University of Maryland senior and Pats' alumni Billy Cortes has played a key role in the Terrapins rise to #3 in the NCAA national soccer rankings.
Cortes has had an impressive run at Marland. He has started all four years and helped his squad reach the NCAA Elite Eight in 2009. This year, despite a brief injury, he has added seven points to the team's tally and scored a crucial 60th-minute header to equalize against No. 5-ranked Boston College.
Maryland Coach Sasho Cirovski noted that Cortes was an important contributor to the spark that has ignited "the Terps" towards the top of the college soccer universe. He points out Cortes' team effort and goal versus Northeastern University, and said ,"Our overall commitment was excellent. We were more dangerous on runs in the box and had more malice in our attack".
Billy, whose full name is Guillermo Arturo Cortes, was also a star on his star-studded Pateadores team that included former Terp Maurice Edu now playing top-division European "football" for Rangers FC. Cortes' Head Coach that year was Mike Gartlan, who now serves in the role of Coaching & College Placement Advisor for the Pateadores.
Gartlan has always viewed Cortes as a special person and player and is not suprised by how much Billy Cortes has achieved, saying, "As a youth player Billy displayed all the necessary qualities to be a successful player. He was driven to improve with every practice and made the sacrifices necessary to excel. He accepted the challenges that were put to him in regards to the technical and tactical demands of the Pateadores to becoame a complete player. Billy was a Pateadore from the start to the finish of his club career and his unwavering dedication to the Pats will not be forgotten".