Aaron Molloy

Aaron Molloy (born January 11, 1997) is an Irish soccer player who plays as a Central Midfielder for Portland Timbers 2 in the USL Championship.

Youth
Aaron Molloy played for Bohemians F.C. U19 squad during the for the 2014-2015 as well as a short season in 2015 where he served as captain. Molloy received Bohemians F.C. U19 player of the year award for his excellence in the 2014-2015 season.

College
After a season with Drogheda United FC in Ireland Molloy decided to move to the United States to play college soccer

Keiser University
Molloy played in 15 matches as a freshman, he recorded his first appearance against Texas Wesleyan on September 9, 2016 and scored his first goal at St. Thomas on October 19, 2016.

Penn State
Molloy's family's first experience with Penn State came in 2014 when they saw Penn State’s football team play UCF at Croke’s Park in Dublin. In his first season as a Nittany Lion, his Sophomore year of college, Molloy appeared in 16 matches. Molloy made his Penn State debut against Hofstra on August 25, 2017 and scored his first goal at UC Irvine on September 1, 2017. In his second season, Molloy was the team captain and appeared in 15 matches. He earned a Big Ten Preseason Honors, All-Big Ten second team and United Soccer Coaches All-North Region third-team member. In his senior season Molloy was the team captain and appeared in 19 matches. >

Professional
The first professional appearance for Molloy was for Irish club Drogheda United FC where in 2015 he played in 13 matches and scored two goals. After this season Molloy paused his professional career and went to the United States to play college soccer for Keiser University and Penn State University. Molloy began playing with the Philadelphia Union’s Premier Development League affiliate Reading United AC in 2015 where he played 3 seasons earning various awards for his success including PDL Young Player of the Year.

Molloy was invited to the 2020 MLS Combine, and was subsequently picked by the Portland Timbers with the 16th pick of the 2020 MLS SuperDraft. Molloy signed with Portland Timbers 2 the club that serves as a reserve squad for the Portland Timbers.

Career statistics
† Season suspended

Personal life
Aaron Molloy is the son of Trevor Molloy an Irish professional soccer player who has played forward for many professional teams in Ireland. Molloy is studying to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in recreation, park, and tourism management from the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State.

Awards

 * MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist
 * PDL Young Player of the Year
 * PDL Top 20 prospects
 * Big Ten Midfielder of the Year
 * All-Big Ten first team
 * All-Big Ten second team
 * TopDrawerSoccer 2019 Best XI First Team
 * TopDrawerSoccer Men's Team of the Week: Player of the Week
 * TopDrawerSoccer Men's Team of the Week: Team of the Week
 * TopDrawerSoccer Men's Team of the Week: Honorable Mention
 * TopDrawerSoccer 2018 Men's DI Preseason Best XI teams: Third Team
 * TopDrawerSoccer PDL Eastern Conference Team of the Week (2x)
 * United Soccer Coaches All-North Region First Team
 * United Soccer Coaches All-America Second Team.
 * United Soccer Coaches All-North Region third-team member
 * Sun Conference Freshman of the Year
 * All-Sun Conference second team