Josh Williams

Josh Williams (born April 18, 1988) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender.

Born in Akron, Ohio.

Williams is a graduate of Copley High School where he was a multi-sport athlete, lettering in soccer, basketball, and baseball.

He was a co-captain and three-year varsity soccer player for the Indians.

He finished his high school soccer career with 124 points, tied for the school record, after recording 44 goals and 21 assists in his junior and senior seasons.

During his high school soccer career, Williams was awarded several honors and accolades.

He was named the Akron Touchdown Club's Soccer Player of the Year as a junior and earned second-team all-Ohio honors in his senior year.

Williams was twice named all-Suburban League, all-Northeast Region, and NSCAA all-region.

He was also named to the Akron Beacon Journal's all-star first team as a junior and senior.

In addition to soccer, Williams also played basketball, where he was a point guard, and baseball, where he played shortstop.

Williams received recruiting interest as a baseball player from West Virginia and Kentucky and as a soccer player from Akron, but his only scholarship offer was from Cleveland State University and head coach Ali Kazemaini.

Williams started every game of his collegiate career; his 74 starts for the Vikings is tied for third in program history, and his 74 appearances are tied for seventh.

As a freshman, he appeared in 18 games and scored twice, helping the Vikings go from a winless season the year before he arrived to eight wins.

As a junior, Williams helped the Vikings to a 9–8–3 season, their first year with more wins than losses since 1993.

He notched three goals and three assists on the season; those three assists were good for a tie for second on the team.

Williams scored in back-to-back games in October, a 3–2 victory over Valparaiso and a 1–0 victory over Detroit that marked his first career game-winning goal.

He also scored against Wright State in the quarterfinals of the league tournament, helping the Vikings pick up their first postseason victory since 2002.

Williams was named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team, one of four Vikings players to earn the honor.

His senior season at Cleveland State overlapped with the freshman season of Brad Stuver, who he would play alongside for two seasons in Columbus.

Williams set career highs with his 20 appearances and six goals; those six goals tied for the team lead with Slavisa Ubiparipović.

Williams scored the first goal of the season for the Vikings, as part of a 3–0 season-opening victory over St. Bonaventure, and also had a stretch of three straight games with a goal in mid-October.

His three game-winning goals were the most on the team.

Williams capped off his collegiate career by being named to the All-Horizon League First Team, alongside Ubiparipović.

He appeared 74 times for Cleveland State across his four years, scoring 12 goals.

Williams had been a youth player for the Cleveland Internationals, and he joined the senior team in the USL Premier Development League following his freshman season at Cleveland State.

Williams scored his first collegiate goal on October 18, 2006, as part of a 2–0 victory over Detroit, and followed it up 10 days later with his first postseason goal, in a 3–2 loss in the Horizon League Tournament against Loyola.

He was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team at the end of the season.

Williams fell off slightly his sophomore season, only tallying one goal and three assists across 17 appearances.

He found his lone goal on September 19 in a 4–1 defeat to Notre Dame College.

Williams added assists in back-to-back games in October and finished the season second on the team in assists and points.

He played sparingly for the Internationals during the 2007 PDL season, making just two appearances as the club finished sixth in the Great Lakes Division, 12 points outside of the playoff positions.

Following his sophomore season for the Vikings, Williams returned to the Internationals to help the club to the best season in their history.

He scored once in 13 appearances during the regular season, as the Internationals placed second in the Great Lakes Division and qualified for the playoffs for the only time in club history.

Williams saw action in both playoff games, picking up a yellow card in the Divisional Round victory over Toronto Lynx.

He finished the season with one goal in 15 appearances for the Internationals.

Williams again joined the Internationals for the 2009 PDL season, but was unable to help the club repeat their achievements from 2008.

He appeared 12 times for Cleveland, but the club finished 12 points outside the playoffs in the Great Lakes Division.

After going undrafted in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft and without a professional contract, Williams rejoined the Internationals for the 2010 PDL season.

He appeared 11 times for the club, but could not prevent the Internationals from finishing at the bottom of the Great Lakes Division, with just eight points from 16 games.

The senior club folded at the end of the season, although it continued to exist as a youth team.