WJ is continuing to produce collegiate soccer players, as seniors Jakob Lindsey, Farhad Sharifai and Javier Diaz have committed to playing soccer at the Division III collegiate level. Lindsey takes his defensive solidity to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Sharifai brings his midfield prowess to the Skidmore Thoroughbreds and Diaz sprints ahead to Susquehanna University. With various levels and years of club and high school soccer experience, they have brought unique impacts, values and memories to WJ’s soccer program and will look to continue doing the same at their various colleges.
All three started playing soccer from a young age and joined high-level club teams from the get-go. Lindsey joined Achilles FC when he was only nine and made the JV team for WJ his freshman year. Shortly after, he was called up to varsity due to an injury in his position and became a starting defender from there and captained the team in his junior and senior years. Additionally, this past fall, Lindsey earned honors such as All-County First Team and an All-State Honorable Mention, and was even invited to participate in the MoCo All-Star game.
“Jakob has become more and more confident when playing out of the back,” boys’ varsity soccer coach Guido Zucconi said. ”I think he was very scared as a freshman, but he has just become so confident and a leader through his play. He’s kind of a quiet guy, but I think everybody respects him because of the way he plays and conducts himself.”
Lindsey has committed to playing Division III soccer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY and will major in engineering. Isak Holmberg, who has played with him at both WJ and Achilles, is confident that Lindsey has chosen the right school to further his athletic and academic careers.
“I think he’ll do excellent at RPI,” Holmberg said. “I think he’ll bring something extra to that team that they’ve been needing. If he puts in the work and really wants to, he can definitely go pro.”
Diaz has played for various clubs during his youth career, including Rockville FC and the aforementioned Potomac. Zucconi has been front seat to his progression, as he coached Diaz for WJ during his freshman and sophomore years playing on JV, and more recently during his junior and senior years playing on varsity.
“There is absolutely no quit in Javi and he’s incredibly coachable,” Zucconi said. “We call him the ninja because he’s very quiet, but he does his work and sneaks up on teams because he does all the little things to win the ball back. I’m just so impressed that he has parlayed this into playing in college at the next level.”
Sharifai played for Potomac before joining Bethesda SC and taking his talent to MLS Next, the highest level competition in American youth soccer. This was a double-edged sword, however, as Sharifai’s club did not permit him to play high school soccer due to the already high level he was competing at. This past fall, Sharifai moved over to Achilles to play with Lindsey, which allowed him to play varsity his senior year. This has led Sharifai to notice a stark difference between his new experience playing high school varsity soccer in contrast with his years playing at a high club level.
“In MLS Next, it’s a lot of playing, passing and moving, and it’s just more technical in general,” he said. “In high school, it’s a lot of headers and kicking the ball up the field, so you have to be better physically. High school is fun, but if you want to get better, you definitely have to play at a good club level primarily. I’m happy with how my career has panned out and I’m really excited for the future.”
The trio was instrumental in the fall season, powering the Cats to an 8-4 record and into the regional playoffs as the number two seed. However, they were disappointingly defeated by the number one seed, Whitman, in the regional semifinals. Cody Dembo, who has known Sharifai since preschool and played with him at Bethesda and on varsity this past fall, was also crestfallen at this loss but recognizes his teammate’s influence and quality.
“Farhad was a big impact player,” Dembo said. “He was a pretty late addition to the team, but he helped a lot. He was a third, really solid midfielder for us. And with players as good as him, it was a disappointment that we didn’t win the state championship.”
Sharifai will not fully decide his major at Skidmore until his sophomore year but has considered being a dentist and going down the medical route should his soccer career not continue beyond college.
“I love soccer, but I’m realistic and I know only around one percent of players actually play pro. And, if you do play pro, you don’t make that much money and it’s very hard to live, and I don’t know if I’m okay with that. So obviously I’ll try, but if it doesn’t work out, then I’ll have a really good degree to fall back on, which is my goal,” he said.
Sharifai will go head-to-head with Lindsey in college, as Skidmore and RPI are in the same conference and just a 20-minute drive away from each other. Sharifai is excited to face him and also credits the progress they’ve made together to get to this point.
“Jakob’s my best friend and I’ve known him since kindergarten,” Sharifai said. “I’ve played with him on many teams over many years. He’s a great guy, leader and player and I think we play really well together. He has a good team around him but we’re definitely going to beat RPI when we play them.”
Soccer is unique in the college recruitment space in that, unlike other sports like football or basketball, physical traits like height and weight don’t matter as much. Furthermore, there is no stat—not even necessarily goals or assists—that tells the whole story of how good a player is. Coaches have different opinions and are very subjective when they read players’ emails and watch their highlight videos. The trio had to be proactive when going through this long and arduous process.
“You have to reach out to colleges and their coaches, they don’t come to you,” Lindsey said. “It’s definitely a lengthy process that takes a long time. There’s a lot of communication, reaching out, hours writing and sending emails, highlight videos and watching film. But, it’s worth it.”
With a strong senior class coming up next year, we could likely see more Wildcats commit to playing soccer in college. Zucconi backs this trio to succeed in college and manage both their academics and athletics.
“All three are gonna do great in college because they love the game first and foremost,” Zucconi said. “They love practice and the grind. Playing soccer in college becomes almost like a full-time job, but I think they will love that part about it. They just have a great attitude about life and balancing it. On the field, they’re solid technically, they have good mentalities and they just have a great drive to do the work. I think they can absolutely play for years at some professional level.”
