POST UNIVERSITY'S PAT KIELY - SERVING HIS COUNTRY

September 21, 2005

Courtesy of John Addyman - Voices

WATERBURY, CT - On a gorgeous Saturday afternoon a week ago, Patrick Kiely was working hard to help his Post University teammates get the ball into the Dallas Baptist University net. This Saturday, he was in Louisiana, providing added security in Katrina-devastated areas. He's a member of the Army National Guard.

Just a few nights ago, he was busing tables at Constantine's in Woodbury. This week, he will be working in the fetid, receding waters that Lake Pontchartrain and the bayous and rivers had dumped into New Orleans.

"He left last night," said Patrick's dad, Joseph Kiely, on Saturday morning. "He's going to be staying at the airport, providing security."

Patrick is a member of the 102nd Infantry, Army National Guard, headquartered in New Haven. He signed up while he was still in high school, part of a military family.

Joseph Kiely was in the Marines, then spent 25 years in the National Guard, retiring as a major. Patrick's brother, Christopher, is in the Marine Reserves. Patrick's mom, Beth, is a nurse.

"Both boys grew up seeing the military life, and with his brother joining the Marines, Patrick followed me into the National Guard and his brother into the military," said Joseph. "He and Christopher are pretty close. I think he wanted to go into the service because Christopher already had. They grew up with me in it.

"He chose Post University because he was in the military and he needed to be close," his dad said. "The former coach at Post had recruited him for soccer. Patrick does very well in a small-college environment. He made dean's list last semester."

Patrick is now a sophomore at Post, a criminal justice major and a stalwart on the Eagle soccer team. A graduate of Nonnewaug, he played on the varsity soccer team for three years. Nonnewaug won the Berkshire League title every year Patrick was there. He and his teammates were state champions in 2002 and got to the semifinals in his senior year, when he was a captain. He has also settled into an on-the-field leadership position for the Eagles, who are 2-2 this season. During the game with Dallas Baptist, it was clear who the stopper back was for the Eagles. When Patrick had the chance to move the ball upfield, the rest of his teammates got on their toes.

Coach Ted Haley, a young guy in his first collegiate assignment, already has strong feelings about the sophomore back.

"GI is such a strong figure on our back line," he said. That's what his teammates and coaches call Patrick - "GI."

"We rely on him as our man marker," said Coach Haley. "He will step up and take the other team's best forward out of action. We've asked him to be a bit more offensive-minded when he has the chance. He's pretty good with the ball. He's one of those guys we knew we could rely on from the first day because of his attitude as a player - he's very disciplined."

Joseph Kiely had the perfect opportunity to watch his son develop as a soccer player.

"I started coaching him when he was 5 years-old," the elder Kiely said, "Patrick and his brother. They both played soccer and they were both on the team that won the state championship at Nonnewaug. At Nonnewaug, he was a midfielder and he's been on several premier teams, usually as a forward. He has a pretty good sense of the game. He's always been a knowledgeable player. Now he and his friends spend a lot of time playing FIFA computer soccer. I think it really helped him learn a lot of strategy, on how you have to anticipate what's going on."

For Patrick, settling in at Post has been a pleasure. He knows he has a parallel existence - one foot in college, the other in the military. He fully expects to be in Afghanistan sometime next year. In the Guard, he's normally tasked as an artillery forward observer.

On the soccer field, he can survey the game from the back of the field, and he enjoys his teammates.

"The personality of this team is really good," he said. "It's really diverse. We have people from a number of different countries [Israel, Ireland, Jamaica and Togo]. When we go through our warm-ups, we count to 15 in the drills in different languages. We hang out together, we go to meals together. I think the team is a lot better than it was last year. We're holding the ball better and getting more scoring chances. And on this team, it seems, everyone steps up to take a leadership role."

Patrick lives at home and commutes to classes, but spends a lot of time on campus.

"College has been a lot of fun," he said. "I like it here. All the classes are small, every teacher knows your name and you're not just a number in a huge class."

His after-college plans? To join the FBI or be a state trooper.

Against Dallas Baptist, the Eagles kept the ball on the other side of the field for three-quarters of the game and outshot Dallas, 16-13. The Eagles had enough decent scoring chances to make it a 6-0 game, but lost, 2-1. The only Post score came on a penalty kick by Brett Parry in the 16th minute, from there on, Post dominated, but Dallas scored.

"We let in two soft goals," said Patrick, shaking his head. "That shouldn't have happened."

Coach Haley looked at pretty much the same way. "We need someone to step up, take charge and score goals," he said. "We just don't have that killer instinct in the final third of the field, from the 18-yard line in we just run out of ideas."

The loss Last Saturday was the second in three games. Since then, the Eagles knocked off Georgian Court College, 2-1, and remain winless at home and undefeated on the road. That will change.

Patrick will be in Louisiana for two weeks, he was told.

"He has already spoken to all his professors," Joseph said. "They'll hold all his stuff for him and when he comes back, he'll make it all up."

And he added one line about Patrick. "We're all very proud of him."