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The Pam Pack continues to produce college-level talent, as Washington’s senior soccer player Dawson Cox committed to attending Chowan University this coming fall.

The senior goal scorer said he was excited to continue his soccer-playing career for a solid Hawks team that has won at least 11 games each of the past three seasons.

“As far as athletics go, Chowan stood out to me because of the quality of the team and the focus on success in the soccer program,” Cox said. “They’ve had success in recent years, and I’m really excited to be a part of it. Academically, they have a top-tier graphics design program, which is what I’d like to major in, so it seemed like the perfect fit all the way around.”

Cox explained he will play whatever position gets him on the field the fastest.

“No position is guaranteed. I’ll have to battle for playing time, but that’s something I expected to do and always have done. I’ll fill in wherever Coach needs me,” Cox said. “I’m definitely most excited to play with some new guys and raise the intensity level of my game to theirs, as well as increase my size and physically in the weight room.”

Head soccer coach Jim Kozuch said Cox was the type of kid he wanted on his team.

“(He’s) just a really, really hardworking young man. It’s hard to describe a kid that’s so good. He always has a smile on his face, does every last thing you’d ever imagine — he’s the type of kid that makes a coach happy even on a bad day. The hustle, hard work and effort he has put in, he absolutely deserves a chance to go on to play at Chowan. They’re getting a good soccer player but an even better kid,” Kozuch said.

According to Kozuch, Cox is the third player in four years that Washington has sent to play soccer at Chowan.

“We’ve got a nice little pipeline there. The coach (at Chowan) has come to some of our soccer camps and seen Dawson and his work ethic, so this was a no-brainer for him,” Kozuch said. “Dawson is also a big-picture kind of kid. He knows they have a really good graphic design program there, and it’s going to be a great fit all the way around. It’ll be a smooth transition for him.”

Cox was the captain and goal-scoring leader for the Pam Pack in the 2019 campaign. Washington won the conference for a seventh year in a row in the season’s final game at Greene Central. Cox said that was his favorite memory of his playing career.

“(My favorite memory was) definitely winning the conference senior year. Washington has won the conference for as long as I can remember, and being one of the leaders on the team that a lot of people doubted coming into the season, really was the icing on the cake for my high school soccer career.”

Above all of the soccer accomplishments, Kozuch said he’ll remember Cox most for his infectious smile.

“There’s a lot of memories from Dawson, but the thing I’ll remember the most is that kid’s smile on his face every single day. It won’t be one specific memory, because there’s never been a time when he wasn’t smiling ear-to-ear,” Kozuch explained. “It’s a contagious smile that sets such a good example for everybody. He was an awesome captain, and that’s what I’m going to remember most from him.”