University of Washington
San Diego State
Huskies Fall 1-0 to San Diego State, Portland Wins Tourney Title
September 04, 2005 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 4, 2005
SEATTLE - Christine Sinclair scored both goals Sunday for tournament winner Portland and Jen Mello netted the decisive tally in the 80th minute of San Diego State's 1-0 victory over Washington during the final round of the Husky/Nike Invitational at Husky Soccer Field.
Washington (0-2-2) had captured the previous three Nike Invitational titles and six overall. Portland (4-0) won UW's tournament for the fifth time, claiming the team trophy for the first time since 2001.
The Pilots also reaped the individual awards as Sinclair was voted the tournament's Offensive MVP and Kari Evans the Defensive MVP. Sinclair amassed three goals and an assist during her two tournament outings.
The Huskies lost despite the three saves of senior Kelsey Rasmussen (Bellarmine Prep). San Diego State (3-1) goalkeeper Christi Yount matched that total and posted her second shutout of the season.
Mello's goal was scored during a scramble in front of the UW goal. Millie Allen passed the ball to Erika Sutton whose shot was deflected by Rasmussen and dropped to the goal line. Mello raced to the rebound and pushed it into the net at 79:32.
"On a weird hop, Kelsey made a great save on the first ball," Husky coach Lesle Gallimore said. "That's always the job of a defensive player is when your goalkeeper makes a great save, but can't hang on to it, you should always be goal-side of your player. Their player did a good job of out-running our player to get to the ball first and finish it."
The stingy Aztec defense did the rest, limiting Washington to just one shot in the second half. For the game, San Diego State outshot UW 12-10.
"Scoring goals is the hardest thing in soccer and I guarantee you we're going to be doing a little bit of finishing in practice this week," exclaimed Gallimore.
"What's most important to us is, as we get more experience, that we limit our mistakes and we get better. This week we got a little bit better defensively. Next week we have to be better at holding the ball up front and creating more chances and finishing. "
In Sunday's first game, Portland defeated Pacific 2-0 on Sinclair's pair of goals. Goalkeeper Cori Alexander saved one shot en route to her third shutout.
Pacific (2-1-1) goalkeeper Jaime Souza, a graduate of Gig Harbor (Wash.) High School, saved five shots. She stopped two point-blank first-half shots before the Pilots finally found thee back of the net at 38:20. Sinclair received a crossing pass inside the box from Natalie Budge and blasted a 12-yard shot into the upper left corner.
The 2002 NCAA Player of the Year, Sinclair was fouled in the box and converted the subsequent penalty kick at 70:10 to cap the scoring.
The first round of the tournament on Friday saw Portland defeat San Diego State 3-0 while Washington and Pacific played to a 1-1 overtime tie.
The Huskies return to action next weekend at the Portland Invitational. UW meets No. 17 West Virginia, Friday at 4:30 p.m. while host Portland opens with No. 21 Wisconsin.
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
HUSKY/NIKE INVITATIONAL
Husky Soccer Field; Seattle, Wash.
Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005
GAME 4 -- San Diego State 1, Washington 0
Scoring
-- 1, SDSU, Jen Mello (Millie Allen, Erika Sutton), 79:32.Shots -- SDSU 12, UW 10.
Saves -- SDSU 3 (Christi Yount), UW 3 (Kelsey Rasmussen).
Corner Kicks -- SDSU 3, UW 1.
Fouls -- SDSU 14, UW 10.
Offsides -- SDSU 0, UW 0.
Attendance -- 826.
Records -- Washington 0-2-2, San Diego State 3-1-0.
GAME 3 -- (#4) Portland 2, Pacific 0
Scoring
-- 1, UP, Christine Sinclair (Natalie Budge), 38:20. 2, UP, Sinclair (pk), 70:10.Shots -- UOP 5, PORT 23.
Saves -- UOP 5 (Jaime Souza), UP 1(Cori Alexander).
Corner Kicks -- UOP 2, UP 5.
Fouls -- UOP 12, UP 10.
Offsides -- SDSU 0, UP 0.
Attendance -- 397.
Records -- Pacific 2-1-1, Portland 4-0-0
