Patrick Roach has had Ohio University in the back of his head for years.
The freshman defenseman has deep family ties to Athens, both at the university and in the hockey program. All three of his older siblings attended Ohio. His oldest brother, Jim, played hockey for the Bobcats when Patrick was just getting into the sport. He remembers pounding on the glass whenever his family took trips down to Athens to cheer his brother on.
Roach’s second brother, Sean, was one of the founding players of the Division II team at Ohio. Following a brief stint on the Division I team, Sean’s time for hockey was limited because of the strain caused by being an aviation major. Alongside fellow teammate Nick Frasse, Sean gathered enough resources and formed the Division II Bobcats.
Patrick, a Mars, Pennsylvania native, dropped lacrosse and baseball to immerse himself in hockey completely during his freshman year of high school. He played for both the Mars High School varsity team and the junior league Esmark Stars. Roach moved up to the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite U18 team in his senior year of high school.
Roach is a finance and business pre-law major and takes his future career seriously. He quit the New England Wolves in the 2018-19 season to move back home in order to work while still playing hockey. For the rest of the season, he split his time between working for his father and brother at a contracting business and playing for the Pittsburgh Vengeance.
During his year with the Vengeance, Roach felt he was ready for college. It was the end of his amateur career, and his coach Dave Dorsey helped prepare him for recruiters. Dorsey was a strict coach who told players how it was and did his best to make sure they fit a role correctly. He told Roach that he wasn’t much of a goal scorer, and instead to focus on being a physical presence and helping get his teammates who can score the room they need.
Meanwhile, Roach came into contact with former head coach Sean Hogan and Jeremy Browning of Ohio. Browning kept Roach within arm’s reach, regularly texting and checking up on him to see how his year was progressing. Come summer, Browning extended an offer for Roach to join the team.
“I was a bundle of joy when I got that phone call,” Roach said. “I was all for it and I couldn’t wait.”
It wasn’t a hard decision. Roach had his sights set on Ohio before Browning ever worked for the team. Unknown to Roach, he was joining several other Pittsburgh natives, including his current roommate Nick Erker, in the Bobcats’ massive freshman class.
Roach and his family have kept close over the years. Jim and their sister Dominique both work for the family company, as a supervisor and head of marketing respectively. Sean is currently a pilot for Republic Airlines. His parents have always supported their children’s hockey careers and they know hockey is what makes them happy.
“They came to the rink and supported me every single day,” Roach said. “My dad was always the one to push me and my mom always picked me up after a bad day.”
Roach modeled much of his work ethic after his family. His father always prioritized providing for his wife and kids, which is what inspired him to go into a white-collar line of work. Dominique coming back to the family business to run marketing also influenced Roach’s choice.
“Her decision to stay home is one I respect,” Roach said. “There’s a world of opportunity out there, and she’s happy as can be. She works incredibly hard with the books and sales.”
Even now, Roach’s parents still make regular trips to Athens to support the team. Even if he doesn’t play that weekend, they still make the effort to come down and cheer the Bobcats on, because they know Roach cares about it that much.
Roach hasn’t seen much action for the Bobcats this season, but he’s working to keep himself ready for when his name gets called. He doesn’t like to focus on his own personal goals. He’d rather help to improve the team before himself. He frequently stays behind after practice with several other players to round out what they all struggle with, himself included.
And his family will be there to support him every step of the way.
