Mount Si Wildcats 2019 graduate Jared Davies will continue his soccer career just 47 miles away from his hometown.

Davies committed to the Pacific Lutheran University men’s soccer team this past year. PLU, which is located in Parkland, is a NCAA Division III school that competes in the Northwest Conference. Davies said he was also recruited heavily by Willamette and Linfield (Northwest Conference teams) but chose PLU for a myriad of reasons.

“I visited both of those schools in Oregon but I just liked PLU better. The campus is really nice and I just like the family atmosphere there too. It felt different to me than the other schools. I liked how close it was too,” Davies explained.

Davies, who finished the 2019 season with 11 goals and two assists, earned first-team, all-league honors as a midfielder this past spring. The Wildcats finished with an overall record of 17-3. Puyallup defeated Mount Si, 2-1, in the 4A state championship game on May 25. It was the furthest the Wildcats boys soccer program had advanced in the state playoffs in school history.

“It was so much fun. I will remember it for the rest of my life. I got to play with my brothers and my best friends. It was just amazing,” Davies said of Mount Si’s postseason run. “We had all played together for a long time. We’ve just been through pressure situations plenty of times throughout our soccer careers with each other, so we knew that when we got down by one or two goals that we could come back.”

Davies was glad to be part of Wildcat head soccer coach Darren Brown’s final team. Brown will no longer coach the Wildcats going forward and will instead focus on his role as the Mount Si High School athletic director.

“There is nothing like playing for Brown. I have never had another coach like him. There is no one who wants to win as much as he does,” Davies said.

Davies said he will report for Lutes soccer training camp on Aug. 16. The 2019 season will kick off on Sept. 1.