The Justice

Media Credit: Julian Agin-Liebes

Leaning forward on his living room sofa, Patrick Metelus '10 made clear his current view about his behavior when he quit the varsity men's soccer team in the middle of his first season two years ago.

"It was the biggest mistake I have ever made," he said.

Initially frustrated with his limited playing time, Metelus eventually broke into the rotation in the middle of the season before injuring his ankle. When he returned healthy, he found his spot in the rotation was gone.

When the Judges gathered to practice the next week, Metelus was absent. He had decided to quit, without informing coach Mike Coven.

A year later, Metelus apologized to Coven and asked for a chance to return to the team. When he sat down with Coven last winter, Coven granted him a chance to prove himself in an open tryout in the spring.

Metelus not only made the team but also earned a starting spot in the Judges' midfield, where he has shone. His five goals and 12 points on the season are both second on the team to forward Ben Premo '09.

"Skill-wise and physically, he's probably one of the best players we've had in the last 10 years," Coven said in a phone interview last Saturday.

Born in Haiti as the youngest of four children, Metelus moved to Cambridge, Mass. when he was 11, joining his father and eventually his three older siblings. But Bradley Metelus, Patrick's now-35-year-old brother, said that Patrick "never got any attention from [his father]," and that his father "always wanted him to get out of the house." Two years later, when Patrick was 13, he moved in with Bradley, who was living in Medford at the time. Bradley Metelus and Patrick's current legal guardian, David Lawson, both said that Patrick's father eventually allowed Patrick to move in with Bradley.

Metelus said soccer "kept me out of trouble" through all his struggles. He joined a club team a year after arriving in the U.S. and started emerging as a player during middle school. While on the squad, Metelus grew close with a teammate named Eric Lawson, often sleeping at his house and getting rides with him to practices and games. When Metelus was in ninth grade, he started living with the Lawsons regularly. Later that year, the Lawsons became Metelus' legal guardians.

Continued...

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