Stockton Short: Rising To The Occasion
August 24, 2026 | Men's Soccer
SEATTLE – Rising to the occasion.
In everyday conversation, it's a well-worn phrase. On the soccer field, it can take on multiple different meanings, all within a split second:
The difference between winning and losing …
… between qualifying for the playoffs or watching from home.
… between allowing a goal …
… or making a stunningly stupendous stop.
Before arriving at the University of Washington for an unexpected fifth year of college soccer, goalkeeper Stockton Short got to experience all of those things – and all within a split second.
During his junior season at Utah Tech in the fall of 2024, the Trailblazers were playing their regular-season finale against Nevada Las Vegas. A spot in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament was on the line – win and they're in. Tech was 10 minutes away from doing exactly that, clinging to a 2-1 lead.
"They played a ball out wide that got crossed in, and this guy has a free header from like 6 yards out," Short said in reliving that moment. "I'm kind of scrambling across my goal (to my left), and he heads it back to where I came from."
Short changed directions as fast as he could.
"I kind of just blindly threw my (right) arm up, and he rockets this header. It hits the top of my hand, and it was like perfect timing," he said. "I ended up hitting it up and over the goal. It was one of those ones where it was like, I was lucky."
Rising to the occasion.
Utah Tech hung on to win the game and make the WAC tourney. Even today, nearly two years later, Short calls that save his favorite among the 105 he made to earn a share of the national lead in that stat category at year's end.
Now, after his true senior season was cut short last fall by a torn hip labrum, the 22-year-old Short is taking advantage of the medical redshirt that he was granted. He has come to Seattle with the aim of keeping balls out of the net for the defending national champion Huskies.
"I'm super excited. I committed to this team before they played Stanford in the round of 16 (in last year's NCAA Tournament)," Short said. "So I had the pleasure of rooting for the team, being committed to them, and watching them go all the way, which was pretty special. … I think the pressure of being the preseason No. 1 is cool. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I'm grateful to be here and being able to do it."
FÚTBOL? OR FOOTBALL?
Of all the choices Short was facing as he headed into his senior year at Weber High School in Pleasant View, Utah, about 45 miles north of Salt Lake City, he didn't figure picking between the soccer pitch and football field would be one of them.
Short had played football growing up, but stopped after seventh grade, focusing primarily on soccer and some basketball.
Older brother Tyler had been the gridiron star in the family, earning 1st team All-Region and honorable mention All-State as a senior middle linebacker / inside linebacker in 2019.
"He was very good, arguably the best player on the team," Short said of Tyler. "The coaches loved him."
Those same coaches apparently were hoping that some of Tyler's skills might trickled down to Stockton as well, even though he had made his name at Weber as a soccer star. He helped the Warriors win the Utah Class 6A (large school) state titles as a freshman in 2019 and as a junior in 2021, and was the Utah 6A MVP in 2021.
The closest he came to the football field was in the stands watching Tyler play..
"I was the younger brother. When he was all done, the coaches kind of came after me and said, 'We think you can totally come play football this year. We think you'd be amazing.'"
Stockton decided to go for it.
"I said, 'Sure, let's do it. It's my last year.' And I ended up having a really fun year," he said.
Fun – and successful. Short made 35 catches, with seven of those for touchdowns, piling up 616 receiving yards and 711 all-purpose yards. He was an All-Region selection and helped Weber advance to the Utah 6A state semifinals.
Not only was he now on the field, he was on the recruiting radar.
"As the season went on, I kept having some pretty good games," Short said. "Kind of all of a sudden, our head coach said, 'Utah State is here to see you.' I actually got offered (a scholarship) by them later in the season, and that was pretty cool – I didn't expect that."
FINALLY, IT WAS FÚTBOL
Short didn't play any club soccer during that fall of his senior year. He did play during the winter while also playing basketball, then was on the field for Weber during the spring high school boys season, ultimately earning All-Area MVP and Mr. Soccer honors.
As much as he enjoyed that one autumn of football and the unexpected recruiting attention for that sport, Short knew soccer was always going to be the way to go for him. Air Force and New Hampshire both reached out. But it was Utah Tech, located in St. George, about 300 miles south of home in Pleasant View, that reeled in Short.
He had limited playing time as a freshman in 2022, but still started five games and went all 90 minutes in each of them, saving 21 of the 30 shots he faced while adjusting to the college game.
"Nobody floats in crosses like they do when they're younger – everything is whipped in hard and fast," he said. "The pace, the shots coming at you, the kind of skill that opposing teams have … Shots find the corner way more often than in club or high school soccer."
By his sophomore year, Short was the guy, starting all 18 games, posting four shutouts, a 1.26 goals-against average and a .732 save percentage. Twice, he was named the Western Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Week.
Then came his junior campaign when his 105 saves – including that big one against UNLV – not only tied for the national lead, but also set a Utah Tech single-season record. He came up with a career-best and school record 11 saves right here in town against Seattle U.
Short had his own perspective on his triple-digit save total.
"When you're leading the country in a stat like that, it's cool, but it also means your team is under a lot of fire," he said. "It's a cool individual stat, but not something that I paid too much attention to. It was a testament to how hard I worked during that season or the offseason or the years before."
The object of all that work is to make any save "as routine as possible, even though it might not look routine," Short said. "It's something you've seen hundreds and hundreds of times in training. Just working very hard before that shot even comes is what it's all about, and the cards fall where they fall."
UNEXPECTED END IN UTAH
Last Sept. 12 at UC San Diego in just the sixth game of his senior season, the cards fell the wrong way for Short. Coming out to clear a ball during the first half of the non-conference contest, he felt something happen in his right hip.
"One of their center backs just clipped the ball over our back line. I came out to head it out of bounds and came outside my box," he recalled. I think that transition from just exploding out to clear the ball away, I felt a little pop in there. I kind of ran back and went, 'Ow, that hurt!'
"I stayed in and tried playing the rest of the half. But every time I kicked the ball, it was this super-sharp pinching pain in my hip. And I'm a right-footer, so that just made it worse."
He didn't make it through the rest of the half. Short came out of the game, and that turned out to be the final action of his Utah Tech career.
Originally diagnosed as a groin injury, an MRI about a month later revealed it to be a tear in his labrum. The one piece of good news was that he didn't require surgery, "and that's one of those where you can avoid it, you want to because it's super-invasive surgery," Short said.
SEATTLE TIES THAT BIND
He was given a medical redshirt, essentially restoring his senior season of eligibility. Short had connections in Seattle, having played in the summer of 2025 for the highly successful Ballard FC semipro team in USL League 2. Short helped the Bridges win their third straight Northwest Division title and reach the league final for the second time.
"I already had that Seattle tie, so I hit the transfer portal, and I loved everything about here," Short said. "I had some teammates on my summer team who played here and heard only good things about this place. And obviously, they were very good last year, too."
With the Huskies having graduated College Cup Defensive MVP Jadon Bowton, there was opening for some veteran experience between the posts.
"Our guys love to come back after summer and talk about who's really good (from their summer teams), so we heard a lot about him,' UW head coach Jamie Clark said. "But he was going off to play his senior year (at Utah Tech), so you don't think another thing about it. Then suddenly, his year got cut short, he's got a (redshirt) year up his sleeve, so here he is.
"For us, it's a great thing because we have two very good goalies under him, but they're both younger and don't have as much experience. So when you can get a guy who has played as many games and played as many big games as he has, we had to jump on it," Clark added.
Assistant coach Richard Reece, who works with UW's goalkeepers, quickly saw two of Short's biggest attributes.
"He's truly a soccer player – not just a goalkeeper, but a soccer player," Reece said. "He understands the game, asks questions of the players and the coaching staff – 'Should we be doing this?' or 'Should we be doing that?' He has a really good soccer IQ, and that sets his athletic aspect apart from another athletic goalkeeper. And his feet are very good, so it's almost like having an extra field player."
Then there's the way Short – whose Seattle connection also includes being selected in the third round of the 2026 MLS Draft (81st overall) by the Seattle Sounders – has fit in with the Huskies by not trying to be anyone other than himself.
"He came in and stepped in for a popular goalkeeper in Jadon, who was phenomenal on the field, but also was just really good with our guys," Reece said. "Stock has come in and not tried to take his place, but rather just find his own place.
"I think he has done that in such a great manner within the first week, and the other guys are going, 'This guy is great.'" Reece added. "And it helps that he has played summer soccer up here, so he got to know some guys, and he was training with the Sounders, so he got to know some guys."
GETTING ON THE SAME PAGE
Short, who completed his business management degree at Utah Tech and is taking an assortment of post-baccalaureate courses at Washington, just wants to make the most of every moment on Montlake.
From his position, that starts by building bonds with the defenders.
"I see the back four really well; they all see the field in front of them really well, and we all work together in terms of staying organized and shaped," Short said. "But first things first is having a good relationship with the back line, knowing which guys to get on or which guys to cheer up or pick up. Getting those cues early and knowing how to get the best out of your teammates is super-important."
Speaking of defenders, he already has two of the best in senior two-time All-American Harrison Bertos, and fifth-year Egor Akulov, whose 2,124 minutes last season were the most of any player on the squad.
"I knew them before I even came to play for this school – they're both pretty big names in the college soccer world," Short said. "It's kind of a goalkeeper's dream to see them in front of you."
The netminder's world certainly has its peaks and valleys. The season opener on Aug. 21 against San Diego ended in a 2-1 loss when the Toreros got just six shots but put a pair into the back of the net while the Huskies managed only a single tally on 16 shots. Just two days later, they limited Gonzaga to three shots and Short was called upon for just one save in a 4-0 shutout victory.
"Being a goalkeeper is probably one of the most humbling positions in any sport on the entire planet," he said. "You can be the best goalkeeper in the world and still concede five goals. There's shots you just can't save or do anything about – no one expects you to save (a shot to) the upper 90 from 10 yards out.
"For me, it's taking it one play at a time, getting the action right, getting the fundamentals, making the saves I should make. Distributing well, coming out for crosses when I should, making the right decisions, being brave, being confident, and helping my team win the game. I feel like if I did those things, even if I let a couple get past, I can go home happy."
Call it Stockton Short's way of rising to the occasion.
For news, scores, highlights and more, download the Go Huskies app on your mobile device. Follow @UW_MSoccer on Instagram, X, Threads, and Facebook and subscribe to UW Athletics on YouTube for the latest on the Dawgs.
In everyday conversation, it's a well-worn phrase. On the soccer field, it can take on multiple different meanings, all within a split second:
The difference between winning and losing …
… between qualifying for the playoffs or watching from home.
… between allowing a goal …
… or making a stunningly stupendous stop.
Before arriving at the University of Washington for an unexpected fifth year of college soccer, goalkeeper Stockton Short got to experience all of those things – and all within a split second.
During his junior season at Utah Tech in the fall of 2024, the Trailblazers were playing their regular-season finale against Nevada Las Vegas. A spot in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament was on the line – win and they're in. Tech was 10 minutes away from doing exactly that, clinging to a 2-1 lead.
"They played a ball out wide that got crossed in, and this guy has a free header from like 6 yards out," Short said in reliving that moment. "I'm kind of scrambling across my goal (to my left), and he heads it back to where I came from."
Short changed directions as fast as he could.
"I kind of just blindly threw my (right) arm up, and he rockets this header. It hits the top of my hand, and it was like perfect timing," he said. "I ended up hitting it up and over the goal. It was one of those ones where it was like, I was lucky."
Rising to the occasion.
Utah Tech hung on to win the game and make the WAC tourney. Even today, nearly two years later, Short calls that save his favorite among the 105 he made to earn a share of the national lead in that stat category at year's end.
Now, after his true senior season was cut short last fall by a torn hip labrum, the 22-year-old Short is taking advantage of the medical redshirt that he was granted. He has come to Seattle with the aim of keeping balls out of the net for the defending national champion Huskies.
"I'm super excited. I committed to this team before they played Stanford in the round of 16 (in last year's NCAA Tournament)," Short said. "So I had the pleasure of rooting for the team, being committed to them, and watching them go all the way, which was pretty special. … I think the pressure of being the preseason No. 1 is cool. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I'm grateful to be here and being able to do it."
FÚTBOL? OR FOOTBALL?
Of all the choices Short was facing as he headed into his senior year at Weber High School in Pleasant View, Utah, about 45 miles north of Salt Lake City, he didn't figure picking between the soccer pitch and football field would be one of them.
Short had played football growing up, but stopped after seventh grade, focusing primarily on soccer and some basketball.
Older brother Tyler had been the gridiron star in the family, earning 1st team All-Region and honorable mention All-State as a senior middle linebacker / inside linebacker in 2019.
"He was very good, arguably the best player on the team," Short said of Tyler. "The coaches loved him."
Those same coaches apparently were hoping that some of Tyler's skills might trickled down to Stockton as well, even though he had made his name at Weber as a soccer star. He helped the Warriors win the Utah Class 6A (large school) state titles as a freshman in 2019 and as a junior in 2021, and was the Utah 6A MVP in 2021.
The closest he came to the football field was in the stands watching Tyler play..
"I was the younger brother. When he was all done, the coaches kind of came after me and said, 'We think you can totally come play football this year. We think you'd be amazing.'"
Stockton decided to go for it.
"I said, 'Sure, let's do it. It's my last year.' And I ended up having a really fun year," he said.
Fun – and successful. Short made 35 catches, with seven of those for touchdowns, piling up 616 receiving yards and 711 all-purpose yards. He was an All-Region selection and helped Weber advance to the Utah 6A state semifinals.
Not only was he now on the field, he was on the recruiting radar.
"As the season went on, I kept having some pretty good games," Short said. "Kind of all of a sudden, our head coach said, 'Utah State is here to see you.' I actually got offered (a scholarship) by them later in the season, and that was pretty cool – I didn't expect that."
FINALLY, IT WAS FÚTBOL
Short didn't play any club soccer during that fall of his senior year. He did play during the winter while also playing basketball, then was on the field for Weber during the spring high school boys season, ultimately earning All-Area MVP and Mr. Soccer honors.
As much as he enjoyed that one autumn of football and the unexpected recruiting attention for that sport, Short knew soccer was always going to be the way to go for him. Air Force and New Hampshire both reached out. But it was Utah Tech, located in St. George, about 300 miles south of home in Pleasant View, that reeled in Short.
He had limited playing time as a freshman in 2022, but still started five games and went all 90 minutes in each of them, saving 21 of the 30 shots he faced while adjusting to the college game.
"Nobody floats in crosses like they do when they're younger – everything is whipped in hard and fast," he said. "The pace, the shots coming at you, the kind of skill that opposing teams have … Shots find the corner way more often than in club or high school soccer."
By his sophomore year, Short was the guy, starting all 18 games, posting four shutouts, a 1.26 goals-against average and a .732 save percentage. Twice, he was named the Western Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Week.
Then came his junior campaign when his 105 saves – including that big one against UNLV – not only tied for the national lead, but also set a Utah Tech single-season record. He came up with a career-best and school record 11 saves right here in town against Seattle U.
Short had his own perspective on his triple-digit save total.
"When you're leading the country in a stat like that, it's cool, but it also means your team is under a lot of fire," he said. "It's a cool individual stat, but not something that I paid too much attention to. It was a testament to how hard I worked during that season or the offseason or the years before."
The object of all that work is to make any save "as routine as possible, even though it might not look routine," Short said. "It's something you've seen hundreds and hundreds of times in training. Just working very hard before that shot even comes is what it's all about, and the cards fall where they fall."
UNEXPECTED END IN UTAH
Last Sept. 12 at UC San Diego in just the sixth game of his senior season, the cards fell the wrong way for Short. Coming out to clear a ball during the first half of the non-conference contest, he felt something happen in his right hip.
"One of their center backs just clipped the ball over our back line. I came out to head it out of bounds and came outside my box," he recalled. I think that transition from just exploding out to clear the ball away, I felt a little pop in there. I kind of ran back and went, 'Ow, that hurt!'
"I stayed in and tried playing the rest of the half. But every time I kicked the ball, it was this super-sharp pinching pain in my hip. And I'm a right-footer, so that just made it worse."
He didn't make it through the rest of the half. Short came out of the game, and that turned out to be the final action of his Utah Tech career.
Originally diagnosed as a groin injury, an MRI about a month later revealed it to be a tear in his labrum. The one piece of good news was that he didn't require surgery, "and that's one of those where you can avoid it, you want to because it's super-invasive surgery," Short said.
SEATTLE TIES THAT BIND
He was given a medical redshirt, essentially restoring his senior season of eligibility. Short had connections in Seattle, having played in the summer of 2025 for the highly successful Ballard FC semipro team in USL League 2. Short helped the Bridges win their third straight Northwest Division title and reach the league final for the second time.
"I already had that Seattle tie, so I hit the transfer portal, and I loved everything about here," Short said. "I had some teammates on my summer team who played here and heard only good things about this place. And obviously, they were very good last year, too."
With the Huskies having graduated College Cup Defensive MVP Jadon Bowton, there was opening for some veteran experience between the posts.
"Our guys love to come back after summer and talk about who's really good (from their summer teams), so we heard a lot about him,' UW head coach Jamie Clark said. "But he was going off to play his senior year (at Utah Tech), so you don't think another thing about it. Then suddenly, his year got cut short, he's got a (redshirt) year up his sleeve, so here he is.
"For us, it's a great thing because we have two very good goalies under him, but they're both younger and don't have as much experience. So when you can get a guy who has played as many games and played as many big games as he has, we had to jump on it," Clark added.
Assistant coach Richard Reece, who works with UW's goalkeepers, quickly saw two of Short's biggest attributes.
"He's truly a soccer player – not just a goalkeeper, but a soccer player," Reece said. "He understands the game, asks questions of the players and the coaching staff – 'Should we be doing this?' or 'Should we be doing that?' He has a really good soccer IQ, and that sets his athletic aspect apart from another athletic goalkeeper. And his feet are very good, so it's almost like having an extra field player."
Then there's the way Short – whose Seattle connection also includes being selected in the third round of the 2026 MLS Draft (81st overall) by the Seattle Sounders – has fit in with the Huskies by not trying to be anyone other than himself.
"He came in and stepped in for a popular goalkeeper in Jadon, who was phenomenal on the field, but also was just really good with our guys," Reece said. "Stock has come in and not tried to take his place, but rather just find his own place.
"I think he has done that in such a great manner within the first week, and the other guys are going, 'This guy is great.'" Reece added. "And it helps that he has played summer soccer up here, so he got to know some guys, and he was training with the Sounders, so he got to know some guys."
GETTING ON THE SAME PAGE
Short, who completed his business management degree at Utah Tech and is taking an assortment of post-baccalaureate courses at Washington, just wants to make the most of every moment on Montlake.
From his position, that starts by building bonds with the defenders.
"I see the back four really well; they all see the field in front of them really well, and we all work together in terms of staying organized and shaped," Short said. "But first things first is having a good relationship with the back line, knowing which guys to get on or which guys to cheer up or pick up. Getting those cues early and knowing how to get the best out of your teammates is super-important."
Speaking of defenders, he already has two of the best in senior two-time All-American Harrison Bertos, and fifth-year Egor Akulov, whose 2,124 minutes last season were the most of any player on the squad.
"I knew them before I even came to play for this school – they're both pretty big names in the college soccer world," Short said. "It's kind of a goalkeeper's dream to see them in front of you."
The netminder's world certainly has its peaks and valleys. The season opener on Aug. 21 against San Diego ended in a 2-1 loss when the Toreros got just six shots but put a pair into the back of the net while the Huskies managed only a single tally on 16 shots. Just two days later, they limited Gonzaga to three shots and Short was called upon for just one save in a 4-0 shutout victory.
"Being a goalkeeper is probably one of the most humbling positions in any sport on the entire planet," he said. "You can be the best goalkeeper in the world and still concede five goals. There's shots you just can't save or do anything about – no one expects you to save (a shot to) the upper 90 from 10 yards out.
"For me, it's taking it one play at a time, getting the action right, getting the fundamentals, making the saves I should make. Distributing well, coming out for crosses when I should, making the right decisions, being brave, being confident, and helping my team win the game. I feel like if I did those things, even if I let a couple get past, I can go home happy."
Call it Stockton Short's way of rising to the occasion.
For news, scores, highlights and more, download the Go Huskies app on your mobile device. Follow @UW_MSoccer on Instagram, X, Threads, and Facebook and subscribe to UW Athletics on YouTube for the latest on the Dawgs.
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