University of Washington
Portland
UW Advances To NCAA Second Round With 3-2 Win Over Portland
November 21, 1999 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 21, 1999
SEATTLE - Turn-about is fair play. The Washington men's soccer team avenged an earlier-season battle by downing Portland, 3-2, in the first round of NCAA action in Portland. The Huskies, now 15-4-2 and on a 10-match winning streak, will face defending champion Indiana in Bloomington next Sunday. Portland concludes its season at 12-5-2.
In the battle of the purple-clad Pacific Northwestern soccer powers in October, Portland jumped out to a very early lead in Seattle, and two UW shots ricocheted off the far post to thwart a Husky comeback. Today, the reverse was true, as the near post was good to Washington.
The Pilots again took a first-minute lead, using great passing to score just 55 seconds into the match. Freshman forward Conor Casey dished off to junior Garrett Marcum, who lofted the ball into the far upper V.
UW sophomore Jake Sagare answered with one of his two goals of the day at 28:29, intercepting a clear and pushing the ball into an empty net. The Huskies struck again at 34:11. Senior Wes Hart dribbled in the box in front of the net but was double-teamed. A short pass back to an open Rees Bettinger enabled the senior to knock a shot off a defender and into the net for the go-ahead goal.
The final two goals came late in the second stanza, after two Portland shots bounced off the near post. Sagare scored his seventh point in the past two games at 82:23, pushing a low grounder underneath the keeper off a dish from junior Kai Carroll. Of Sagare's four goals this season, two have been game-winners.
But the Pilots would not go down quietly, feverishly attacking the net and scoring at 89:08 when freshman Kelly Gray knocked in his own deflection.
The hard-fought contest featured 26 fouls, seven of which were yellow cards. Though UP was issued 16 of those fouls, UW was carded four times. Shots taken were an identical 15 for both squads, but UW held a decisive, 13-1 corner-kick advantage. Portland's lone corner came with less than five minutes to play. UW keeper James Dickinson made several key saves and seven overall to Curtis Spiteri's eight.
"It was obviously a very hard-fought game," UW coach Dean Wurzberger said. "What has been helpful to us, I think, is we've had a string of one-goal, hard-fought games. So when you're in a close game, you have confidence in what you can do. I give full credit to Portland, they didn't give up. They are very crafty up front. Thank heavens we had a two-goal margin, of we may still be playing."
Washington, making its fifth-straight NCAA appearances, advances to the second round for the fourth time ever. The Huskies' path is a replay of the 1992 season. In Wurzberger's first year at Washington, the Huskies opened NCAA action with a 2-1 win at Portland before falling at Indiana, 2-0.
NCAA Tournament
Nov. 21, 1999
Washington 3, Portland 2
Scoring-
1, UP, Garrett Marcum (Conor Casey), 0:55, 2, UW, Jake Sagare, 28:29, 3, UW, Rees Bettinger (Wes Hart), 34:11, 4, UW, Jake Sagare (Kai Carroll), 82:23, 5, UP, Kelly Gray, 89:08.Shots-UW 15, UP 15. Saves-UW 7, UP 8. Corner Kicks-UW 13, UP 1. Fouls-UW 10, UP 16.
