Dylan Teves is staying is coming home.
The Seattle Sounders on Tuesday announced the signing of Homegrown Player Dylan Teves out of the University of Washington. Teves, 21, spent four years in the Sounders Academy before joining the Huskies program. A standout in the Rave Green youth system, Teves made 12 appearances for Sounders 2 in the USL Championship, including several starts, before heading off to college.
Hailing from Hawaii, Teves becomes the second Academy graduate to sign with the First Team from the club’s Homegrown Territory. He joins a rich lineage of players to join from Hawaii across the organization’s history.
“We have been really fortunate to have strong ties to Hawaii for a long time,” Sounders FC General Manager & President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey told MLSsoccer.com during the league’s livestream for the 2022 MLS SuperDraft. “Two famous players that most of the folks listening to this will probably know are Brian Ching and Zach Scott… I am pleased to announce that we have signed Dylan Teves, so we have our newest Hawaiian joining the Sounders for the 2022 season.”
On the back of his excellent performances at the USSDA and USL level with the Sounders, Teves hit the ground running at the University of Washington as a freshman in 2018. Across four years, he notched 25 goals and 23 assists from 69 appearance, earning consecutive berths on the All Pac-12 first team in his final two season.
Teves finished up his glittering collegiate career as finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy – the annual award for the best player in college soccer – after leading the UW to the NCAA College Cup final for the first time in program history. The Huskies’ run to the national title game was fueled in large part by Teves, who bagged back-to-back hat tricks in the Second and Third Rounds.
"Dylan has done so much for Husky Soccer, and I am excited to now see him take the next step in his career,” said UW Men’s Soccer Head Coach Jamie Clarke. “He has the mindset and ability to make it at the next level, and I am so happy the Sounders have decided to invest in his future. His legend will remain at UW, but now to write new chapters as a professional.”
While this will mark his first season as fully-fledged professional, Teves is no stranger to the top tier of American soccer.
A technical and cerebral player capable of lining up in numerous spots across the midfield, Teves regularly trained and played matches with S2 against professionals during his time in the Academy. He also trained with the First Team on a regular basis, including a stint with the team during the 2018 MLS preseason where he played in friendlies against the Portland Timbers and Columbus Crew.
Much like fellow UW product and new teammate Cristian Roldan, Teves joins the Sounders as a rookie surrounded by a a veteran midfield corps. As he transitions into life as full-time professional, he’ll be able to learn from some of the best midfielders in MLS like João Paulo and Roldan.
“Any time you can get a top three player in college, you do it,” Senior VP of Soccer & Sporting Director Craig Waibel told SoundersFC.com. “I think Dylan is a player that’s really comfortable on the ball. His acceleration is good. He finds pockets [of space]. He likes to play the game, and I mean that in the simplest form. He’s not a guy that hides from the ball.”
The Sounders will commence the 2022 campaign on February 17 (7:00 p.m. PT) as they travel to Honduras for the first leg of their Round One Concacaf Champions League match against F.C. Motagua, with the return fixture set for Seattle on February 24 (7:45 p.m. PT).
