Aaron Pitchkolan (born March 14, 1983, in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, counti ...

) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player and coach.

Career

College

Pitchkolan played high school soccer at

Regis Jesuit High School Regis Jesuit High School is a private, Catholic, college preparatory high school administered by the Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus in Aurora, Colorado. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1877. The high school shares much of ...

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

. He also featured for club sides Real Colorado and Cherry Creek Lightning and his local Olympic Development team. He began his college career at

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UTampa, UT or Tampa U) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UTampa offers more than 200 programs of study, including 19 master's degrees and a br ...

where he played in 19 games as a freshman and helped the team win the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

championship. Pitchkolan transferred to

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

where he played in 54 games scoring 11 goals over three seasons. In the college offseason, Pitchkolan played in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

for

Boulder Rapids Reserve Colorado Rapids U–23 were an American soccer team based in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado. Originally founded in 2000 as part of the development system for the Colorado Rapids, the team played in the Premier Development League, ...

Professional

Pitchkolan was bypassed in the

2005 MLS SuperDraft The 2005 MLS SuperDraft, held in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 14, 2005, was the sixth incarnation of the annual MLS SuperDraft. Expansion club Real Salt Lake had the first pick as the result of a coin toss (fellow newcomers C.D. Chivas USA g ...

and had to wait until the second round of the Supplemental Draft to be selected. Pitchkolan appeared in his first MLS game on May 15, 2005, as a substitute for Carey Talley in a game against the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

. His first goal came a game later on May 22, 2005, in a 5–2 win against

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

. In all, Pitchkolan played in 20 games scoring 3 goals in his first MLS season. In 2006, Pitchkolan featured in only 10 games, all as a substitute, and playing a total of 94 minutes for the first team. A highlight of his season was his

stoppage time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the ga ...

winner against the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

on April 23, 2006, in a match that ended 3–2. In 2007, Pitchkolan made the transition to

center back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, a position he occasionally played in college. He made 16 appearances, 11 as starts, but did not score any goals. In 2008, he played 21 games, starting in nine and scored one goal. He was used as cover for Dallas' veteran defender,

Duilio Davino Duilio César Jean Pierre Davino Rodríguez (born 21 March 1976) is a Mexican former professional footballer. Playing career Davino was called up to play in the 1995 Pan American games and played for Mexico in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta ...

. Aaron was one of three players to be active for all 30 regular season games along with Kenny Cooper and Dominic Oduro. Pitch was left unprotected for the 2008 MLS Expansion Draft, but he was not selected. On April 28, 2009, FC Dallas traded Pitchkolan to the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

for a conditional pick in the

2011 MLS SuperDraft The 2011 MLS SuperDraft was the twelfth annual SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. It was held on January 13, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland, during the 2011 NSCAA Convention at the Baltimore Convention Center. The 2011 SuperDraft consi ...

, but was later put on waivers on March 4, 2010. He subsequently signed for the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

of the

USSF Division 2 Professional League The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding U ...

in April 2010. On February 25, 2011, it was announced that the

Puerto Rico Islanders The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...

had acquired his rights from the Rhinos. In January 2013, Pitchkolan was signed by Minnesota United FC. With a header to feed Lucas Rodriguez, Pitchkolan recorded the club's first assist on April 20 against FC Edmonton. The next week, he scored his first goal with Minnesota, a game-winner in a 3–2 victory at Atlanta. Pitchkolan scored two goals and contributed one assist in 2013, playing 1,665 minutes with 20 appearances for Minnesota. He was named to the NASL Best XI in 2013 for playing a key role on the defense and was selected to the NASL Team of The Week three times throughout the year.

Honors

Rochester Rhinos

* USSF D-2 Pro League Regular Season Champions (1):

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Individual

* USSF D-2 Pro League Best XI (1):

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitchkolan, Aaron 1983 births Living people Soccer players from Aurora, Colorado American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Tampa Spartans men's soccer players West Virginia Mountaineers men's soccer players Colorado Rapids U-23 players FC Dallas players San Jose Earthquakes players Rochester Rhinos players Puerto Rico Islanders players San Antonio Scorpions players Minnesota United FC (2010–2016) players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USSF Division 2 Professional League players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players FC Dallas draft picks American people of Polish descent American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Puerto Rico