Drafted 17th, Zach Ramsey stayed at UW and leads the nation in goals
Zach Ramsey, a Redmond native, was drafted 17th by Vancouver, stayed unsigned and leads the nation in goals for Washington men's soccer.
Seattle Fitness Magazine · 27 Sep 2026
- 17th2026 superdraft pick
- 15goals in 11 games
The midfielder Vancouver drafted is still in purple
Zach Ramsey scored the first goal of Washington's national championship game last December, and three days later the Vancouver Whitecaps picked him 17th overall in the MLS SuperDraft. He is back in purple anyway. Through October 13 he has 15 goals in 11 games, the most in the country. On October 2 Washington drew Wisconsin 0-0 at home.
Redmond, Eastside FC and a state final
Ramsey, listed by UW at 5-10, grew up in Redmond and played his club soccer at Eastside FC.
His high school was Mount Si, in Snoqualmie, and on May 25, 2024, at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup, he scored a first-half hat trick in the Class 4A final as the Wildcats beat Camas 3-1 for the school's first state soccer title. He finished high school as Washington's Gatorade Player of the Year and a KingCo First Team pick.
The title game in Cary
On December 15, 2025, Washington beat NC State 3-2 in overtime in Cary, North Carolina, for the program's first national championship.
Ramsey scored first, pouncing on a blocked shot from teammate Nick O'Brien and curling it into the net. It was his second goal of that College Cup, and he was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Offensive Player.
Head coach Jamie Clark said afterward: "Credit to them, I thought they were the best team in the country. So, I thought we were going to have to beat the best team in the final."
Drafted, with no contract on the books
On December 18 the Whitecaps used the 17th pick of the 2026 SuperDraft on him, announcing that they had selected midfielder Zach Ramsey.
Their own transactions log, current through September 3, records that pick and nothing after it. Other players in the same log carry a signing, loan or transfer entry. Ramsey does not. He is a third-year at UW this fall, and a September 10 Q&A with Clark named him among the team's returners, with Harrison Bertos and Alex Hall.
Fourteen goals in ten games
He has scored at least twice in five different games this season.
The Big Ten named him its Offensive Player of the Week on September 15, after a 4-2 win over Penn State in which he scored twice and set up another. At that point UW's numbers had him on 11 goals and 24 points, first in the country at 1.83 goals a game. Top Drawer Soccer had ranked him 12th nationally before the season, and the Big Ten listed him as a player to watch.
On September 25 Washington put four past No. 22 Rutgers; two were his, a volley off a long throw and a penalty, and he added an assist. That left him on 14 goals in 10 games, the most by a Husky in a single season since Kevin Forrest scored 16 in 2006, with Washington 6-3-1 and 3-1 in Big Ten play.
A 0-0 draw at Husky Soccer Stadium
Washington hosted Wisconsin at Husky Soccer Stadium, on the UW campus, on Friday, October 2, at 7 p.m., a Big Ten match, and the teams drew 0-0.
Tickets were sold through the university's box office. The country's leading scorer wears number 6. He did not score.
