The Herald’s 2022 All-Area high school boys soccer teams

Editor’s note: The Player of the Year and All-Area teams were chosen by The Herald sports staff based on coach recommendations, season statistics and first-hand observations.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Caden Kaasa, sr., F, Monroe

Click here for The Herald’s player of the year story on Kaasa.

Caden Kaasa (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

COACH OF THE YEAR

Korey Hope, Monroe

Hope, who took over as Monroe’s head coach in 2019, guided the Bearcats on a massive turnaround the past two seasons that culminated with a third-place finish in this spring’s Class 3A state tournament. After averaging just three wins per season from 2012 through 2019, Monroe went 8-1-1 during last year’s abbreviated campaign. The Bearcats then went 18-4-1 this season en route to their first state berth since 2002 and their second-best state finish in program history.

FIRST TEAM

Caden Kaasa, sr., F, Monroe

Kaasa scored a school-record 29 goals and added 10 assists while leading the Bearcats to one of their best seasons in program history. The senior forward delivered four hat tricks and netted multiple goals nine times, including a five-goal performance in Monroe’s 7-3 win over Arlington in the 3A District 1 Tournament quarterfinals. Kaasa scored or assisted 51% of his team’s 76 goals and led the Bearcats to an 18-4-1 record, their first state berth in 20 years and a third-place finish in the 3A state tournament.

Gavin Vanden Berg (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Gavin Vanden Berg, sr., F, Shorecrest

Vanden Berg netted 18 goals and added 10 assists while leading the Scots to a dominant 18-2 season. The Division III-bound Connecticut College commit starred in Shorecrest’s run to the Wesco 3A/2A title, an undefeated regular season and a 3A state tournament appearance.

Koll Pehlivanian, jr., F, Kamiak

Pehlivanian scored 17 goals and added three assists. The junior forward helped lead the Knights to an 11-7-3 record, the Wesco 4A title and the 4A state quarterfinals.

Koll Pehlivanian (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Azavier Coppin, jr., F, Glacier Peak

Coppin, last year’s All-Area player of the year, totaled 14 goals and four assists in another big season for the Grizzlies. The junior forward led Glacier Peak to a 9-6-1 record.

Cameron Mooring, sr., MF, Arlington

Mooring netted 20 goals and added 10 assists while helping lead the Eagles to a 12-8 record and within one win of their first state berth in 34 years. The senior midfielder scored or assisted 56% of Arlington’s goals.

Reid Schaeffer, jr., MF, Monroe

Schaeffer totaled 14 goals and six assists, despite playing as a defender for part of the season. The junior midfielder helped lead the Bearcats to a milestone season that included an 18-4-1 record, their first state berth in 20 years and a third-place finish in the 3A state tournament.

Benjamin Hanson, jr., MF, Edmonds-Woodway

Hanson scored 18 goals and added five assists while leading the Warriors to a 14-5-2 record and the 3A state tournament. The junior midfielder netted two goals in the final three minutes to lift Edmonds-Woodway to a 4-2 comeback win over Arlington in a winner-to-state, loser-out district tournament match.

Benjamin Hanson (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Aidan Drought, sr., MF, Kamiak

Drought scored nine goals and added seven assists as a central midfielder. The Seattle Pacific University-bound senior helped lead the Knights to an 11-7-3 record, the Wesco 4A title and the 4A state quarterfinals.

Aidan Drought (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Mason Dougherty, sr., MF, Shorecrest

Dougherty netted eight goals and provided seven assists while helping lead the Scots to a dominant 18-2 season. The Division I-bound University of San Francisco signee was a driving force in Shorecrest’s run to the Wesco 3A/2A title, an undefeated regular season and a 3A state tournament appearance.

Mason Dougherty (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Beckham Davis, sr., D, Shorecrest

Davis helped anchor a dominant defense that posted 13 shutouts and allowed just nine goals in 20 matches. He also scored two goals as a defender. The senior helped lead the Scots to an 18-2 record, the Wesco 3A/2A title, an undefeated regular season and a 3A state tournament appearance.

Bobby Parsek, sr., D, Shorecrest

Parsek helped anchor a dominant defense that posted 13 shutouts and allowed just nine goals in 20 matches. He also provided two assists as a defender. The senior helped lead the Scots to an 18-2 record, the Wesco 3A/2A title, an undefeated regular season and a 3A state tournament appearance.

Issak Abraham, soph., D, Shorewood

Abraham totaled 13 goals and five assists as an outside back. He also helped anchor a strong defense that posted nine shutouts and allowed just 19 goals in 20 matches. The senior helped lead the Stormrays to a 13-6-1 record and within one win of the 3A state tournament.

Weston Joyner, sr., GK, Kamiak

Joyner posted six shutouts and was instrumental to the Knights’ postseason run. The Division II-bound Cal State Chico signee made a number of big saves in Kamiak’s penalty-kick victory over Redmond in a winner-to-state, loser-out match. And in the first round of the 4A state tournament, Joyner recorded a clean sheet in the Knights’ 1-0 upset of No. 2 seed Union. He helped lead Kamiak to an 11-7-3 record, the Wesco 4A title and the 4A state quarterfinals.

SECOND TEAM

Josh Gunter, sr., F, Monroe

Gunter netted five goals and provided a school-record 21 assists for the high-scoring Bearcats. The senior forward helped lead Monroe to a milestone season that included an 18-4-1 record, its first state berth in 20 years and a third-place finish in the 3A state tournament.

Josh Gunter (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Dennis Andriyash, jr., F, Everett

Andriyash scored 16 goals and added seven assists. The junior forward helped lead the Seagulls to a 9-9-1 record, which marked the program’s most wins in at least a decade.

Gabe Herrera, soph., F, Archbishop Murphy

Herrera totaled 11 goals and five assists. The sophomore forward helped lead the 2A-level Wildcats to an 11-6-1 record and a fifth-place finish out of 16 teams in Wesco 3A/2A.

Emmanuel Escalante, sr., MF, Arlington

Escalante netted 12 goals and provided 18 assists while helping lead the Eagles to a 12-8 record and within one win of their first state berth in 34 years. The senior midfielder scored or assisted 56% of Arlington’s goals.

Andrew Montero, soph., MF, Edmonds-Woodway

Montero scored 11 goals and added four assists. The sophomore midfielder helped lead the Warriors to a 14-5-2 record and the 3A state tournament.

Samuel McAfee, sr., MF, Monroe

McAfee totaled four goals and four assists as a defensive midfielder, while helping anchor a strong defense that posted eight shutouts and allowed just 24 goals in 23 matches. The senior helped lead the Bearcats to a milestone season that included an 18-4-1 record, their first state berth in 20 years and a third-place finish in the 3A state tournament.

Brady Hodgen, sr., MF, Shorewood

Hodgen was described by his coach as “the anchor” of a Shorewood team that scored 2.8 goals per match and yielded just 1.0 per contest. The senior midfielder helped lead the Stormrays to a 13-6-1 record and within one win of the 3A state tournament.

Owen Skurdal (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Owen Skurdal, sr., D, Monroe

Skurdal helped anchor a strong defense that posted eight shutouts and allowed just 24 goals in 23 matches. The senior defender also totaled two goals and four assists. He helped lead the Bearcats to a milestone season that included an 18-4-1 record, their first state berth in 20 years and a third-place finish in the 3A state tournament.

Blake Stevens, sr., D, Kamiak

Stevens helped anchor a defense that yielded 1.8 goals per match and posted six shutouts, including a 1-0 blanking of No. 2 seed Union in the first round of the 4A state tournament. The senior defender also provided two goals and six assists. He helped lead the Knights to an 11-7-3 record, the Wesco 4A title and the 4A state quarterfinals.

Kwon-Yu Matt Chen, sr., D, Glacier Peak

Matt Chen anchored one of the better defenses in the area, leading a unit that limited its opponents to 1.4 goals per match. The senior defender also provided one goal and two assists, while helping the Grizzlies to a 9-6-1 record.

Noah Baer, sr., D, Everett

Baer totaled five goals and 12 assists as a center back, while helping anchor a defense that posted seven shutouts and allowed 1.8 goals per match. The senior helped lead the Seagulls to a 9-9-1 record, which marked the program’s most wins in at least a decade.

Kenny Ramirez-Moreno, jr., D, Shorecrest

Ramirez-Moreno helped anchor a dominant defense that posted 13 shutouts and allowed just nine goals in 20 matches. He also provided three goals as a defender. The senior helped lead the Scots to an 18-2 record, the Wesco 3A/2A title, an undefeated regular season and a 3A state tournament appearance.

Gabe Wilhelm, jr., GK, Edmonds-Woodway

Wilhelm posted six shutouts and protected the net for a team that allowed just 1.3 goals per match. The junior goalkeeper helped lead the Warriors to a 14-5-2 record and the 3A state tournament.