Patterson missed her freshman regular season with the North Carolina Tar Heels due to injury in fall 2020. In the spring portion of the season (postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic), she started 7 games at center back as the team reached the NCAA tournament semifinals.[2][7] In her sophomore season in 2021, she featured at outside back and scored 5 goals with 3 assists in 17 games.[5]
Patterson moved to right wing and started all 26 games in her junior year in 2022. She led the team with 13 goals and added 8 assists, earning second-team All-ACC honors.[2][7] North Carolina topped the ACC regular-season standings.[8] In the ACC tournament, she opened scoring in the final, a 2–1 loss to Florida State.[9] In the NCAA tournament, she provided a tournament-high five assists, helping the team advance to the final against UCLA.[10] She scored twice in the title game to give the Tar Heels a 2–0, but the Bruins came back late to win 3–2 in overtime.[11] Patterson became a team captain in her senior season in 2023. She scored 9 goals with 2 assists in 22 games, earning first-team All-ACC and third-team All-American honors.[12]
Club career
Houston Dash
The Houston Dash selected Patterson with the 19th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NWSL Draft.[13] She was signed to a three-year contract.[14] She debuted on the opening matchday on March 16, 2024, starting in a 5–1 loss to the North Carolina Courage.[15] On November 2, 2024, she scored her first professional goal in the last match of the season, a 3–2 loss to Bay FC.[16] She finished her rookie campaign with 2 assists and 1 goal in 28 appearances in all competitions; she played the most minutes of any field player on the team and was named the Dash's Newcomer of the Year.[17] After the season, she signed a new three-year contract through 2027.[18]
Patterson was called up by Emma Hayes into Futures Camp, practicing concurrently with the senior national team, in January 2025.[22] Two months later, she received her first call-up to the senior team before a pair of friendlies against Brazil.[7] Her senior international debut came on April 5, 2025, as an 88th-minute substitute for Emily Fox in a 2–0 victory over Brazil at SoFi Stadium.[23] Earlier in the day, she had been stuck in a hotel elevator with Becky Sauerbrunn and Alana Cook for almost an hour.[24][25] In her first start three days later, she played 67 minutes before leaving the game with a black eye after the ball hit her in the face.[24] Patterson scored her first senior goal in her fifth international appearance, heading in a cross from Rose Lavelle to open the scoring in a 4–0 win over the Republic of Ireland on June 26, 2025.[26]
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