Woodward Ready To Take Next Step As Sophomore For Eagle Men This Fall

To say Ashland University forward Tom Woodward burst on to the NCAA Division II collegiate men's soccer scene would be an understatement.
 
As a freshman in the fall of 2025, Woodward:

• was named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year.
• earned United Soccer Coaches (USC) second-team All-Midwest Region honors.
• and led the Eagles in goals (eight), assists (five) and points (21) – the first AU men's soccer player to do that not as a co-leader in all three categories since Kenny Hewitt in 2011.

So if one would assume Woodward is chomping at the bit to get his sophomore season of 2026 started, beginning at Ferguson Field on Thursday (Aug. 27) at 3 p.m. vs. Davis & Elkins, one would be correct.
 
"Massively," Woodward said of how much he is anticipating the new season. "The boys have worked very hard so far. I think we're looking good, feeling confident, and everyone's fit."
 
Woodward came to the United States last fall from Manchester, England – a path similarly followed by his Eagle head coach, Nick Roberts.
 
"I knew his background," Roberts said. "(Junior midfielder) Lewis Hill knew him pretty well, and he's from literally seven miles from where I grew up. I knew the level he was playing at, so I knew he was going to be good. And people that I knew also spoke very highly of him. I did expect that he was going to be special for us."
 
"For me, I followed Lewis," Woodward said. "He moved the year before me. I played with him back home in Manchester, and I was always interested in moving over to America. He told me how much fun he had here in his first year, so I thought I'll give it a go, and followed him out.
 
"I spoke to Nick before moving out, and he was in the same position. He's obviously stayed, so he knows how we feel moving from England to America, and he knows it's a big step. It's nice to have a coach who's a similar background."
 
As for whether or not Roberts thought Woodward was capable of a Freshman-of-the-Year-type season coming in, he said, "You never look at that type of stuff. From a coach's perspective, I look at more what he brings to the team. The awards are all cherry-on-the-top-type of stuff."
 
Of his prowess as a collegiate rookie, Woodward said, "Coming in, I sort of knew I could definitely lead the team in goals. Probably needed a few more from myself, as well, so this year, there's a few higher goals.
 
"It felt good (the awards), but the main goal, we all know, is to make the tournament. It was great to receive the individual awards, but I probably would sacrifice all of them for a place in that conference tournament. That's definitely this year's main goal."
 
Woodward's running mate up front for AU this fall looks to be fellow sophomore forward Danail Mihaylov, a transfer from NAIA Judson University. With Woodward at 6-foot-2 and Mihaylov at 6-foot-3, the Eagles will have size and talent up front.
 
"Danail Mihaylov is with us…he's got very good stats (from his freshman season)," Roberts said. "He's done very well since he's been with us in the preseason."
 
As for the Eagles as a whole, Woodward is shooting much higher than the seventh-place slot given AU in the 2026 Great Midwest coaches' preseason poll.
 
"We all know how well this team can do," he said. "A lot of people probably don't expect us to go and win a G-MAC after the year we had last year, but this is a very, very good team, and the potential of the team is very high. I think our expectations are take each game as it comes, and see where that takes us at the end of the year.

"But we've all got the idea to win the G-MAC."