2015 Position Previews: Midfield
August 19, 2015 | Men's Soccer
Previous previews: GOALKEEPERS | DEFENSE
SEATTLE -- The positional previews continue today with the midfield. Washington has plenty of potential combinations and blend of youth and experience, but the key will be a pair of seniors running the team from the middle of the park.
MIDFIELD
The strength of the Husky midfield comes from the middle of the park where seniors James Moberg and Ian Lange return as the anchors. Moberg is coming off an invitation to the U.S. U-23's National Team Camp and is an All-America candidate. He'll be the creative presence in the center for Washington, using his vision, distribution and intelligence to setup the Husky attack.
Lange will likely play in a deeper spot, shielding the back four as a holding midfielder. The All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention selection last season dominates in the air and assists Moberg starting the Husky attack. Lange is also a proven goal scorer, particularly off set pieces and already has one NCAA playoff game-winning header to his credit as a Dawg.
Washington has several other options in the central midfield, including redshirt sophomore Beau Blanchard who can play multiple spots. Blanchard scored his first goal as a Husky last year in a win over Cal and is solid in all aspects of the game.
“Beau has been teetering as a first 11 guy, but showed versatility in playing both wide and central in the midfield,” said Clark. “He gave us the stability that we were looking for as an older guy even though he's just a redshirt sophomore.”
Other options in the middle are James Nosack who is back from injury and can play a holding role or Scott Menzies who redshirted last year as a freshman walk-on.
“Menzies has the ability and confidence to play as a deep line central midfield player,” said Clark.
The final mostly central player is freshman Corban Anderson who was the Gatorade Player of the Year in California an honor also won by Cristian Roldan who is now with the Seattle Sounders. With Moberg and Lange ahead of him, Anderson will fight for minutes as a true freshman, but has all the ability and feel for the game that Clark thinks will make him a star.
The wide midfielders could also be forwards depending on the formation. It is a versatile group led by redshirt junior Justin Schmidt should he be allowed into an attacking role after being a mainstay at center back the past two seasons. Clark hopes to move Schmidt up the field if he feels confidence in young defenders locking down the backline.
Another big part of that group is sophomore Henry Wingo who saw extended action last season as a true freshman, flashing athleticism tough for opposing defenses to handle.
“Henry looks like he is someone that can carry a heavier weight as an attacking spark that we can rely on game in and game out,” said Clark. He can be an underneath forward or play out wide.”
Another freshman from last season is Kyle Coffee who redshirted, but came on in the spring and appears to have earned minutes this season.
“Kyle was a guy that really stepped up in the spring and started scoring a lot of goals,” said Clark. “He can play both as an underneath forward and a wide guy. We started featuring him more and more and he's earned himself a look in that first 14 or 15 players.”
Other returning wide players are seniors Jim Oganga and Chad Wissing, along with junior Steven Wright. Oganga saw action in 12 games and is great in 1v1 situations, while Wright started six games a year ago and brings a tall, athletic forward to wide role.
New to the group is freshman Andrew Conwell who is a true winger and brings great Husky bloodlines as the son of former UW football legend Ernie Conwell.
