There’s something in the water here in Washington, that’s got to be it. In much the same way that the bagels are just different in New York, there’s something unique about the soccer here. In just the club’s MLS era the Seattle Sounders have won two MLS Cups, four U.S. Open Cups, a Supporters Shield, a CONCACAF Champions League title and a Leagues Cup title. The Seattle Reign have three NWSL Shields, three trips to the NWSL final and a Women’s Cup. Ballard FC have won the USL 2 Championship and made another trip to the final in just four seasons. And now the University of Washington men’s soccer team are national champions as well.
Jamie Clark and UW have harnessed the culture and love of the game in the region down on Montlake as they’ve built a college soccer powerhouse largely filled with local talent. Of the 29 players on the roster in 2025, 19 are from Washington. With local talent like ours, it only makes sense to lean into such a strength.
The Huskies’ title was a long time coming. First founded in 1962, the program hadn’t even advanced beyond the NCAA tournament quarterfinals until 2021. That year, under the leadership of Clark, the team reached the final for the first time ever and fell 2-0 to Clemson. With a second bite at the apple, Clark and his Huskies were determined not to be left wanting again.
UW entered the tournament as an unseeded team, some ways away from their previous trip to the final in 2021 when they were the No. 2 seed. No matter, they had a difficult start to their tournament as they needed double-overtime to ultimately defeat Oregon State University 3-2 but from there they were off to the races. The Huskies went on to defeat their first five opponents by a margin of 11-4 as they marched on to the final, not needing overtime again until their meeting with NC State in the College Cup Final.
Facing the 15 seed NC State, UW held a 2-0 lead in freezing conditions after just over an hour thanks to a late first half opener from Zach Ramsey in the 44’ and a second in the 62’ from new Sounders draftee Joe Dale. The Wolfpack didn’t let the Huskies revel in that lead for long, as Donavan Phillip knocked one in and shrunk the gap in half in the 66’ and then in the 87’ Taig Healy put a fantastic shot inside the post to send the game to overtime.
Having learned their lesson against OSU and clearly ready to get out of the cold, UW were down in NC State’s end within two minutes of kicking off the added period ready to put a stop to the game with a golden goal. Alex Hall swung a cross from the right side of the field out to Richie Aman on the left, Aman took on a defender and found forward Charlie Kosakoff. Kosakoff played the ball inside the box to defender Egor Akulov with his back to goal and Akulov passed it to Harrison Bertos to poke it home and crown the Dawgs champions.
With the ball in the net the Huskies were off to celebrate with the trophy. Amidst the celebrations the goal was checked for a possible offside, but when the call on the field was confirmed there was nothing else to do but celebrate again.
First times only happen once, and for as long as records are kept this UW team will go down as the first national champions in program history. It’s the ultimate crowning achievement in Clark’s tenure, a run since 2011 that has included a number of accolades and accomplishments. Five members of this group had their names called during the 2026 MLS SuperDraft — Aman, Dale, Asher Hestad, Connor Lofy and Zach Ramsey — as they prepare to take the next steps in their careers, and more will follow. Whatever comes next for all of them, they’ll always be champions. It’s just what soccer players do here.
Bow Down to Washington.
