Eagle native has blossomed into one of the country’s best soccer players at Washington

Blake Bodily is as adept at deflecting credit as he is at scoring goals.

With eight goals in the past eight games for the Washington men’s soccer team, which plays at Georgetown at 10 a.m. Saturday in an Elite Eight game, that has meant a lot of deflecting for the Eagle native.

“It’s just being in the right place at the right time,” the junior said after scoring a goal in Washington’s 4-1 over Marshall on Sunday in a Sweet 16 matchup. “A lot of the goals come from my teammates, who are doing most of the work.”

Of course, there is great skill at being in the right spot at the right time, and Washington coach Jamie Clark was quick to point to all the work Bodily puts in after practice, adding, “no player has taken more racks of balls in the last eight months.”

“We never know when it is going to pay off, but there are going to be times where it (will). And the last few weeks have proved that if you put in the work, good things will happen,” Clark said.

Bodily, a 5-foot-9, 150-pound forward, has been a star at UW since his first season, when he was Pac-12 freshman of the year and first team all-conference. He has a team-leading 12 goals this season and was named Pac-12 offensive player of the year. Last week, he was named one of 15 semifinalists for the Hermann Trophy, college soccer’s version of the Heisman.

Three finalists will be named next week.

“To see all the work I’ve put in throughout the season pay off is huge, and hopefully the game against Georgetown will go well and I can be named a finalist,” Bodily said.

Bodily has been a huge part of the run to the Elite Eight, matching the highest finish in school history, and he scored the first goal in the team’s second-round win over Boston College.

The seeds for his success go back to growing up outside Boise, where he played for the Boise Nationals soccer club, now known as the Boise Timbers. He made the decision as a 16-year-old to try out for the Portland Timbers Academy.

“I was kind of surprised as I was just doing it to see what would happen,” he said. “As a kid from Boise, I wasn’t really expecting to move to Portland and shift my whole life over there. But it was a good change for me.”

Bodily and his mother moved to Portland after his sophomore year at Eagle High while his father stayed in Boise (his mom moved back to Boise when Bodily came to UW.) Bodily signed with Washington, but elected to play another year with Portland Timbers 2 of the United Soccer League.

Bodily was several years younger than his teammates, smaller than most and the only one not getting paid. But the experience he gained was invaluable.

“I thought it would be a good time to develop my skills, and to grow because I was still pretty small-framed and my body hadn’t matured very much,” said Bodily, whose first USL goal came in 2016 against Sounders 2. “I thought playing professionally in the USL for another year would help me when I came to college.”

Bodily was nervous playing with older teammates at first, but they took him in. Competitively he found that the “speed of play was a lot faster and the players were a lot stronger and faster.”

Bodily is still smaller than most players defending him, but they have big trouble stopping him.

“I feel like if you use your body in the right way, you can get away with not being big,” Bodily said. “If you just get in front of a guy, they are either going to foul you or you are going to be able to beat them. Knowing how to use your body, and just being fast helps me, because I can usually outrun people.”

Add in all the extra hours he has put in, and you get a very dangerous player.

The Huskies (17-3-0), the Pac-12 champions, were ranked No. 1 in the country for several weeks before two late-season losses. They were given the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and thoroughly dominated Boston College and Marshall.

Playing at Georgetown (17-1-3), the No. 3 overall seed, is a much bigger challenge. But the Huskies believe they can beat anyone.

“Throughout the season, we have played really well on the road,” Bodily said. “We went on a two-game road trip to Michigan and won both of those games. We won at Stanford. So we are pretty solid on the road, and I think we are ready for the challenge.”

A win would put the Huskies into the College Cup for the first time. It’s such a focus that Bodily said he’s not thinking about next year and whether to return to Washington or turn pro.

“It would mean the world to make history as a UW men’s soccer player,” Bodily said of making it to the College Cup, soccer’s version of the Final Four. “But it comes down to a collective team effort. If we play well on Saturday, I think we have a really good chance to make it.”

NCAA SOCCER QUARTERFINALS

Washington vs. Georgetown

When: Saturday, 10 a.m.

Where: Washington, D.C.

Stream: Pac-12 plus stream

What: Winner plays in Final Four on Dec. 13