UMBC men’s lacrosse senior attackman Trevor Patschorke recently spoke to PressBox about starting his playing career in Florida, how he bounced back from an ACL tear as a freshman at UMBC and more. The Severna Park, Md., native had 53 points (33 goals, 20 assists) in 2019 and 16 points (9 goals, 7 assists) in the shortened 2020 season. The Severna Park graduate also had a decorated high school career, leading the Falcons to two MPSSAA Class 4A state titles.
PressBox: How did you become interested in lacrosse?
Trevor Patschorke: My dad, [Tom], played when he was growing up. He’s from the Towson area. I started playing in fourth grade in Tampa, Fla. It was a little different when I first started playing down there, but my dad met a couple other guys from Maryland down there and helped start a program. That’s how I began.
PB: When did you move to Maryland?
TP: I moved back during my fifth-grade year, so I started playing up in Maryland starting in middle school.
PB: Who was the biggest influence on your game growing up?
TP: My biggest direct influences were probably Ben Hunt and Drew Westervelt, a UMBC alum who coached me when I was like in middle school and high school. I definitely liked watching a lot of film as I got older, as I started to get into high school — a lot of Jordan Wolf. I play a very similar style to him, so definitely watched a lot of him growing up.
PB: What’s your favorite memory from playing at Severna Park High School?
TP: Probably the end of my senior year, going on a run, capping off a great few years there. Winning our second straight state championship was definitely an experience I’ll never forget.
PB: Why did you choose to come to UMBC?
TP: I was a little bit of a later recruit, when [head coach Ryan Moran] got hired there. I remember just being on my visit, speaking to Coach Moran, meeting some of the guys on the team. It felt like home. I committed the same day I visited.
PB: What’s your favorite memory so far at UMBC?
TP: Favorite memory so far was probably winning the America East championship in 2019. The season just had so many ups and downs, highs and lows. It really just felt like that team was something special. That was definitely a moment that kind of captured it all.
PB: How challenging was knee surgery and rehab early in your college career?
TP: During my freshman year at UMBC in 2018, I tore my [right] ACL and ended up playing a couple games while it was still torn and then eventually I had to get surgery on it. It was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my sports career, coming back from that. The main reason I was able to come back from that — and I feel like the exact same player, if not better and stronger — was definitely the people who helped me rehab. Stacy Carone, our director of sports medicine, played a huge role in that, and our coaching staff being super accommodating and doing everything they could to help me get back out there.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about UMBC and Catonsville?
TP: It’s not too big of a school. You get to meet a lot of people on campus. Definitely pretty close with your professors, get to instill a lot of relationships. [Outside] the school, you kind of get a little bit of that smaller-town vibe, definitely in the immediate area around campus. But then you’re only like 10 minutes from Baltimore in the city, so you definitely get the best of both worlds.
PB: Who is your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
TP: Kind of a unique thing is that there are so many guys from Severna Park [like me] that are on the team. My best friends are definitely my roommates Michael and Steven Zichelli [and] Jack Thomas. And then Cian Chung, who’s no longer on the team, is definitely one of my best friends that’s been through the program. I think him and I going through knee surgery at the same time definitely brought us closer, and then outside of that I’d say Ryan Frawley and I have really developed a close relationship over the last couple years, him being kind of like an older brother to me.
PB: On that note, who was a player you looked up to early in your career at UMBC?
TP: Definitely Frawley’s one of them — more of one that I’ve just had a close relationship with. Some of the guys that I really looked up to when I first got here were Gunnar Schimoler, Jason Brewster and Billy Nolan. [They] were the three that were always stuck out in my mind as leaders and people I wanted to be like and do the right thing.
PB: What advice would you give to younger players?
TP: I’d say you get out of lacrosse what you invest into it, but more importantly focus on not just the actual aspect of lacrosse but just like the relationships you build [in the sport]. It’ll take you pretty far in life and they’re pretty special.
PB: What are your goals for after lacrosse?
TP: So right now, [COVID] has thrown a little bit of a wrench into it with extra years of eligibility and trying to figure it out. [I’m] studying political science and pre-law at UMBC, so trying to focus on probably a career in a legal field after UMBC.
PB: What did you do last spring as far as lacrosse after the season was canceled?
TP: Spent a lot of time just working out, running, going to the field when I could find a goal that was open. Spent a lot more time watching film — definitely took advantage of that.
Photo Credit: Chuck Medani (for UMBC Athletics)