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Husky Fútbol Forecast
Great recruiting, transfer portal prowess and grooming paint a promising outlook for men’s and women’s soccer programs
BY MARK MOSCHETTI • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
Jamie Clark heard it last year when his University of Washington men’s soccer team headed into the new season having graduated its entire back line. “There were questions about, ‘Can you be as good defensively when you lost all those players?’ And I think a bunch of guys really stepped forward,” Clark said.
Now, he’s hearing it again after the Huskies graduated their entire front line — a group that produced 35 of the team’s 48 goals. “Within the team, we believe there will be no step backward,” Clark said. “But it has to be proven. And that’s the fun of it.”
Nicole Van Dyke knows the feeling. Like the men’s team under Clark’s guidance, her UW women’s team saw its leading scorers conclude their collegiate careers.
“It’s going to be a lot of new opportunities and new faces,” Van Dyke said. “They’re young, they’re energetic, they’re hungry, and they’re fresh. They’re really at that point where it’s now their time to build the program, as we’re in a little bit of a reset.”
Staying In The Hunt — MEN
The Huskies, who were ranked No. 1 for the last six polls of the 2022 regular season and entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed, did lose a trio of All Pac-12 first teamers — Illijah Paul, the Offensive Player of the Year with 11 goals; Lucas Meek, with 10 goals, and Nick Scardinia, with seven.
But they do return a pair of first-team midfielders in junior Kalani Kossa-Rienzi (three goals, three assists) and senior Christian Soto (four goals). Additionally, UW has another pair of honorable mention midfielders in senior Imanol Rosales and junior Chris Meyers, each of whom had 10 assists, and a secondteam defender in Nate Jones.
Clark is especially thrilled to have Kossa-Rienzi and Soto back on the pitch together.
“As coaches, you don’t often get guys who are potentially the most talented but also the hardestworking,” Clark said. “They have a crazy ability to outwork opponents and outclass them. They’re RollsRoyces with maybe Ford engines.”
The Huskies have two goalkeepers who’ve proven themselves in big-time games. Senior Sam Fowler played in 14 of last season’s 20 contests, missing a month of action (six games) with a broken arm. Junior Jadon Bowton was in for 10 games, including the month when Fowler was out. Bowton went 4-0-2 during that time.
Some of the scoring power could come from among the numerous newcomers. Bryan Iliohan tallied 20 goals over the past two seasons at Cal Baptist. Peter Kingston, a transfer from Seattle University, played this summer with Ballard FC in USL League Two, and had seven goals and 10 assists heading into the playoffs. Sophomore Richie Aman played in 19 of last year’s 20 games, primarily as a reserve, and Clark said he could be on the brink of a breakout autumn.
Although last year’s 15-2-3 season ended sooner than the Huskies would have liked with a secondround 3-1 loss to eventual national semifinalist Creighton, Clark believes his program can keep aiming for national-caliber status.
“The bar is quite high right now — that’s always tricky when the standards have been set high,” he said. “But this group has the potential to follow in the (footsteps of) the last couple years.
“I think being in the hunt for another Pac-12 title or a national title is not out of the question.”
A New Look Everywhere — WOMEN
With leading scorers Summer Yates (seven goals, six assists) and McKenzie Weinert (five goals, five assists) having moved on to the professional level, Van Dyke’s team will have different names on the scoresheet, not only up top, but all over the field.
“Most likely, we will have 10 new starters out there,” said Van Dyke, whose 2022 squad went 10-6-3 (4-6-1 in Pac-12). “It’s going to be a lot of young faces, but all of these freshmen were behind some very impactful players.”
One of last year’s freshmen, Kelsey Branson, made some of her own impact, logging five goals and four assists and earning a place on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team.
Goalkeeper Olivia Juarez, a junior, likely can expect to see much more action than the six games and 191 minutes she recorded last year behind now-departed Olivia Sekany. “Now it’s kind of her time,” Van Dyke said. “I think it’s going to be exciting to see what she brings, because she has the respect of the whole team.”
Sophomore defender Kolo Suliafu saw action in all 19 games, getting nine starts. Among those potentially joining her in the back line is freshman Maya Loudd from Portland.
Up front, Van Dyke says freshman Raddison Banks is a candidate for some meaningful minutes. Ditto for junior Ioanna Papatheodorou, a native of Greece and a transfer from Massachusetts Lowell who was called in to the Greek national team during the summer.
“We’ve got a lot of different pieces, and I think the preseason and non-conference games are really going to provide us that opportunity to put together some chemistry with the group and see who plays well together,” Van Dyke said.
“Our mantra this year is show up, bring your best, and be brave,” she added. “We really want the players to start the process here, knowing they can be creative, try new things, bring their authentic selves. And within that, I think we’re going to see a lot of growth in the group.”
