University of Washington
Northern Illinois
Wild Play Gives Huskies First Win
September 05, 2010 | Men's Soccer
Sept. 5, 2010
PORTLAND, Ore. - It was an unconventional end to a hard fought game and the Huskies came away with a 1-0 win and their first victory of the season over Northern Illinois in the Portland/Nike Invitational. Washington improves to 1-1-0 on the year.
The game's lone goal did not come off of a Husky foot, rather the hands of forward Brent Richards. In the 73rd minute, Richards threw the ball in parallel to the goal as the ball went off of the NIU goalkeeper, Jordan Godsey, and into the net. Rules state that a player can score a goal on a throw in if it goes off of a defender, which was the case here.
It was the first goal of the season for Richards, a junior from Camas, Wash., who was the team's leading goal scorer a year ago.
Both Washington and NIU had 11 shots in the match with UW have six in the first. Dylan Tucker-Gangnes, a sophomore from Bainbridge Island, Wash., led the way with three shots, two on goal. Senior Matt Van Houten was second on the team with two shots playing in his hometown of Portland.
Freshman goalkeeper Spencer Richey (Seattle, Wash.) recorded his first career win and shutout, making two saves in the game, one in each half.
"It was a tough hard-earned win and one we deserved," said head coach Dean Wurzberger. "NIU is a very tough team to score against and. It was a challenge but we grew a lot from the Friday game and Taylor (Mueller) commended the back and limited their chances. I felt good about Spencer getting the shutout. He is a man for the future for us and he had an outstanding performance. Everyone pitched in. We had a great break on the throw in and Brent has such a strong arm that it just trickled in off of the goalie. it was a big step forward to get the win. I'm proud of the guys and now they have some confidence to build on."
NIU drops to 0-1-1 on the season after tying national powerhouse Portland on Friday.
The Huskies will stay on the road next week as they head to Fullerton, Calif., to take on Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton.
