University of Washington
San Diego State
With Win, Huskies Inch Closer To Pac-12 Title
October 26, 2012 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 26, 2012
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No. 24 Washington 2, SDSU 0 Goals: Ben Fisk 4'; James Moberg 67' |
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SEATTLE -On a night where one of the greatest teams in school history, the 1982 team was brought back and honored, the 2012 proved it can be that special as well. The Huskies remained on top of the Pac-12 standings with a 2-0 victory over San Diego State on Friday.
The No. 24 Huskies (11-3-3, 6-0-2) setup a big match vs. No. 7 UCLA on Monday at 7 p.m. in Seattle, live on the Pac-12 Networks. The Huskies won the first meeting, 2-1, in Westwood earlier in the season.
Senior Ben Fisk (Federal Way, Wash.) scored the game-winner just four minutes into the match. Freshman James Moberg (Windsor, Calif.) added a second goal in the 67th minute.
With the win, the Huskies stretched their unbeaten streak to nine, the longest in Washington history since 1999. The Huskies are also seeking their first conference title since 2000.
The Aztecs (6-7-2, 0-5-1) earned the draw with the UW to open the Pac-12 season in San Diego but took the loss in the second matchup.
"It was a great game," said head coach Jamie Clark. "It was probably the most complete game we have played all season. The whole group was confident, composed and had the most belief I've seen all season just knowing not only will would win but we would win comfortably."
Also having a huge night was senior Patrick Pacheco (Taos, N.M.) who assisted both goals. For the first goal, he made a nice run down the left side of the field, crossed the ball into the box and that is when Fisk ran in to beat the defender to the ball for the score. It was the third goal of the season for Fisk as he knocked the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.
"It was a must-win game for us," said Fisk. "It's great to score goals early in games because teams aren't settled in the game yet so it's great when we do because then we can settle and play our style."
Moberg also netted his third goal of the season. With the SDSU defense pushed up to midfield, Moberg saw an opening with the Aztec keeper off of his line up at the 18. He saw an opportunity and struck the ball just inside midfield over the head of the keeper for the goal.
SDSU was fast and physical the entire match passing the ball well and continuously putting good balls into the box. Washington took one more shot in the game (11-10) but the Aztecs had one more shot on goal, 5-4.
Junior goalkeeper Spencer Richey (Seattle, Wash.) made five saves and some key ones off of the feet of Kevin Bick and Jordan Ongaro who were dangerous up front the entire night for the Aztecs.
With eight shutouts on the year, Richey is tied for fifth in a single-season in school history. His 23 career shutouts are third all-time at the UW behind Mark Schuur from the 1982 team.
The rest of the Husky defense was solid led by freshman Michael Gallagher (Sammamish, Wash.). With heavy rain the entire first half of the match, it limited junior Michael Harris (Shoreline, Wash.) on his flip throw-in but a dry second half allowed Harris to use his weapon to the UW advantage.
Nearly every member of the 1982 team returned for a special night at Husky Soccer Stadium. Fans wore mustaches to honor the team and players from that team 30 years ago returned to Seattle from as far away as New York. That 1982 team won the conference title and 18 games, still the most by any team in school history.
