Avery Patterson (soccer)

Avery Jean Patterson (born June 14, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays for the Houston Dash of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels. She was selected by the Dash in the 2024 NWSL Draft.

Early life
Patterson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, to Lori and Andrew Patterson. She comes from an American football family, including her father, who played sprint football for the US Naval Academy, and one of her great uncles, who played for the Los Angeles Rams and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Patterson began playing soccer at age four. Mostly a center midfielder in her youth, she played club soccer for Florida Elite Soccer Academy's youth team and was named the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) Southeast Player of the Year in 2018. She played high school soccer as a midfielder at the Bolles School, winning three straight FHSAA championships from 2018 to 2020. She also ran varsity cross country and track in high school.

College career
Patterson played for the North Carolina Tar Heels as variously a defender, midfielder, and forward. After missing the 2020 regular season due to injury, she scored five goals as a sophomore at fullback in 2021. As a junior, she led the team with 13 goals and was named to the All-ACC second team. Two of her goals were in the 2022 NCAA tournament title game, where North Carolina lost to UCLA 3–2 in overtime. She scored nine goals as a senior co-captain and was named third-team All-American and first-team All-ACC.

Houston Dash, 2024–
The Houston Dash selected Patterson with the 19th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NWSL Draft. She was signed to a three-year contract. She made her debut as a starter in the Dash's season opener at the North Carolina Courage on March 16. She recorded her first NWSL assist, to Ramona Bachmann, in a home win over the Courage on May 24.

International career
Patterson trained at United States national under-14 team camps in 2016. In her debut for the national under-20 team in August 2022, she scored four goals in the first half against Puerto Rico at the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. She played friendlies for the under-23 team against three NWSL teams in the 2023 preseason.