Paul Angelo Blanchette (born April 16, 1994) is an American

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 who currently plays for

Oakland Roots SC Oakland Roots Sports Club is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Oakland, California. The club competes in the USL Championship (USLC) as a member of the Western Conference (USL Championship), Western Conference. F ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

Career

College

Blanchette played four years of

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

between 2012 and 2015.

Semi-professional

While at college, Blanchette appeared for

USL PDL 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 feature ...

sides

Portland Timbers U23s Capital FC is an American soccer team based in Salem, Oregon, United States. Although founded in 2008 as part of the development system for the Portland Timbers USSF D2 organization, beginning in 2011 they were part of the development system fo ...

and

Des Moines Menace Des Moines Menace is an American soccer team based in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the United States soccer league system. The Menace have had sustained success in USL Lea ...

. Following college, Blanchette continued in the PDL with Burlingame Dragons for their 2016 season, before transferring to Finnish

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the fourth level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. Until the end of 2023, ''Kakkonen'' was the third-highest level in Finland, but after the creation of new second-t ...

side

PEPO Lappeenranta PEPO Lappeenranta (abbreviated PEPO, earlier Uus-Lavolan Peli-Pojat) is a Finnish football club from Uus-Lavola, Lappeenranta. The club was formed in 1958 and their home ground is at the Kimpinen Sports Centre. The men's first team currently ...

in January 2017. In 2018, Blanchette returned to the PDL again, playing with Santa Cruz Breakers. Blanchette spent 2019 with NPSL side

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

Professional

On March 7, 2020, Blanchette signed for

side

Rio Grande Valley FC Rio Grande Valley FC, also known as RGVFC or Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, was an American professional soccer team based in Edinburg, Texas operated by Lone Star, LLC. They joined the USL Championship in the 2016 season. The team served as a hy ...

. He made his debut the following day, starting in a 1–5 loss to

LA Galaxy II Ventura County FC is an American professional soccer team based in the Greater Los Angeles area town of Thousand Oaks in Ventura County, California, United States that plays in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the United States soccer league sy ...

. RGVFC opted to decline their contact option on Blanchette following the 2020 season. On July 6, 2021, Blanchette joined

. In the 2023 Season, Blanchette earned 2nd Team All League honors as well as Oakland Roots SC Player of the Year.

References

External links

Paul Blanchette - Men's Soccer
LMU bio 1994 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Loyola Marymount Lions men's soccer players Capital FC players Des Moines Menace players Burlingame Dragons FC players New York Cosmos (2010) players Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players Soccer players from California National Premier Soccer League players USL Championship players USL League Two players Kakkonen players American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Finland PEPO Lappeenranta players De Anza Force players 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-footy-goalkeeper-stub