A year ago at this time, San Diego native Kelsey Branson was finishing a decorated high school soccer career at Cathedral Catholic with her fourth consecutive trip to the CIF Open Division Playoffs.

Although her final prep contest ended in a disappointing upset loss for the No. 2 seed Dons against Westview, her tenure at Cathedral included one CIF Open Division title, a cumulative record of 74-14-12, 60 goals and 21 assists. Twelve months later, it looks like that was only the beginning.

She’s less than two months removed from a superb freshman season at University of Washington. The 5-10 midfielder tied for second on the team with five goals, one a 70th minute game-winner vs. Pac-12 in-state rival Washington State, was named to the conference All-Freshman team and was ranked No. 29 on Top Drawer Soccer’s list of the Top 100 Freshmen Women’s Soccer Players. Those accomplishments came despite missing a chunk of the season due to injuries and only starting the final seven games.

Washington was Branson’s No. 1 college target from the outset. Much of her father Tim’s extended family resides in the greater Seattle area and summer trips had provided an entrée to what the UW campus had to offer. Once she got on the radar of Husky Head Coach Nicole Van Dyke, it was a two-way recruiting process.

“Kelsey was great in that she generally loved UW already, she came to our camp and we continued to watch her play,” recalled Van Dyke, who guided the Huskies to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2020, her first season at the helm. “She was persistent and resilient along the way.

“She’s obviously a good player, but her attitude is great and we always recruit character. We also talk about ‘how far a player can go’ and with Kelsey we didn’t see a ceiling. When we finally offered her a spot, she never wavered, never looked back.

“She works hard, is a great ‘team’ player and is what we call an exceptional follower—she does what’s asked and is going to want to do it because it’s the right thing—the best for the team. She also super humble, wants to get better and wants the team to be successful. Good things can happen with that kind of approach.”

Branson lives in the northeast section of the Washington campus in a two-bed dorm at McCarty Hall, overall a mix of the general student population but the home for most of the female freshmen athletes and just a five-minute walk from the campus hub.

Still energized by the results of her first competitive intercollegiate experience and enthused about what lies ahead, Branson took time recently to speak by phone about the jump from high school to college soccer, the ups-and-downs of her first season and getting some unexpected recognition.

Q—When did you know you wanted to play college soccer and when did you know you could?