It’s back to school for the Ballard boys – this fall they will return to campus, seeking success in the classroom and glory on the pitch. Here is a preview of this upcoming collegiate season so you can follow your favorite players all year long.
We’ll start locally with Seattle Pacific University (SPU), the school that shares Interbay Stadium with Ballard FC. This season, the Falcons will have four players from the 2024 Ballard FC roster: Ray Mendez, Isaac Ketcham, Pierluca Carnovale, and Cristian Chel-Lara. Mendez and Ketcham played for Seattle Pacific last season with both players featuring in 18 matches. Mendez led the team in starts, minutes, goals, and points on his way to winning Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Newcomer of the Year. Both players bring versatility with Ketcham capable of playing anywhere across the backline, and Mendez able to play up top and in midfield. Expect Mendez and Ketcham to both be key contributors once again for the Falcons.
Carnovale and Chel-Lara are both new to Seattle Pacific this season. With two seasons for Ballard FC, Carnovale is no stranger to Interbay Stadium. He has been the starting goalkeeper at Willamette University where he received All-Conference honors for the past three seasons, and All-Region honors in 2022. After graduating from Willamette, Carnovale will use his final year of eligibility with the Falcons to compete for the starting goalkeeper position. Chel-Lara is an incoming freshman at Seattle Pacific, graduating from Sammamish High School earlier this Spring. After a summer with Ballard FC, Chel-Lara is poised to make an instant impact for the Falcons.
These four 2024 Ballard FC players are not the only Ballard alumni on the Falcons roster this year. They will join 2022 Ballard FC players, Evan Aune and Joey Van Horn. Aune and Van Horn are both going into their fifth years after winning All-Conference honors in 2023, and both should be key players again in 2024. From one bird to another, let’s check in on the Redhawks.
Seattle University will field four 2024 Ballard FC players as well: Taketo Onodera, Demian Alvarez, Charlie Lanphier, and Luke Hammond. All four players were on the Redhawks’ 2023 roster that won the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Regular Season Championship. Last season Lanphier was recognized as WAC Goalkeeper of the Year, Onodera received First-Team All-WAC honors, while Alvarez was Second Team. Going into 2024, both Lanphier and Onodera were named to the Preseason All-WAC Team as they push to defend their conference title. After an injury shortened his 2023 sophomore season, Hammond will look to have a big junior year this fall. Expect all four Ballard FC players to be consistent figures in Redhawks lineups.
These four are not the only Ballard FC connections for the Redhawks as former coaches and players find themselves on this roster. Jeremy Opong, a member of the 2023 USL 2 National Championship squad, is going into his senior year for Seattle University. On the coaching side, former Ballard FC head coach Jason Farrell and former assistant coach Jason McGlothern will both be assistants for the Redhawks this Fall. Last year, they were part of the Far West Staff of the Year as named by the United Soccer Coaches (USC). From Capitol Hill to the U-District, it is time to preview the Huskies.
The University of Washington is heading to the Big Ten, and they are taking six (soon to be seven) 2024 Ballard FC players with them. Peter Kingston, Joe Dale, Richie Aman, Sean Sent, Chris Meyers, and Rhys Gourdie will all be on the Husky roster this fall, with Cameron Cruz joining in the spring. Last season, Meyers and Aman both received PAC-12 All-Conference honors and will look to have similar success in the Big Ten. Meyers is one of only a few current Huskies that saw the field during the 2021 season, where they won a Pac-12 Championship and went all the way to the NCAA College Cup final.
Alongside Meyers and Aman, Kingston was also a consistent starter and is set to have a big year in his final collegiate season. Dale and Sent were primarily backup midfielders last season, but both provided two goal contributions each in limited minutes. They will look to have expanded roles this fall. Gourdie is a fifth year transfer from the University of San Diego where he won two straight West Coast Conference (WCC) Championships and received All-Conference honors in 2022 and 2023. Gourdie’s positional versatility will provide lots of value to the Huskies where he could play outside back, in midfield, or on the wing. Although Cruz will not be on the fall roster, you can follow him in the spring with the Huskies. Last year Cruz starred for Grand Canyon University, racking up five assists as a sophomore. Now, let’s check out the rest of the Big Ten.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, we have two other Ballard FC players: Kojo Dadzie and Adam Braman. Both are new transfers with Dadzie transferring to Penn State and Braman to Wisconsin. Dadzie transferred from Brown University where he played the last three seasons, receiving First Team All-Ivy and Third Team All-Region honors for the Bears in 2023. Later that year, Dadzie would win a USL 2 National Championship in the summer with Ballard. Now Dadzie will look to replicate his 2023 success, this time in the Big Ten with the Nittany Lions.
Braman started his collegiate career at Seattle University before transferring to Midwestern State University (MSU). At MSU, Braman was named 2023 Lone Star Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and was named to the All-Region First Team. Braman’s success at MSU earned him a transfer to the Big Ten with Wisconsin where he will compete for the starting job. Let’s time to go further east with the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC).
In the ACC, there are three 2024 Ballard FC players competing this fall: Cameron Yriondo, Andrew Myerson, and Daniel Burko. Yriondo is an incoming transfer at the University of Virginia after spending two seasons with Seattle Pacific. At SPU, Yriondo received All-GNAC Honorable Mention in 2022 and First Team honors in 2023. These efforts earned him a transfer to Virginia, a powerhouse with seven National Championships. Yriondo will look to break into the rotation this fall as Virginia competes for another title.
Speaking of title contenders, the 2022 NCAA National Champions Syracuse University have added Daniel Burko to their 2024 roster. After winning the Division Two Southeast Region Player of the Year with Lincoln Memorial University, Burko transferred to Syracuse in January of this year. After a goal in preseason against Marist, Burko will look to continue scoring goals for the Orange this fall.
Our last ACC player is Andrew Myerson who will be at Duke University, joining 2023 Ballard FC player Luke Thomas. Myerson was a redshirt last season at Duke, and will look to make his collegiate debut in 2024 after a summer with Ballard. Thomas on the other hand is going into his final collegiate season after appearing in double digit matches in each of the last three seasons. Now, let’s check out the rest of the boys on the East Coast.
Let’s start in Connecticut, where we have three 2024 Ballard FC players: Charlie Holmes, Elliot Spatz and Conrad Lee. Holmes will compete in the Big East, transferring to the University of Connecticut after two seasons at Bucknell. With Bucknell, Holmes received Third Team All-Patriot League honors in 2023 and will be looking for similar success at UConn.
Spatz will be a junior at Connecticut College this year, competing in the NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference). After a couple of breakout matches as a sophomore and a summer with Ballard FC, the speedy striker will look to lead the Connecticut front line this year.
Elsewhere in Connecticut, Conrad Lee will play at Yale University. However Lee is taking a gap semester to work in Montana, and he will not compete until the spring.
Lee is not our only Ivy League player this season, as both Leo Burney and Charlie Gaffney will play at Penn this fall. After two straight Ivy League Regular Season Championships, they will look to add a third in 2024. Burney has been immense on the Penn backline for the past three seasons, receiving First Team All-Ivy honors all three years. 2022 was Burney’s best season, winning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and being named an All-American. Going into the 2024 season, Burney has been named to the Defenders to Watch list by the United Soccer Coaches (USC).
Gaffney had a breakout junior year where he started in every match and will look to build upon that going into his senior season. Alongside Gaffney in attack will be former Ballard FC player Stas Korzeniowski. Korzeniowski has not just been scoring in USL 2 National Finals, but also at an impressive rate for Penn. Alongside Burney, Korzeniowski was a 2022 All-American and named to the USC Forwards to Watch List for 2024. After this season, Korzeniowski will join the Philadelphia Union after being drafted in 2023. Together, Burney, Gaffney, and Korzeniowski should be constant figures for a Penn team looking to three-peat.
From one group of Ballard boys to another, it’s time to check on San Diego State. Both Christian Engmann and Austin Brummett will play for the Aztecs this season as they start their first season in the WAC. Engmann started his collegiate career at Saint Mary’s where he was a consistent starter for three seasons. In 2020, Engmann was named to the All-Freshman team and received First Team All-WCC honors. In 2022, Engmann was an All-WCC Honorable Mention. 2023 was Engmann’s first year with the Aztecs and despite an injury limiting him to just 93 minutes, Engmann scored two goals and had an assist. This season, Engmann will look to keep adding goals from defense and be a leader on the backline.
Brummett had a breakout season for the Aztecs in 2023, leading the team in goals and points and finishing top five in the PAC-12 in both categories. After a summer where he was Ballard FC’s leading scorer, Brummett should be set for a great junior season. His new conference has already taken notice as Brummett was named to the Preseason All-WAC Team.
Also in California, we have Rafi Otero at Claremont McKenna College (CMC). He will compete for Claremont Mudd Scripps (a combination of CMC, Harvey Mudd, and Scripps student-athletes) this fall. Otero has had a successful career at Claremont, receiving Second Team All-Conference honors in 2021 and First Team in 2023. Last season Otero led the Stags in goals, and he will look to be an attacking threat once again in 2024. This summer Otero displayed his attacking prowess for Ballard FC, volleying in a stunning goal against Capital FC Atletico in a 8-1 victory.
Last season, Arjun Venkat was in California as well playing for Oxnard College. But this fall, Venkat is moving to Colorado as he has transferred to Regis University. Venkat started his collegiate career at Western Oregon, playing in seven matches as a freshman. In his sophomore season at Oxnard, Venkat started in eight matches, tallying a goal and an assist from midfield. Now after a successful summer with Ballard FC, Venkat will look to make an impact in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with Regis this fall.
That’s a wrap for the Ballard FC college preview. 28 players at 15 different institutions. Check in on your favorite players as they represent Ballard well this school year.
