Sophomore Patrick McLean takes a shot in a Sept. 13 game against Rhodes College. McLean is Student Life's Male Athlete of the Week. (Paul Goedeke | Student Life)

Last week, sophomore forward Patrick McLean helped lead the men’s soccer team to wins against both Westminster College and Birmingham Southern College. McLean’s assist Wednesday and game-winning goal Friday were part of an offensive attack in which the Bears outshot their opponents 33-10 over the two games. After tying three of their previous five contests, McLean’s contributions let the Bears put together their first back-to-back wins for the season and earned him recognition as Student Life’s Athlete of the Week.

Student Life: Last week you had one goal and one assist; how does it feel to make an impact on games?
Patrick McLean: Well, it feels pretty good because I did not do anything before that. I really started the season pretty slowly, but as long as we win it really doesn’t matter.

SL: What goes into a successful offensive attack?
PM: A lot of it is lack of the opponent getting ready…A lot of times they’ll give away the ball. Joe [Clarke] always talks about how most goals are scored because of them messing up…you just have to capitalize on the team’s mistakes. I mean, you can create your own opportunities, but it’s not as easy.

SL: What skill of yours are you hoping to improve most this season?
PM: I know I don’t always check to the ball enough, like people step in front of me. And especially when you play forward you need to not get stepped in front of by the defender. It just happens too much…I just have to go and hold them off better.

SL: What was it like to play your first seven games without a loss? In which game do you think the team performed the best?
PM: We didn’t lose, but I thought we were playing pretty badly a lot of those games. I mean, we did not finish teams that we were much better than. We just didn’t score enough goals, but at least we didn’t lose, so it’s a definite positive. As the season went on, we definitely started playing better and better…Birmingham Southern was one of our better games. Because it’s also one of the later games, the team also gets more in sync as we go along.

SL: What’s your biggest pet peeve in soccer?
PM: I would say poor [officiating], except that can also help us in a way…but this season it’s definitely hurt us more, like when we tied that game because the ref called back the goal two minutes later—that was kind of weird.

SL: What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you or your team?
PM: One thing that Nat [Zenner] likes to say a lot is that…we don’t have any cliques on the team, which helps a lot. There’s no “best friends”…We have really good team chemistry in that everyone feels equal, even the freshmen coming in, like Brian [Wright], I think he feels really good with the team…There are no cliques of separate players.

SL: Do you have a favorite move to get around a defender?
PM: It’s kind of rare, but last year, the guy was to my back, and I just flipped it over my head and his head and ran around. I don’t think he saw where the ball went, so he just stood there. It’s more luck than anything, depending on if they see the ball, but it’s a lot of fun just to try things that a lot of times won’t work but when they do they look really good.

SL: How long have you been playing soccer? Is there anything you learned as a kid that is important at the college level?
PM: I think my parents had me on a team when I was 3—the YMCA. The most important thing, my dad always says, is be aggressive. That’s a huge difference between the kids that just aren’t as good…and just how hard you try honestly because like even kids that still play, if you don’t try as hard, your team is a lot less likely to be successful.

SL: Do your teammates have any nicknames for you?
PM: They actually called me “The Detective” last year because my last name is kind of like John McClane from “Die Hard.” So I’m “The Detective.”
The Bears continue their road trip this Friday in Greenville, Ill., at 4 p.m. against Greenville College.