Big West Conference Freshman of the Year Ema Boateng has been named to Top Drawer Soccer’s “Top-10 Men’s Forwards” list heading into his sophomore season with the UCSB Gauchos.
Joining Boateng are Georgetown sophomore Brandon Allen, Akron senior Reinaldo Brenes, Connecticut senior Mamadou Doudou Diouf, Saint Louis junior Robbie Kristo, Tulsa sophomore Cristian Mata, Maryland senior Patrick Mullins, Georgetown senior Steve Neumann, Wake Forest junior Sean Okoli, and New Mexico junior James Rogers.
Boateng, who played locally at Cate School, was employed in a variety of positions during his freshman season at UCSB, including spells as an attacking midfielder and a fullback, but showed his offensive prowess when given a chance to join the attack. The speedster notched four goals on the season, including game-winners over USD and Sacramento State and an equalizer against UCLA.
“With Ema’s abilities and skill set, we wanted him on the ball as much as possible last year,” said UCSB head coach Tim Vom Steeg. “However, he’s our most dangerous attacking player, so we’ve been working with him and the rest of the team on being able to deliver him the ball in dangerous areas of the field to cause problems for the other team when he is playing up front.”
“He is an extremely important player for us, as he has the ability to score goals and create scoring situations for others as well.”
Boateng’s first year at UCSB earned him multiple awards, including Big West Freshman of the Year, All-Big West First Team, and All-Far West Region Second Team. Earlier this spring, he was named to the USL Premier Development League watchlist by Top Drawer Soccer, as he is playing this summer for the Ventura County Fusion.
