By Peter Gallagher |
Thomas Iwasaki is a senior midfielder for the Pilots. Thomas received honorable mention on the WCC-All Academic team last year, made the WCC-All Academic team his sophomore year and WCC- All Freshman team his freshman year. Thomas scored a goal in last Friday’s match against Air Force as the Pilots cruised to a 4-0 victory, his fifth as a Pilot.
What’s your most memorable goal?
My sophomore year against USF, I scored to tie it up. There was only a minute or so left in the game. So that was a big one. I was young at the time, so it was really exciting and special for the team. We ended up going on to win in overtime, which made it all. And it was on Merlo, which just makes all the goals two times better.
What’s your most memorable win?
The overtime wins are always the most exciting for us. We had a comeback against Northwestern also during my sophomore year that was pretty memorable. Rivalry games are always big too. I don’t think anything trumps overtime though. We were in Illinois, and just rallied on the road.
What are your plans after school? Are you going to pursue soccer at the next level?
I’ve been talking about it with the coaches a little bit. It’s always been a dream to try to make it at the professional level. I’m going to give it a shot but nothing’s guaranteed.
Where would be your dream to play?
I’d like to play abroad. I didn’t really get the study abroad experience because I was busy with athletics. Living abroad for at least a short while would be pretty awesome, in Europe probably.
What’s your favorite club soccer team?
Arsenal, for sure. They’re top of the table right now, but the last few years I haven’t been too pumped about.
What’s your favorite thing to do outside of soccer?
Spending time with my friends, but I’m always doing projects. I was part of the (Entrepreneurial) Scholars program last year. We worked on our own ventures and did some travel associated with that. My (venture) was a speaker company, which I’m not working on any more. The whole year we built our venture, made these business partners, then did a competitive pitch at the end of the year. We pitched it to a mixed panel: local business owners, professors, and outside-business owners and entrepreneurs.
What’s the elevator pitch for your venture?
Most speakers that go along with your phone are pretty boring looking ... black, plastic, etc. This is completely clear, and you can customize it with an image on the back. It gives you a little bit of expression to go along with your music. Music is expressive, so your speakers should be too.
What games are you most looking forward to this season?
Oregon State this Thursday is huge ... Bragging rights in the state. Besides that, getting into conference, I think that this is the year we could really do some damage. We’ve kind of come up short in second and third the last couple years. So I think we’re all going to be extra fired up for conference this year to make a statement.
