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UW-Green Bay reunion in Milwaukee: Torrent sign three Phoenix alums

10/27/2015, 4:45pm CDT
By ERIC ANDERSON
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The Milwaukee Torrent certainly will have a UW-Green Bay flavor when they kick off their inaugural season next spring.

The American Soccer League expansion team announced its three latest signings in the past few days, and they're all former Phoenix players: Right back Stuart Grable (Neenah/UW-Green Bay) and midfielders Tony Patterson (Menomonee Falls/UW-Green Bay) and A.J. Patterson (Menomonee Falls/UW-Green Bay).

"I'm absolutely excited that we have all these guys on the Torrent," team owner and coach Andreas Davi said of the trio, who join forwards James Weber (Hartford) and Ian Bennett and midfielder Luke Goodnetter (Brookfield East/UW-Milwaukee) on the roster.

Four of the six players the Torrent have signed - Grable, the Patterson brothers and Goodnetter - played together at UW-Green Bay in 2011; Goodnetter then transferred to UW-Milwaukee to finish his college career. 

Grable is from the Fox Valley, but has plenty of Milwaukee connections. He played club soccer with FC Milwaukee (now FC Wisconsin Nationals), was part of the Milwaukee Bavarians' National Premier Soccer League team in 2010 and spent time with Franklin-based Croatian Eagles after his college career.

Grable was the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association and Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year in 2007 after leading Neenah High School to the WIAA Division 1 state title. He finished with two goals and 14 assists in 77 appearances for UW-Green Bay, earning second-team, All-Horizon League honors as a senior in 2011 after leading the league with seven assists. Grable also was with the West Virginia Chaos in the USL Premier Development League in 2014, posting three assists in 10 games.

Holding midfielder Tony Patterson, who also played with Grable at FC Milwaukee and with the Bavarians in the NPSL, had four goals and one assist in 70 appearances at Green Bay from 2008 to '11. A.J. Patterson, meanwhile, had two goals and four assists in 59 games for the Phoenix from 2011 to '14.

"For me, Tony is a holding midfielder. I know him well, I know what we're getting," Davi said of the brothers, who also played together with Croatian Eagles. "A.J. is a more offensive player. ... I saw quite a few of his college games. You can play him wide, you can play him anywhere in the attacking midfield."

  • The Torrent also announced plans to play a friendly against the University of Wisconsin men's team in April at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee as part of the Badgers' spring exhibition schedule. The team is in discussions with Marquette about another exhibition game, Davi said.
  • And the Torrent's first open tryout, with four goalkeepers and 28 field players looking to earn contracts, started last Friday night but ended after just 20 minutes due to a power outage at Uihlein. The tryout was rescheduled for tonight.

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