Despite its No.6 ranking, the Washington boys soccer team has not been functioning as a smooth machine yet this season.

“We’ve been losing, winning, you know,” Kimu Kasha said before the Warriors’ April 18 match against Dubuque Senior. “It’s been tough, we keep on coming back.”

Kasha scored two goals despite wet, windswept conditions to lead Washington to a 3-0 win. In an early season in which it’s been difficult to assess the team’s overall potential, Kasha continues to be a reliable contributor for the 6-2 Warriors.

“There’s been a few games where we didn’t play very good,” Coach John Graham said. “We’ve got guys from all over the world, and where they’re from it’s 90 degrees now. I don’t want to make excuses for them, but it makes me wonder.”

Kasha’s second two-goal match of the season gave him five goals. He added a sixth goal in Washington's 5-2 win over No.12 Linn-Mar on Thursday, although Graham noted he’s yet to record an assist.

Off the field, Kasha’s spending the spring of his senior year visiting campuses and hoping to win a scholarship.

“My plan is to go to college and play soccer,” said Kasha, a common hope for any young player but one that perhaps carries a bit more significance for one of his team’s global contingent.

Kasha, 17, and his family came to the U.S. in 2006 as refugees from the Congo. The west African nation was then torn by factional fighting, and the civilian suffering that accompanies it, although Kasha said he recalls little of that.

“I can’t remember off the top of my head,” he said. “I was a little kid when I moved here. My dad came over first.”

Kasha now lives in Cedar Rapids with parents Boumedien and Cecile Kasha, two brothers, and a sister.

A four-year varsity player, “he’s an experienced player, and brings a lot to our offensive attack,” Graham said. “He’s starting to talk more and take more of a leadership role, which is fun to see. He doesn’t talk much, but when he does it keeps everyone loose.”

Most often a forward in previous seasons, Kasha has alternated between forward and center this season.

“My favorite is the forward,” he said. “I like scoring goals,” but he’s prepared to make the move during a game when it’s called for.

“It’s a work in progress,” Graham said. “He wants to play a little central role, and it’s turned out in some games he’s been able to contribute a lot more outside. When you see we can make a change, we’ll make it and he’s responded very well.”

“I’m expecting to play center most of the time” this season, Kasha said. “You’ve got to adjust. Wherever they put me, I’ve got to adjust.”

The Warriors' next matches are slated for Saturday in the Iowa City West Classic.