BREMERTON – The Kitsap Pumas continue to add to their roster this week by re-signing defensive midfielder Trevor Jensen and goalkeeper Matt Grosey.

Jensen, who became a staple of the Pumas midfield this past season, and Grosey, who played a pivotal role for the Pumas by starting 16 games and earning top ten rankings in the Premier Development League regular season in minutes played, goals against, goals against average and wins, will join fellow midfielder Justin Ortinau, who was re-signed earlier this week, as the first three signings for the club in 2015.

A native of Chula Vista, California, Jensen grew up playing for the highly respected San Diego Nomads Soccer Club, a club that has produced other professional players such as Steve Cherundolo, Frankie Hejduk, Eric Avila, Joe Corona and even former Kitsap Puma Jesus “Chuy” Sanchez, among others.

While at Willamette University, Jensen performed very well on the soccer field, scoring 17 career goals, getting a school record 18 career assists and earning both all-conference first team honors and an all west-region third team selection in 2013.

However, following his final season of collegiate soccer, Jensen found himself yearning for another opportunity to keep playing at a higher level and he decided to make the trip to Bremerton for the Pumas’ tryouts.

“I always knew that I wanted to keep playing after college because I always felt like I had an unfortunate situation that robbed me of a soccer experience I felt I deserved,” said Jensen. “When my college coach told me about the Puma’s tryouts I jumped at the opportunity.”

After making the long trip to Bremerton two weekends in a row for both invitational tryouts, Jensen was offered a spot on the 2014 Puma’s roster. Although he was only one of a few non-Division 1 collegiate players to make the Puma roster, Jensen was able to earn a consistent spot in the Puma’s lineup.

“Trev is a fantastic player who shows provides a steadying influence in the middle of the field” said head coach Cameron McDonald “The fact he was so heavily involved last year may have surprised a few however we knew from the start what he was capable of and I fully expect him to play an equally pivotal role in our National Championship pursuit this season”

Grosey, meanwhile, is no stranger to top competition or high-praise for his talents in the net. After growing up in San Mateo, California, Grosey attended West Valley College in Saratoga, California. WVC is one of the premier junior college soccer programs in the country with a long tradition of success. According to their homepage, they boast an impressive record of 94-30-29 over the past seven seasons including being ranked number four in the nation in 2010.

During his two years at WVC, Grosey earned Coast Conference Goalkeeper of the year both seasons and first-team all-western conference honors his freshman year.

After his two years of community college concluded Grosey received a scholarship to play for the newly-formed Division 1 soccer program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he would pursue a degree in engineering as well.

“I always knew that I wanted to keep playing at the top collegiate level so when I chose to come out to Nebraska it was primarily for that. I knew that it was a new program and I really wanted to do my part to help build up this program to be one of the elite programs in the area” said Grosey.

Although it was quite the adjustment for Grosey who grew up primarily in California to move halfway across the country to live in Nebraska, he was able to adjust and be very successful for them in goal.

“It was difficult at the start moving out here to Nebraska away from family but after I got in the swing of things and got acclimated to the weather I really enjoyed the entire experience” said Grosey. “It was awesome to be a part of creating something bigger than myself and making a lasting contribution to the development of their program.”

Somewhat of a staple for Grosey, once again his outstanding play earned him all-conference honors by being named second-team all-conference in the Summit League both seasons at UNO.

Just as he did when deciding to transfer from junior college, Grosey once again found himself striving for another opportunity to progress to a higher level of competition and continue to chase his dream of being a professional player.

“I spent a few years living in Olympia, Washington as well as California growing up so I already knew about the Pumas organization and how successful they have been in the past. When my college coach brought the Pumas up to me as an option to keep playing I never had any doubts about pursuing that opportunity.”

Although many highly-touted goalkeepers from around the country flew out for the tryouts and the pumas ultimately picked up three very talented keepers to fill their roster, Grosey earned the starting position by consistently making extraordinary saves in training and in the games.

MacDonald was delighted to retain Grosey for this season; “Matt is an extremely talented goalkeeper who I believe will eventually make the step up to the next level. We are fortunate to have a player with his ability and attitude.”

“I was really excited for the new opportunity. My entire life I’ve always wanted to be a pro player and it felt like my dreams were coming true” Grosey said. “I was overwhelmed with joy to get to that next level by signing with the Pumas and I just tried to do my part every minute of the experience to give us the best chance to win.”

However, as the season progressed and ultimately ended with a loss for the Pumas in the National Final, Grosey found himself feeling even more and more thankful for the opportunity he had been given with the Pumas.

“Although it didn’t end perfectly, this past season was very fulfilling for me” said Grosey. “Everything from the success we experienced on the field, to playing on one of the most talented and hard-working teams I have ever been on, to finally getting to focus solely on soccer and not have to worry about balancing school, was amazing. Being around that pro environment, along with the high level of training and talent that goes along with it was incredible and I feel it really helped me to develop as a player.”

Even though losing in the national final left Grosey with somewhat of a bitter taste in his mouth regarding his initial experience at the professional level, it has served as fuel for him this off-season to work even harder.

“I cannot wait to get back to Bremerton” Grosey said excitedly. “I hope to build on the momentum we made last season. Coming back you always want to build on the previous season and now the only way for us to accomplish that is to win a national title. That goal will be in the back of my mind all year and I hope our hard work will bring another national title back to Kitsap for our club, staff and especially our amazing fan base.”