to the professional ranks.
Marie and Patiño stand as the first FIU Panthers to ever be drafted within the first round in consecutive seasons, and they mark the first MLS draft selections for FIU since 2004.
"For FIU it's never been easy," said Marie. "But looking forward at it, the way we've been playing [and] the way the program has been developing, now two draftees over two years, the word is passing around. The more resources they bring to the program the better it will be. I have no doubt that it will be a top 10 program [again] in the future. "
"FIU has been really good for me and I'm always thankful," said Patiño. "Now that I look back, I was blessed to be there."
Marie and Patiño exemplify what can be achieved through the FIU pipeline and hope that others are beginning to take notice.
The two Panther greats will face off on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 10:30 p.m. EST from Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California.
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