Legends FC: Has it always been your goal to be a professional goalkeeper?
Patrick: Yes, it has always been my goal to become a professional soccer player. Most kids in first grade when asked what they wanted to be when they grew up would respond an astronaut or doctor or any other number of fantastic professions. Mine was simple...professional soccer player.
Even up until this last semester in college when my professor asked us to write on a notecard, "what we were considering doing after college" my answer remained professional soccer player. It has been something I have been driven to acheive all my life because I truly love to play the game.
Legends FC: Describe your thoughts on leaving college early to sign a professional contract?
Patrick: Leaving college early was a tough decision for me. I enjoyed playing at LMU and my education is really important to me. I definitely, 100%, plan to graduate so no matter how long my career as a soccer player lasts I will be going back to school. I just had to ask myself, "if I let this opportunity pass by would I be happy with my decision in a couple months time while still attending LMU?" I would have been happy at LMU still, but I felt this opportunity was just too tremendous to pass on for my development.
Legends FC: How did your time with the LA Legends prepare you for playing with Cercle Brugge?
Patrick: I have nothing but good experiences from my time with the Legends. I have nothing but praise for my first coach, Chris Volk, who had the initial faith to select me and play me. I also would like to thank Phil Wolf, who is a tremendous coach because he really believed in every one of his players and was tactically extremely astute.
The group of players both summers was absolutely fantastic! Amir Shafii is a class player and a great leader. I learned a lot from him. Talents like Bryan Fakkema, Ross Schunk, and Davis Paul are guys that would make you really raise your own game to compete with. I have no doubt in my mind that the Legends played a crucial role in preparing me for this next step.
PART II - Interview with Patrick Lane
Legends FC: Wasn’t your father a professional goalkeeper?
Patrick: Yes, my dad was a professional goalkeeper and has been my trainer since I was about seven or eight. We have a great relationship on and off the field. We are truly best friends and I’m blessed to have grown up around somebody with such a knowledge and passion for the game. He doesn’t like to take credit for my development, saying he was just being a good dad, and he is, but he deserves the most credit out of anybody in my life. And my momma too!
Legends FC: Did you play other sports as a youth player? If so, which ones?
Patrick: I was a pretty good swimmer and still to this day I think I could’ve been successful in that. I loved to swim the butterfly, mostly because it was everyone elses least favorite and it was my best. Besides swimming, I played all the standard sports: basketball, hockey, track, baseball. I enjoyed them all and they each add different parts of athleticism to a goalkeepers game.
Legends FC: Did you always play in goal?
Patrick: I actually started off playing on the field and then my dad stuck me in goal when I was probably 7 or 8. After a couple years I started to play center midfielder but I knew my calling was in goal. So when I was 12, a very close friend and my club coach Oliver Wyss made a very brave decision to call me a year up and play in goal with his team at West Coast FC and well, the rest is history. Oliver is a great man and he took a chance on me when most wouldn’t. He’s like my big brother.
Legends FC: What advice do you have for Legends youth goalkeepers?
Patrick: The best advice I have for young goalkeepers is to enjoy it. Go into every training session with an open mind and soak everything in. Work on the technical side of your game. Lots of volleys and repitition are still key elements in my training today. But the most important thing at a young age is that you enjoy what your doing and you are a good listner and student of the game.
Legends FC: Please give us an update on your time with the new club. How is the training?
Patrick: The training is great and I’m doing real well. I was injured for the first week after I signed but now I’m fit and traveling with the team to play in a tough away game so hopefully we will come away with three big points. I love Bruges and I’m living in a nice apartment by myself about 2 minutes from the city center. The people are very friendly and the club has made me feel very welcome and an important part of their plans for the season. When I drive to training in the mornings and stop at a redlight, people will roll down their windows and yell "Leve Cerlce!"...("Long Live Cercle!") so its great to be in a city so passionate about soccer. I just got skype set up so I’ve been talking to family and friends and catching up which makes me feel at home.
Legends FC: Would you like to share anything else?
Patrick: I’m just excited to get started on this journey. Its very flattering when people say how proud they are of you and I take that to heart and try to make people proud everyday on the field. I feel like this is just the beginning and I’m just getting started and haven’t really done anything yet. But I definitely have big things in my future, just like I said in first grade.
Legends FC: Thanks for your answers. Best of luck as you begin your professional soccer career.
In a franchise first, the LA Legends launch into the US Open Cup with a 5-0 shut-out over the San Fernando Valley Quakes. 
The Los Angeles Storm, 2nd year Premier Development Franchise, hosted an exhibition match with the Chivas USA Major League Soccer team. 
At the age of 21, LA Storm player Erasmo "Memo" Solórzano begins his first season as a professional soccer player with Chivas USA. 
