It’s that time of year as the Men’s College Soccer Season kicks off tomorrow, Thursday, August 21st. Check out the preview below to follow along with your favorite Ballard FC players all fall!
Every year, the Ballard FC roster has been built upon a strong base of talent from local universities. This year is no different as 15 players will be taking the pitch this season for either the University of Washington, Seattle University, or Seattle Pacific University.
First, we will start with the six Huskies who will be at Montlake this fall: Joe Dale, Richie Aman, Cameron Cruz, Charlie Kosakoff, Zach Ramsey, and Harrison Bertos. Joe Dale is one of only two players (alongside Christian Engmann) on the 2025 roster that was also part of the inaugural Ballard FC roster in 2022. After playing for Ballard FC in 2022, he walked on to the University of Washington squad that fall and was a redshirt freshman. In 2023, Dale made his collegiate debut as he played sparingly in his redshirt freshman season. His breakout came as a redshirt sophomore last year. After a big summer with Ballard FC, Dale appeared in 20 matches, starting 13, for the Huskies in 2024 while recording two goals and three assists. Now after being a consistent starter and goal threat for Ballard FC this past summer, Dale will look to have an even better redshirt junior year.
The other multi-year Ballard FC players on the Husky squad are Richie Aman and Cameron Cruz. This will be Cruz’s first fall with the Huskies after transferring in January of this year. Cruz spent two seasons at Grand Canyon University where he led the team with five assists in his sophomore season. Aman is the lone senior in this group and will be looking to finish his college career strong after three great seasons as a husky. This season, Aman was named to the Preseason Top 100 list by TopDrawerSoccer (TDS), a United Soccer Coaches (USC) Midfielder to Watch, and was also named a Big Ten Player to Watch for the second straight season.
Then we get to the trio of first-year Ballard FC players. Charlie Kosakoff was Ballard FC’s top scorer in 2025 after scoring nine goals in his final nine matches. Like Aman, Kosakoff was named a Big Ten Player to Watch ahead of his junior season. Zach Ramsey is the youngest of the group and the only sophomore of the six. The 2024 Washington Gatorade Player of the Year will look to improve upon a freshman season where he was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Lastly, Harrison Bertos will look to impress in what is likely to be his final collegiate season, despite him being just a junior. After being drafted by San Diego FC last December, Bertos joins Aman on the TDS Preseason Top 100 list.
As we move over to Championship Field, it’s time to check on our five Redhawks at Seattle University: Luke Hammond, Charlie Lanphier, Andre Philibbosian, Davis Mungomba, and Dylan Wojdyla.
Hammond and Lanphier are the two multi-year Ballard FC players featuring for the Redhawks, and are both going into their final collegiate seasons. Hammond, Ballard FC 2025 co-captain, had a breakout junior year with Seattle University as he appeared in all 20 matches, made 15 starts, and was second on the team for assists (5) as he made the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) All-Tournament Team. Lanphier has been one of the best goalkeepers across college soccer over the past two seasons. The 2023 WAC Goalkeeper of the Year and 2024 WAC Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year will be looking for a third straight banner year, this time in the WCC (West Coast Conference).
Now let’s move to the trio of first-year Ballard FC players for the Redhawks. Andre Philibbosian will look to anchor the Redhawk midfield after a stellar redshirt freshman season in 2024 where he made both the WAC All-Freshman Team and the TDS Postseason Top 100 Freshman list. Then on the backline will be Davis Mungomba and Dylan Wojdyla. Mungomba is going into his final collegiate season after being a big part of the Redhawks’ 2024 WAC Tournament Title and starting consistently for Ballard FC this summer. This will be Wojdyla’s first fall with Seattle University after transferring in January of this year. Wojdyla will bring professional experience from Italy and Mexico to the Redhawk defense in 2025.
There will be four players continuing to play their soccer at Interbay Stadium this fall for Seattle Pacific University: Isaac Ketcham, Cristian Chel Lara, Connor Tollan, and Mitchell Wilson.
Ketcham was invaluable for Ballard FC once again this summer, called upon to play both center back and left back. After making 30 starts over the past two seasons for the Falcons, Ketcham will be looking for another big year in his redshirt junior season.
Chel Lara, Tollan, and Wilson all battled injury this summer with Ballard FC, however all three should be ready for the SPU season. Chel Lara played in 15 of 18 matches for the Falcons in his freshman season, and now as a sophomore he will be looking to be a key part of the midfield to make his first collegiate starts.Tollan did play in a few matches for Ballard FC this summer, even scoring a worldie in a 2-1 win over Bigfoot FC in late May. Now Tollan heads into his senior season after two straight all-conference years, earning GNAC Honorable Mention honors in 2023 and making First Team All-GNAC last year. Due to injury, Wilson did not see match action in 2024 for the Falcons as former Ballard FC goalkeeper, Pierluca Carnovale, was the starter. But now with Carnovale gone, Wilson will be looking to claim the starting spot this season.
As we leave Seattle, there is a fifth player from the 2024 Seattle Pacific roster playing college soccer this season as Ray Mendez will suit up for the Michigan Wolverines this fall. Due to playing two years at a Junior College (Columbia Basin College), Mendez was awarded a fifth year of eligibility that needed to be used at a NCAA Division One program. Therefore, Mendez has transferred to the University of Michigan where he has been named a Big Ten Player to Watch. After being named GNAC Newcomer of the Year in 2023 and GNAC Player of the Year in 2024, Mendez will be looking to have another great year to finish his collegiate career.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten is Sean Sent who will be playing his redshirt senior season for UCLA after graduating from the University of Washington. In 2024, Sent was named a Big Ten Player to Watch and then went on to start in 20 matches for the Huskies as he helped them make the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Now he will look to have a similar impact on the UCLA midfield in 2025.
Sent is not the only Ballard FC player who will be taking the field in California this fall as there is a trio of San Diego State Aztecs this fall: Christian Engmann, Beto Apolinar, and Trevor Wilson. Engmann has been with Ballard FC since the very beginning in 2022 and served as co-captain in both 2024 and 2025. In 2024, Engman was named to the USL 2 Team of the Year, but unfortunately could not feature for San Diego State due to injury. Now as a redshirt senior, Engmann will be looking to lead the backline as the Aztecs search for their second straight WAC Regular Season Title. Apolinar will also be a senior this fall for the Aztecs this fall after three great seasons in the San Diego State midfield. Last season, Apolinar started in 17 matches and won WAC Defensive Player of the Week once, and now he will aim to be the engine again in midfield for the Aztecs. Trevor Wilson will be a redshirt freshman this season after not seeing match action in 2024. The former Tacoma Defiance goalkeeper will be competing with Eddy Vargas for the starting spot this Fall.
Elsewhere in the WAC are Stockton Short and Tanner Dutra at Utah Tech University. Short heads into his senior season with expectations high after a great 2024 collegiate season and stellar summer with Ballard FC. After leading the country for saves (105) in 2024, Short has been named the WAC Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year ahead of the 2025 season. Dutra will be looking be a key contributor again in his redshirt sophomore season after playing every single minute for Utah Tech and making the WAC All-Freshman Team in 2024.
Our last collegiate duo is the pair of attackers for the University of Connecticut (UConn), Austin Brummett and Charlie Holmes. Both Brummett and Holmes are heading into their senior seasons this fall. This will be Holmes second season at UConn after playing two seasons at Bucknell, winning Third Team All-Patriot League honors in his sophomore season. In his first year as a Husky, Holmes started in 15 matches while scoring two goals and dishing out two assists and will look to be a key contributor once again. Brummett played alongside Engmann, Apolinar, and Wilson at San Diego State last season before transferring to UConn. Ballard FC’s 2024 leading scorer earned Second Team All-Conference and Second Team All-Region honors for the Aztecs last fall. Due to those efforts, Brummett was named a 2025 USL 2 Player to Watch in May and last week was named to the USC Forwards to Watch list ahead of his senior season.
Brummett, Sent, Wojdyla, Cruz and Mendez are not the only transfers ahead of the 2025 season as they are joined by Arjun Venkat and Andrew Myerson.
Andrew Myerson will be joining former Ballard FC goalkeeper, Conrad Lee, at Yale University this fall. After making his collegiate debut and recording his first collegiate goal and assist as a redshirt freshman for Duke University, Myerson will be looking for a bigger role with the Yale Bulldogs in 2025. Despite battling injury for most of the summer, Myerson was still able to make his USL 2 debut in a 3-1 win over Lane United, and he will be ready to go for the Bulldogs backline ahead of his sophomore season.
Arjun Venkat is making the jump from Division Two to Division One as he joins Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) out of Pennsylvania. Like Mendez, Venkat is taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility for players who played at a junior college (Oxnard College) and so he will have two years of eligibility at FDU whereas he would have only had one has he stayed at Regis University. After making 15 starts for Regis in 2024 and having a great summer with Ballard FC, Venkat will look to be a key figure for the Knights backline this fall.
Just a state over from Venkat will be Juan Alvarez who will suit up for West Virginia University this fall. The 20 year old scored the goal of the season this summer for Ballard FC in a 3-0 win against the Tacoma Stars and will be looking to add more goal contributions for the Mountaineers. After playing for the Tacom Defiance and Ballard FC, Alvarez will be a freshman in 2025 for West Virginia.
Now we move back to the Northeast as Brummett, Holmes, and Myerson are joined by one other player who will take the pitch in Connecticut this fall as Elliot Spatz leads the line for Connecticut College this year. After making the NCAA Division Three National Championship match in 2024, Spatz will want to win it all in his senior season. Last season, Spatz caught fire at the end of the year, scoring in the NESCAC Championship match and then scoring four more goals in the NCAA Tournament. This summer Spatz scored three goals for Ballard FC, including the winner in a Player of the Match performance against the Portland Bangers and he will look to bring that form into his college season.
That’s a wrap for the Ballard FC college preview. 28 players at 12 different institutions. Check in on your favorite players as they represent the Ballard well this school year.
Written by Max Dresbach
