The Herald’s 2025 Boys Soccer Offensive Player of the Year: Alex Plumis

When Edmonds-Woodway senior Alex Plumis was a sophomore, he wondered about his chances of making what would turn out to be a 16-player varsity squad.

Plumis was coming off an undefeated season with the junior varsity squad after missing freshman tryouts with a broken collarbone, but still questioned if he could make such an exclusive team in his second season. Plumis played well enough by the second day of varsity tryouts to earn time with the other 20 varsity candidates.

On the third day of tryouts, new Warriors head coach Jason Hanson, who purposely downsized the varsity roster size to field the best of the best, gave Plumis the most important talk of his young career.

“I pulled him aside and said, ’I know your game, I know you can play with these guys,’” Hanson said of the moment. “You just have to believe in yourself and show you can do it.”

That moment gave Plumis a boost that would propel him to one of two sophomore varsity spots that season alongside fellow second-year Christopher Hur.

“That gave me the confidence to take people on in tryouts and show (Hanson) who I really am,” Plumis said.

Plumis went on to play valuable minutes off the bench, working the midfield to get the ball to Edmonds-Woodway’s star senior scorers on a team that made it to the State semifinals for just the second time in school history.

Somewhere in his subconscious, Plumis knew he’d be in that star role one day.

He made that premonition a reality in 2025, scoring 23 goals and racking up nine assists in a striker role for a Warriors team that went to the state quarterfinals. Plumis also scored in eight straight games to open the season, landing him The Herald’s Boys Soccer Offensive Player of the Year award.

But the road to get to this point has featured plenty of ups and downs.

Playing year-round has been the norm for Plumis since he was seven years old, as his mother played collegiately at Western Washington University. Plumis grew up in Edmonds, meaning he played for local youth teams like Sno-King, Northwest Nationals and Sound F.C.

Plumis got a recommendation from a club coach to make the Edmonds-Woodway JV squad, as he wasn’t able to try out with that broken collarbone.

“Coming back from the injury was just as scary because I needed to prove myself that I did belong there after not having to try out,” Plumis said.

But Plumis quickly fit in after missing the first two weeks of the season en route to an undefeated season.

After his eye-opening freshman season, Plumis was ready to contribute to the acclaimed Warriors varsity program. His skillset as a creator and twitchy ball handler gave Hanson plenty of incentive to bring Plumis on throughout the season.

“I never hesitated to put him in the game because of the talent he had. We had a lot of heavy lifters on that team that played the bulk amount of minutes, so Alex, as a sophomore, was a complementary player,” Hanson said, having as few as 14 players to play during that season due to injuries.

Plumis played his role to a tee, leading to the sophomore notching a few starts by the end of the season. But when Plumis thinks of that 2023 campaign, in which he started in a state semifinal game, a different moment presents itself.

Plumis got crucial playing time in a makeshift Wesco 3A championship game against Everett that season. Tied 3-3 in overtime, Plumis won a ball at midfield and dribbled to the corner where he was fouled. The ensuing free kick led to a golden-goal header for the win by junior Kincaid Sund.

With a proven track record in the midfield and plenty of graduating senior spots to fill, including that of 2023 Herald Player of the Year Ben Hanson, Plumis moved to starting wing for his junior season.

With more of an active role, Plumis scored seven goals and tallied five assists, netting him a spot on The Herald’s All-Area second team. Plumis also showed more flashes of clutch play, scoring a game-winner against an undefeated Shorewood to stay undefeated midway through April 2024.

Although the Warriors didn’t reach the same heights they achieved in his sophomore year, Plumis’ confidence was at an all-time high heading into his senior year. He also led his club team in scoring during the offseason, further developing his offensive skill set.

“This year especially, I kind of shifted from, ‘Okay, I’m that senior now, I’m the one who has to score the goals, who has to be confident in himself and take people on,’” Plumis said. “It’s my time to shine.”

Hanson concurred, moving Plumis from a projected wing position to a striker role for his final season.

Plumis didn’t disappoint, scoring in eight straight games to start the season. Plumis was on the frontlines of some major upsets, scoring a brace and picking up an assist to hand Lake Stevens its first loss of the season on April 25. Although it wasn’t an upset, Plumis scored another brace on May 7 to secure a Senior Night win over Shorecrest, including a golden-goal winner.

The Warriors also took down Wesco 3A/2A North champion Monroe twice, with Plumis delivering a key assist in a state second-round win on May 26 against the Bearcats.

That win, which featured 4-3 penalty kick shootout, was an exhilarating experience — even for a playoff-hardened senior like Plumis.

Elation in the foreground, heartbreak in the back. pic.twitter.com/ZYopmTvug4— Qasim Ali (@qasimasports) May 24, 2025

“I could not feel my legs the whole time, it was just nerve-wracking,” Plumis said. “But the celebration at the end was just so sweet.”

Although the Warriors would end their 13-7-2 season with a state quarterfinals loss to the eventual 3A champion Mercer Island, Plumis is left with a great deal of gratitude to the Edmonds-Woodway program.

Plumis went from being on the shyer side as one of two sophomores on an elite team, to the go-to senior scorer and vocal leader on another elite squad with 13 seniors.

When Hanson thinks of his top scorer, though, a photo of that 2023 win over Everett comes to mind.

The team’s seniors clapped at their supporting crowd while a sophomore Plumis stood in the background with his hands on the backs of his teammates.

“I think about some of his game-winners this year where he’s actually the guy scoring the goal and other kids are surrounding him,” Hanson said. “He went from one of the guys in the background in a supporting role to really the tip of the spear of our attack … It’s really gratifying.”

Plumis will attend the University of Washington in the fall with hopes of playing on the school’s club team. With connections in the local soccer scene, Plumis isn’t ruling out returning to the game one day. But if this was the last ride for the senior, it wasn’t a half-bad note to go out on.

“All the support this high school career I’ve got, it’s unimaginable,” Plumis said. “It’s been the time of my life.”