Patrick Lilly didn't always get the headlines his older brother Mike '78 did.
But between the two of them, the siblings did as much as anyone to put Saint John's University soccer on the map in the mid-to-late 1970s.
"Mike was the celebrity … that shining light," said Matt Sikich, who coached the Johnnies from 1973-76, leading the team to two NAIA national tournament berths.
"But Pat was the Rock of Gibraltar for those teams. Whenever I needed something accomplished, I knew I could call on Pat and he'd lead the way for everybody."
Both brothers earned professional tryouts with the Minnesota Kicks when their collegiate careers came to a close.
Mike Lilly –
who was inducted into the SJU J-Club Hall of Honor in 2022 – was a four-time All-MIAC selection who earned All-American honors in 1977 and remains the school's all-time leading goal scorer with 62. That included a single-season school record 20 as a junior in 1976 when SJU won an MIAC title and advanced to the second round of the NAIA national tournament before falling 5-0 to then reigning national power Quincy (Ill.) College.
But it was Patrick, a sophomore who quarterbacked the Johnnie attack from his center midfield position, who earned All-America honors that season – making him the first player in both MIAC and program history to accomplish that feat.
"That '76 team was so fun to be part of," Patrick recalled. "The league was awesome in those days. We ran the table (in conference play), but St. Thomas, Augsburg and Gustavus were all really good. I'm not sure if we had the best players, but we were the best team. We had Mike who was a scoring machine and we had great goalies.
"Matt was an amazing coach. He had a way of bringing out the best in everyone. We all knew what our job was and how to get it done. We each had a passion for the game and we were all willing to do whatever it took to play at a high level."
Even when dealing with pain, as was the case for Patrick when he was injured in his team's NAIA first-round win over Wisconsin-Parkside.
"A guy came down with his spike and it went right through my foot," he said. "It felt like someone had driven a nail right through me. We didn't have the medical resources on campus at the time to get me ready for the Quincy game. But (nearby) St. Cloud State was incredible. (Then SJU and future SCSU head baseball coach) Denny Lorsung reached out to someone there and they said to ship me over. I went over there a couple of times and got the deluxe treatment. I couldn't have played against Quincy without them."
But play he did, continuing the Iron Man streak both he and his older brother had going.
"Neither my brother nor I ever missed a game for any reason," Patrick said. "We always talked about the Wally Pipp story (the New York Yankee whose injury allowed Lou Gehrig to move into the starting lineup and begin his own legendary Iron Man streak). The only way either of us were coming off the field was by ambulance."
Patrick went on to earn All-MIAC and all-district honors as a junior in 1977 and again as a senior in 1978, playing for two different head coaches. Pete Rocheford took over for Sikich, then Pat Haws inherited the job the following year – a position in which he'd remain through the 2009 season.
But that first year, he was still a newcomer to soccer and relied on seniors like Patrick for leadership and guidance.
"He did a little bit of everything for us," Haws recalled. "His ability to generate a dangerous attack was simply terrific.
"The biggest thing, though, was he was a winner. He was the driving force on that team. Guys followed him."
Sikich echoed that assessment.
"You look for people on a team who can show other players what it takes to be a champion," Sikich said. "And the word champion and Pat Lilly go together perfectly. I still get goosebumps talking about what a fine athlete and what a fine person he was and still is to this day."
Mike – who died of a pulmonary embolism at age 41 in 1997 – and Pat (who also played tennis for the Johnnies as a freshman) were two links in a family chain of athletic success at both SJU and the College of Saint Benedict that has now spanned three generations.
His father LeRoy '55, who died in 2017, was a football and baseball standout for the Johnnies who was part of legendary football coach John Gagliardi's first team at the school in 1953. Another younger brother Dan '84, also played soccer for the Johnnies for four years. Younger sisters Colleen '81 and Mary '87 both played tennis at the College of Saint Benedict in the 1980s.
Nephew Michael Wozniak – who was named after his uncle – was an All-America defensive lineman on the SJU football team who graduated following the 2022 season.
"Sports was always our deal," Patrick said. "We weren't breaking down cars in the garage or building stuff. We were always playing something. Sports, sports, sports have always been the thing in our family."
Lilly, who has owned the Patrick Lilly Insurance Agency for 39 years now, passed down his passion for soccer to his own sons.
Andrew Lilly played soccer for the Johnnies before graduating in 2011 while David Lilly was the MIAC Player of the Year at Gustavus Adolphus in 2014.
"The Lilly family has an incredible tradition in this sport," Sikich said. "It's amazing what each of them has been able to do."
