March 17, 2012
SEATTLE - Men's head soccer coach Jamie Clark announced the addition of three transfers that will join his program in 2012. Ryan Herman, Patrick Pacheco and Nate Sackeyfio are now officially Huskies. UW has received several transfers the past few years including Nick James, Ben Fisk, Abdul Aman, Chris Brundage, Daniel Gray and Jacob Hustedt, among others. "We are delighted to bring back to the University of Washington two very gifted players that left the state to start their college careers," said Clark. "We have had the fortune of seeing five players come back to their home state over the course of the last 18 months. It's fantastic that players are excited about the direction our program is headed and want to be a part of it. UW is an incredible place and the Pac-12 is loaded with talented players, so there is no better place for these young men to develop. We are going to become a national power on the backs of our local players and these few guys will help move us in that direction." Herman was a redshirt freshman last year at Santa Clara but hails from Sammamish, Wash. The Mount Si grad is a 6'7 goalkeeper and graduated HS early to practice with the Sounders. At Mount Si, he was a member of the U-18 US National Team, a consensus high school All-American, played for the US internationally and earned numerous all-state and All-American honors. "Ryan was one of the best high school goalkeepers in the nation last year his senior year," Clark said. "He has a great combination of size, athleticism and soft hands. His experience with both the Sounders and the youth national teams has given him the experience to be ready to help us when called upon." A Seattle, Wash., native, Sackeyfio played his first three collegiate seasons at Denver. The 6'3 forward out of Ingraham High School played for the Crossfire Premier U18 Academy, the Emerald City FC from 2001-08 and reached several other state club tournaments. At Denver he scored three goals and had four assists in 50 games played. "Nate returns home after three years at Denver," Clark said. "He is a tall target forward with very good feet. We believe he has the potential to have a breakout year and I think he will score some goals for us this year. My prior teams played against him a few times and he always caused us a lot of problems. We're excited to see what he can do." Pacheco, a Taos, N.M., native, played for the UNM Lobos for three seasons before deciding to transfer to UW. He is a 5'11 midfielder that has played in 52 games, taken 31 shots, has two goals, two assists and six total points. He is the Taos HS all-time leading scoring with 67 goals and 36 assists. "Patrick from a great program at UNM, and his experience their will help add some maturity to our team," Clark added. "I had the fortune of coaching Patrick's club team as U13 and 14s, so I've known him for a long time. He's a player with tremendous upside and I expect him to make the most of his opportunity at UW. He can play anywhere in the midfield and even higher up the field at times." The men's soccer team will host the annual Alumni Game in the Dempsey Indoor Arena on March 31 at 2 p.m. |
