North Sound SeaWolves News Release -- www.seawolvesfc.com
Monday, April 22, 2013
EDMONDS, Wash. — Three-year starter Brady Ballew highlights a list of 11 players who have signed to play with the North Sound SeaWolves FC for the 2013 Premier Development League season. Among those signed are two players with United States National Team experience and six players with past PDL experience, as well as a member of the 2011 SeaWolves.
“This is a good, young, hungry group of players,” SeaWolves owner Alex Silva said. “We’re focused on getting guys who can not only play, but who are serious about being a part of what we’re doing on the field and in the community.”
Ballew, a Marysville-Pilchuck High School graduate and current Seattle University player, has been a starting midfielder/forward for the SeaWolves the past two seasons. For Seattle U this past season, he scored three goals while playing for new SeaWolves coach Ed Moore.
“We love having Brady back,” Silva said. “He’s a very good player, he works hard and he’s a leader. And it’s nice any time we can have a Snohomish County guy on the team.”
Two talented goalies were among the signees. Ryan Herman redshirted at the University of Washington after transferring from Santa Clara University, and Keegan Rogers started at Western Washington University this past season. The 6-foot-7 Herman was the No. 5-ranked recruit in the nation as a high school senior by ESPNU, has been in the U.S. National Team pool since he was 16 – playing for the U-18 National Team – and spent last summer in the PDL with the Seattle Sounders U-23s. Rogers was an honorable mention all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference pick for WWU this past season and played last summer with the Portland Timbers U-23s.
“It’s so important to have a strong keeper and we feel good about these two guys,” Silva said. “They both have experience in the PDL and are going to push each other.”
The SeaWolves also signed Gonzaga midfielder Nick Hamer, who played last season with the Portland Timbers U-23s. The Spokane native was a first-team all-West Coast Conference pick for the Zags.
“He wins a lot of balls and has a great presence in the midfield,” Silva said. “He’s an aggressive, physical player.”
Three former members of powerful Boise High School and the Idaho Rush also signed – forward Nicholas Davey, now at Harvard, and Seattle Pacific University teammates Garrett Jones and Graham Reid.
“Those guys know how to win,” Silva said. “They expect to win and that’s an attitude we’re looking to have here.”
A pair of Humboldt State University players – forward Braxton Griffin and midfielder Zach Hammond – signed. Hammond played with the SeaWolves in 2011 and Griffin is the second-all-time leading scorer at Issaquah’s Skyline High School.
Rounding out the signees are University of Washington forward Josh Heard, who played in the PDL with the Victoria Highlanders in 2012, and defender/midfielder Victor Vasquez, who played for the Chivas USA youth team and participated in the U.S. U-18 National Team camp.
The SeaWolves meet Gonzaga in an exhibition game at 4:45 p.m. Saturday at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, designed to give trialists an opportunity to play in a game setting.
The SeaWolves are a member of the Northwest Division of the Premier Development League, the highest level of amateur soccer in the United States. The team plays its home games at Edmonds Stadium between May and July, with the home-opener set for May 18 against the Portland Timbers U-23.