Wasilla nets new soccer coach; longtime Minnesota prep coach takes over girls' squad

WASILLA — Until he moved to Alaska nearly eight years ago, soccer was a huge part of Patrick O’Neill’s life.

His parents helped form a youth association in his home state of Minnesota. He was an all-state striker at St. Cloud-Apollo High and played at Bethany College in Mankato, Minn. Later, he returned to coach his high school alma mater for 14 seasons.

O’Neill took a break from the sport after his move to Alaska. But recently, he donated some of his time to a local youth program. It was enough to get O’Neill thinking about a return to the field. Coincidentally, the day after O’Neill told his wife he was ready to jump back into the game, he saw an advertisement in the Frontiersman about Wasilla High’s search for a soccer coach.

It’s like it was meant to be.

A few weeks later, O’Neill was named head coach of the Wasilla High School girls soccer program.

“I think I got the fever back,” O’Neill said Saturday. “It’s always been a big part of my life.”

O’Neill replaces former coach Amber Craig, who stepped down after the 2011 season to focus on parenthood, and takes over a program that’s made five straight trips to the state tournament.

Wasilla graduated a strong group of seniors, but O’Neill said he’s excited to lead the Warriors into a new era.

“We’ve got a nice, strong crop of seniors and a really good group of freshmen,” O’Neill said. “It’s kind of an interesting way to get back into coaching I didn’t know anything about the history of the team, but I know I’m happy to be at Wasilla just because the level of all their sports programs. I want to make sure the girls soccer program can be looked at as a perennial challenger for the conference championship.”

During his 14 years at St. Cloud-Apollo, O’Neill helped build the school’s boys’ soccer program into an annual contender. O’Neill’s teams won three conference titles and once had a 30-game conference winning streak. The Eagles also finished as region runner-ups four times, and had 10 straight winning seasons. He holds a 172-61-17 career record as a head coach at Apollo.

O’Neill said he also prided himself on helping his athletes move to the college level.

“I had probably 30 guys who went on and played in college,” O’Neill said.

That’s a trend he hopes to continue at Wasilla.

“If they tell me they want to play college soccer, it’s my responsibility to get them to that point,” he said.

O’Neill has spent ample time leading soccer clinics throughout Minnesota.

O’Neill’s ties to soccer were formed very early in his life. His father was a college Spanish professor, he said, and his family spent time in Mexico and Spain when he was young. He picked up the game in Mexico. When his family returned to Minnesota, his parents were among a group that helped form what now is the Central Minnesota Youth Soccer Association.

“It started with four sets of parents and now there are 4,000 people,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill played on the first varsity team in the history of the St. Cloud-Apollo boys soccer program and was named first-team all-state as a player. After two years of college soccer, he suffered a career-ending leg injury. After coaching a boys travel team for a few summers, his high school coach left St. Cloud-Apollo.

At age 23, O’Neill was named the head coach of his alma mater and stayed for 14 years.

O’Neill also was an assistant girls hockey coach and head coach of the girls golf team during his time in St. Cloud.

Even though he spent the bulk of his time coaching high school boys, with his experience coaching girls hockey and golf, O’Neill jumped at the chance to coach at Wasilla.

“I didn’t even hesitate,” O’Neill said. “The sport is the sport. There are definitely different ways to communicate, but in my experience, athletes want to be coached like athletes.”

After the urging of a longtime friend, O’Neill came to Alaska to experience something new.

“I came to see if I liked it, and I did. Just like a lot of people, I came to check it out and never left,” O’Neill said.

With a wife and young daughter, O’Neill has set his roots in the Valley and said he wants to continue to become more of a part of the community. He already has a tie with local sports. He spent more than a year as the marketing director for the Alaska Avalanche and started PROmotions Marketing in the Valley.

O’Neill and his wife also own and operate Marcie’s Mojo.

Wasilla High activities director Paul Cossette said he is impressed with what O’Neill has to offer.

“He’s got a lot of experience,” Cossette said. “With his enthusiasm and passion, and his background as far as leading a top-quality program, he’s going to be a good fit.”

Wasilla opens its season April 12 against the Colony Knights.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.