Soccer
Favorite athlete: Gianluigi Buffon
Favorite team: Manchester United
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning the New York Academy Derby Trophy against NYCFC
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: In game, I went for a punt, and because there was an opposing player near me, I completely hesitated halfway through, and the ball dropped straight down to the player. So, I pretended that the player had made illegal contact with me so that I would get a foul for it. I was very fortunate.
Music on playlist: I have every genre on my playlist besides country music.
Future plans: Go to college, graduate, and become a professional soccer player.
Favorite quote: “One minute of pain is worth a lifetime of glory”- Louis Zamperini
One goal before turning 30: Living out every day to the fullest and always giving my best day in and day out.
One thing people don’t know about me: Outside of soccer, I’m a very reserved person, and I tend to be quieter and much more relaxed. I enjoy my down time.
By Mary Jane Souder
Ed Brnardic admits his technique for choosing captains in this – his first season at the helm of the Central Bucks South boys’ soccer team - might be considered a bit unorthodox.
“I told them – ‘I’m not picking a captain until I see how you guys react when our backs are up against the wall,’” the Titans’ coach said.
Patrick VanLuvanee made his decision an easy one. Brnardic saw all he needed to see from his senior goalkeeper in his team’s third game of the season – a non-league road game at Downingtown West.
“We had a penalty kick called on us early, and they scored, and for the first time this year, we were losing at halftime,” Brnardic said. “Pat never put blame on anyone for giving up the penalty.
“At halftime, he was just cheering everybody up, and we came back, and we won the game. After that game, I said, ‘We have our captain,’ and it was Pat for the way he reacted.”
Brnardic probably shouldn’t have been surprised by VanLuvanee’s reaction in a tough spot. The first-year coach got a glimpse of his senior goalie through the eyes of his players when – on a survey from Brnardic at the beginning of the season – they were asked who they looked up to on the team.
“That was done in August - he was number one on everybody’s list,” Brnardic said.
It would be easy to credit VanLuvanee’s selection as captain to his immense talent. The South senior is an elite level goalie with six years on the MLS Next Academy circuit with the New York Red Bulls on his resume.
But there’s a whole lot more to it than that.
“I’ve said to his parents once – ‘It’s actually a shame he’s that good of a soccer player because then people overlook what a great person he is,’” Brnardic said. “Everybody constantly keeps talking about what a great goalie, what a great goalie, and I say, ‘Wait until you meet the kid. The kid is even better as a person than he is on the field.’”
High praise indeed for a player who has his sights set on one day playing a sport he loves on the professional level.
VanLuvanee’s high school career came to an end when South lost a heartbreaker in penalty kicks to Northeast in the opening round of the PIAA 4A State Tournament. But it was another successful season for the Titans, who this fall captured the SOL Colonial Division title and finished third in District 1.
“It’s incredible how fast this season has gone because since the end of last year – you’re really looking forward to the preseason with the guys and getting started with the season,” VanLuvanee said. “We put in a lot of work to make ourselves better. With this being the last year, it was really special to be able to work with these guys.”
A passion for soccer
When it came to competing in sports, it’s always been soccer for VanLuvanee, who played some baseball growing up, but soccer was always number one.
“I started playing when I was five with the Lenape Valley team - Purple Tigers,” he said. “I eventually joined PA Rush, a local club in the area.
“I played there until I was 10 or 11. From there, I joined Ukranian Nationals where I played my first year as goaltender.”
While his club team actually did need a goalie, that was not how or why VanLuvanee – at the age of 11 - got his start.
“I was a defender,” he said. “I remember I was in the backyard with my dad, and I was working on clearing balls out of the back of the net.
“He recommended to me that maybe goaltending was the way I wanted to go with it, so that’s kind of how it started.”
An interesting twist for a player who – as a youngster – was once the leading goal scorer on his team.
“My dad tells me that typically younger kids are piling around the ball, fighting for the ball – kicking at it, poking at it, but he said that I wasn’t in that cluster,” VanLuvanee said. “I was positioned so that if the ball would come out that I would be there.
“From when I started playing, I really had – how do I put it in words – kind of a tactical sense of how to play the game.”
Those instincts certainly helped make the transition into goal an almost natural progression.
“Everyone wants to be the goal scorer,” VanLuvanee said. “My passion was to be the one to stop that goal, to be the guy to stop that goal and disappoint the other team.
“It surprisingly came really easily to me. I kind of had a sort of sense of how to goalkeep in not the cleanest way, but it was effective, it worked well, and I watched videos to just learn how to do my thing.”
VanLuvanee’s soccer journey took a dramatic turn when he joined the Ukrainian Nationals.
“I joined when they had a DA (Development Academy) program, so we were playing teams like the New York Red Bulls, the Philly Union,” VanLuvanee said. “It was actually one of the games we played the Red Bulls where they scouted me, and they invited me to try out.
“I tried out and made the team. From there, I was with the New York Red Bulls Academy for six years where I was with the second team at times and sometimes the MLS team.”
His six years with Red Bulls Academy included a grueling schedule traveling to and from New York.
“Five days a week – driving an hour 30, sometimes two hours,” VanLuvanee said. “Straight to the facility pretty much after school ended. I actually had to do school on-line at some points because I had to go up there for morning training.
“It was a lot. I was up there sometimes the whole day from eight o’clock till four or 5:30. My friends would always ask to hang out – I’m tired or I’m up at the facility. It really was my whole life, it was everything.”
Two years ago, VanLuvanee made the decision to leave the Red Bulls Academy.
A welcome return to South
Midway through his sophomore year, VanLuvanee returned to Central Bucks South and began playing for FC Delco. As a junior, he joined his high school soccer team.
“I had never really played high school soccer,” he said. “I never understood what it was like.
“I talked to my club team, and I was like, ‘You know what – I’m going to try it out. Why not?’”
He joined his South squad several games into the season after the necessary paperwork was completed.
“I grew up with a lot of the juniors and some sophomores,” VanLuvanee said. “I grew up playing with them at Rush and some of them at Ukrainian Nationals, but for the seniors, I didn’t know a lot of them, so that process – it wasn’t difficult, but it was interesting getting integrated, getting to know the guys.
“It was tough at first. It was my first full year of high school.”
Three games into the season, VanLuvanee found himself – for the first time – playing for his high school, a dream season that ended with the Titans playing for a state title.
“To put it into words, last year was really special because throughout my entire career, I never really made it to a final like that in a tournament,” VanLuvanee said. “To get that far, it was really special to me.
“Once we advanced each round from the round of 16 all the way to the final – my goal as soon as I’d wake up in the morning was seeing that trophy. It started to matter a lot to me. It came to the point where I started to care about high school more than club.”
VanLuvanee made an immediate impact on the soccer field.
“His demeanor – he’s so calm,” Brnardic said. “Making saves is what you expect out of a goalie, but when he does it, he becomes a giant. He’s already big in stature (6-1), but I’ve never seen anybody continue to grow when ready to stop a shot – he looks like Superman when it’s his turn to come up and make a play. He just looks like he’s become six inches taller and four feet wider.
“But what really separates him from other goalies is his field play. Pat used to be a field player growing up as a kid, and it really shows because we treated him like any field player. We passed back to him all the time. He’s able to use both feet, and he’s able to dictate the play really, really well. He was our quarterback in the back, so he started all the plays like a normal field player – a sweeper keeper.”
It takes something of a rare breed to play in goal.
“I would say that as a goalie, I’m sometimes a little crazy, but as a goalkeeper, you have to be,” VanLuvanee said. “You have to be full of energy, you have to bring the passion to the team and the fight to the game.
“You’re kind of the quarterback of the team in terms of communication. As a goalkeeper in high school, my primary job was to start the attack with possession. We liked to play out of the back, so I kind of took what I used to do with the Red Bulls and implemented it with the way coach Ed wants to play, and it worked out well.
“I’d also say that I like to consider myself a strong shot stopper. That’s something I like to work on a lot even though the goalkeeper game has changed a lot. It’s not just shot stopping anymore.”
VanLuvanee – who served as captain along with senior Anthony Bice - took his leadership role seriously and led both vocally and by example.
“To be named captain was special for me - talking to the guys, making smart decisions and the things you do off the field,” he said. “Just putting the positive attitude and mindset with them.”
A bright future
A strong student, VanLuvanee takes his academics seriously with a courseload that includes several honors classes.
Next fall, he plans to play soccer at the collegiate level and major in sports medicine with one day having a career as an athletic trainer or in the physical therapy field.
"Playing pro is not off the table," he said. "I'm looking at a few colleges, and that's my current pathway.
"Typically, after a goalkeeper comes out of college, he'll look to go professional, whatever it might be."
When it comes to choosing a college, VanLuvanee points to the style of play and location as the two biggest factors.
“I haven’t been dead set on one,” he said. “My talks are open with a few. I probably won’t make my decision until later on in the year if not the new year.”
Although he doesn’t have time for many outside activities and enjoys spending time with his family, he has made a positive impression at South.
“Before we named a captain, I wanted to talk to the AD and guidance counselor and the trainers because I wanted to know what he’s like in school off the field,” Brnardic said. “They’ll see him in the gym – they have EDL students, and they said he’s always running around, playing and interacting with everyone. They all agreed that Pat was an excellent choice to be our first captain. Everyone loves him.
The Titans’ coach goes on to pay VanLuvanee a high compliment.
“I’ve coached for 12 years, probably 300-400 kids,” Brnardic said. “Pat’s our guy – I refer to him as our North Star. He’s the guy that everybody looks up to. And he guides everybody on and off the field.
“Goalies are famous for this demonstrative demeanor. I have never seen Pat argue with anybody. There are obvious times that somebody's made a mistake, and he never blames anybody. He immediately goes and gets their spirits up. I literally have never seen anybody with better character."
