Paul Rothrock (born January 9, 1999) is an American professional

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 plays for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

. He was part of the Sounders academy system as a youth player and played college soccer for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

and

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located at Washington, D.C. The Georgetown's athletics department fields 24 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the Natio ...

. Rothrock was drafted by

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

in 2021 and played for their reserve team

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that competes in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as we ...

for two seasons before transferring to the

Tacoma Defiance The Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, are an American professional soccer team based in the Puget Sound region in Tukwila, Washington, United States. The team competes in MLS Next Pro, a league in the third tier of the United Sta ...

, the reserve squad of the Sounders, in 2023.

Early life

Born and raised in Seattle's

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

neighborhood, Rothrock spent most of his youth career with Seattle United, a partner club of the Seattle Sounders Academy, leading them to two Washington State Cup titles, two Far West Regional titles, and two appearances in the U.S. Youth Soccer national finals. In his U18 season, he joined the Sounders Academy, helping the squad to a third-place finish in the USSDA National Playoffs. Rothrock attended Lakeside School in Seattle, where he was a two-time all-state player and tallied 43 career assists. He spent several years playing with future Sounders teammate Jackson Ragen, who he had met at age seven while playing for a neighborhood rec soccer team.

College career

On February 2, 2017, it was announced that Rothrock signed a letter of intent to play

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 ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. He did not play for the Fighting Irish during his freshman season and had few appearances in his sophomore year. After the

2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season The 2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 60th season of National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA championship men's College soccer in the United States, college soccer. The regular season began on August 24, 2018, and continue ...

, Rothrock transferred to Georgetown. He had his first assist for Georgetown on August 30, 2019, in a 3–1 victory against Syracuse. He scored his first goal in a 5–1 win against UCLA on September 9, 2019. After his senior season in 2020–21 was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, he decided to turn professional.

Club career

He made his debut for

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

club

Seattle Sounders FC 2 The Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the Puget Sound region in Tukwila, Washington, United States. The team competes in MLS Next Pro, a league in the third ...

on July 8, 2017, and scored his first goal in a 4–1 defeat to

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is an affiliate of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club Real Salt Lake. Real Monarchs are based in the Real Salt Lake ...

. During his 2019 collegiate season, Rothrock played with

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

side

OSA Seattle FC OSA Seattle FC, formerly FC Tacoma 253, is an American association football (soccer) club based in the Seattle metro area. The team plays within the Northwest Conference of the National Premier Soccer League, a national league generally consider ...

, making 3 appearances. He was drafted in the third round of the

2021 MLS SuperDraft The 2021 MLS SuperDraft was the 22nd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first held exclusively via conference call a ...

. On May 18, he signed with their second team,

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

. He made his debut for TFCII on May 26 against

FC Tucson FC Tucson is an American soccer club based in Tucson, Arizona that plays in USL League Two. The club has an amateur women's team, FC Tucson Women, that play in the WPSL. Organized in 2010, the club first fielded a team in March 2011, then joine ...

. He scored his first goal on October 1 against

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional association football, soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Caro ...

. On October 17, he scored a brace in a 2–1 victory against

Chattanooga Red Wolves SC Chattanooga Red Wolves SC is an American professional soccer club based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They are a founding member of USL League One in the third division of American men's soccer. The club was announced as a member of USL League One ...

. On May 4, 2022, he signed a short-term four-day loan with the first team,

, ahead of their

match against the

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

. He signed an additional four-day loan on May 7. He made his MLS debut on May 8, as a late game substitute. He signed another short-term loan on May 14. In January 2023, he signed with the

(the successor to Seattle Sounders FC 2) in

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

. Through his first three games, he assisted four of the team's six goals. He scored his first goal on April 30 against

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 ...

. On April 26, 2023, he joined the first team,

, on a short-term loan for their

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

match, scoring on his club debut. In May, he signed a second short-term loan with the club, where he again scored in another Open Cup match on May 10 against the

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

. He then made his league debut for the club on May 13, where he scored his first MLS goal in a 1–0 victory over the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

. He became the first Sounders player to score in each of his first three appearances, as well as the first player to score while on a short-term loan. In August 2023, he signed a first team contract with the club for the remainder of the 2023 season, with club options for 2024 and 2025. At the time of his signing, he had been leading Tacoma in goals and assists throughout the 2023 season.

International career

In 2017, he was called up to a national team camp for the United States U18 team, making one appearance for them.

Career statistics

References

External links

Paul Rothrock
at Georgetown Athletics {{DEFAULTSORT:Rothrock, Paul 1999 births Living people American men's soccer players Georgetown Hoyas men's soccer players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's soccer players Tacoma Defiance players Men's association football midfielders Soccer players from Seattle USL Championship players National Premier Soccer League players Toronto FC draft picks Toronto FC II players MLS Next Pro players USL League One players Seattle Sounders FC players Major League Soccer players Toronto FC players American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada American expatriate sportspeople in Canada 21st-century American sportsmen