Husky Men lose in overtime, Women edge Gonzaga

It was a big night for Washington Husky soccer on both sides of the country. In Connecticut the Husky Men played on national TV against 4th-ranked UConn while in Spokane the undefeated Husky Women battled against 5-1 Gonzaga. When the matches were over the Men had suffered a heartbreaking 1:0 loss in overtime while the Women won by the same score over the Zags.

UConn 1:0 Washington (Overtime) (M)

STORRS, Conn. - The game lived up to its hype. No. 21/25 Washington at No. 4/1 Connecticut aired live on the Fox Soccer Channel Friday night in Storrs, Conn., and the home Huskies defeated UW 1-0 on a free kick in overtime.

The NSCAA Game of the Week showed the nation what UW is made of this season, taking one of the nation’s top teams into overtime, in front of UCONN’s 5,000+ crowd. Washington suffered its first loss of the year, falling to 3-1-1 in 2012 while UCONN is 4-0-0, with all wins coming by a one goal differential.

The game-winner came after a red card was issued to UW freshmen back Michael Gallagher in the 92nd minute of overtime. Max Wasserman took the free kick just outside the 18 yard box and scored in the top right corner.

“We made it a great game tonight,” said head coach Jamie Clark after the game. “To come to the top ranked team in the country and put them on their heels for spells is a great start. UCONN is a great program. We knew we would have to deal with some surges. The last 20 minutes of the first half they really pushed us, but besides that, the game could’ve gone either way.” See match photos from UConn here.

Washington goalkeeper Kari Davidson faced a tough Gonzaga attack but kept a clean sheet as the Huskies won a 1:0 battle in Spokane. (Erik Smith)

Gonzaga 0:1 Washington (W)

SPOKANE, Wash. - Sophomore Jaclyn Softli scored the game-winner in the 56th minute as the Huskies prevailed in Spokane, Wash., in a tough road game vs. Gonzaga, 1-0 on Friday night.

The Huskies improve to 6-0 on the year and handed the Bulldogs just their second loss of the season, (5-2).

Softli (Sammamish, Wash.) scored her first goal of the season and fifth of her career on a close shot in front of the box on an assist from junior Hillary Zevenbergen (Woodway, Wash.).

Gonzaga put the pressure on senior goalkeeper Kari Davidson (Portland, Ore.) and the Husky “D” all night, taking 14 shots total, to eight for the Huskies. The Bulldogs also had eight corner kicks in the game.

Davidson made seven saves on her way to posting the shutout and moving to 5-0 herself in goal on the year. She has three shutouts on the season and five in her career.

“Gonzaga took it to us in the first half,” said head coach Lesle Gallimore. “We were lucky to get out of it without giving up a goal. Defensively we held our own. They (Gonzaga) were tall, good in the air. We were pleased to be 0-0 at the half, because I didn’t think it was our best effort. I thought we came out a little tight. The second half was a different story. I thought we started out really well, started playing the ball around, taking advantage of our skillful midfield and ended up stringing some passes together. Hillary ran a ball down into the corner that she served and Jaclyn made a great goal. We had some other chances as the half went on.”

The Zags report notes the crowd was 1,130, second-largest ever for the Women.

Photo gallery by Erik Smith at Facebook.com/goalWA