Months after scoring the winning goal for Franciscan University in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s soccer championship game, Sequim standout Aidan Henninger, 21, said life came to a crawl in that moment.

“It was unreal,” he said in an interview. “It felt like it happened in slow motion.”

According to college staff, senior Joshua Atkinson played a ball at 46:22 into the box to Henninger who hit a header over Grove City’s keeper for a 2-0 lead. Henninger’s goal gave the Barons the difference in the 2-1 victory on Nov. 10.

Henninger said Atkinson’s kick was perfect and after he hit the ball he watched it go slowly over the keeper’s hand.

“I stood still and asked myself, ‘did that actually happen?’” he said.

“I ran to the side line and did a back flip.”

The flip was something he adopted as a freshman playing in Sequim, he said.

The conference title was Franciscan’s second in school history. With the win, they qualified for the NCAA Division III championship bracket, but they lost in the first round 1-0 to Ohio Northern.

For the second season, Henninger was named to the 2024 Academic All-District Men’s Soccer Team by the College Sports Communicators for being one of the nation’s top student-athletes for his combined performances on the field and in the classroom. He’s the first men’s soccer player to earn this honor twice at Franciscan.

As for a repeat championship, Henninger said Franciscan has a strong offense, and he anticipates younger players will have to step up to help more to win the conference again.

Sequim start

Henninger lettered for Sequim High’s soccer team for four years, and was homeschooled through 10th grade before attending Peninsula College’s Running Start through Sequim High School.

Locally, he started playing soccer with Sequim Junior Soccer, and then the Storm King Select Football Club, the Kitsap Alliance Youth Premier Football Club in Silverdale, and Northern Peninsula Adult Premier League based in Port Townsend.

For the Wolves as a senior, he was named a first-team All-Olympic League member, and chosen by the Peninsula Daily News as a co-MVP with Brandon Wagner his senior year.

He has a few siblings who have played for Sequim athletics, including Jack, who plays football at the University of Mary (North Dakota), and Clare who plays professional soccer in Portugal

College life

At Franciscan as a junior, he’s set to graduate this spring with a Clinical Psychology degree. He plans to play one more year under his eligibility for Franciscan as a first year graduate student pursuing a Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master’s Degree at the Steubenville, Ohio school.

Henninger said while attending Peninsula College he had his first exposure to psychology in a class from Dr. Paul Mattson.

“I loved it and ate it up,” he said. “I took more classes with him and grew that hunger.”

Reflecting on his life and how he’s helped family and friends, Henninger said that helped solidify his future career direction along with his Catholic faith.

This fall, he’ll serve in a part-time role as an assistant to the Office of Evangelization and Renewal, helping students with their relationships with others and God, and with struggles they might be encountering. He said that support could include one-on-one meetings and/or Bible studies and men’s groups.

Henninger said through conversation and prayer, he’s felt convicted to pursue mental health counseling career to “help people help themselves.”

“It’s a field where we need a lot of professionals,” he said. “Mental health is such an issue especially nowadays.”

After college, he feels drawn to the mountains and could see himself living and working near the Rocky Mountains or back in the Pacific Northwest.

For more about Franciscan University’s athletics, visit franciscanathletics.com.

Photo courtesy Franciscan University/ A standout in Sequim, Aidan Henninger, now a junior for Franciscan University, was named to the 2024 Academic All-District Men’s Soccer Team by the College Sports Communicators for being one of the nation’s top student-athletes for his combined performances on the field and in the classroom. He’s the first men’s soccer player to earn this honor twice at Franciscan.