Season Preview: Forwards and Midfield
8/24/2021
Less than four months removed from advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, the Washington men's soccer program is back on the pitch and revved up for what is sure to be another exciting campaign. Returning to Montlake are the top 13 players form the Spring season based on minutes played, including eight All-Pac-12 honorees and two All-Americans in Dylan Teves and Charlie Ostrem. For the 11th straight season, three-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year Jamie Clark patrols the Washington touchline.
Next up in the 2021 season preview is a look at the Husky forwards and midfielders.
The Big Three
The Huskies return all of their goal scorers from a season ago, including three different players that had at least six goals. Highlighting that group is First Team All-American Dylan Teves. He led UW with 19 points on 7 goals and five assists. Teves’ ability to create opportunities from all over the pitch make him one of the toughest players in the country to defend.
Lucas Meek has harnessed his abilities as a one-on-one creator over the years and has developed into a top-tier attacker for UW. Meek has scored 6 goals in each of the last two seasons and has also added another eight assists in that span. He was named both Second Team All-Pac-12 and All-Region for his performance last season.
After playing just 70 minutes in his freshman year, Nick Scardina emerged last season as a top attacking threat, becoming the first Husky since 2017 to have both a brace and a hattrick in the same year. His three goals against UCLA propelled UW to a 5-1 victory and season sweep of the Bruins.
The 19 combined goals between Teves, Meek and Scardina give the Huskies an attacking trio that is sure to put loads of pressure on all UW opponents this fall.
Soto and Co.
In the midfield, Christian Soto has established himself as an elite two-way player who brings quality play, durability and consistency to the Husky squad. He has played in all 27 matches his first two seasons, starting all 16 in the Spring. One of three UW players to be named First Team All-Pac 12 last season, Soto not only played the role of distributor with three assists, but added 4 goals to his tally.
Ryan Crowley also started all 16 matches for Washington in the Spring, one of just five players to do so. After not seeing any action his first two seasons and playing just 11 minutes as a redshirt sophomore, Crowley emerged as a huge part of Jamie Clark's operation last season. He logged over 1200 minutes and dished out an assist in the win over Gonzaga.
The Huskies have even more productive depth in the midfield and forward ranks in Gio Miglietti and Imanol Rosales. Miglietti brings back goal-scoring experience, as he started nine matches in the Spring and scored three times. Rosales, meanwhile, was tied for second on the team with his five assists.
Players like Kalani Kossa-Rienzi and Gabe Threadgold have also logged tons of valuable experience at UW. Kossa-Rienzi has experience on defense and in the midfield, while Threadgold saw action in 13 contests last season and had two assists.
Jayson Baca and Chris Meyers each saw action in double-digit contests in the Spring out of the midfield spot.
With every goal scorer from last season back in the fold and the continued development of their depth pieces, the Washington midfielders at forwards are primed for a big year on Montlake.
