University of Washington
Connecticut
Overtime Goal Spoils UW's Upset At UCONN
September 07, 2012 | Men's Soccer
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."
UCONN outshot Washington 9-1 in the first half. In the first few minutes of the game, Washington had two quick corner kicks but UCONN keeper Andre Blake made some great stops in the box. Connecticut controlled the possession for most of the first half, taking some good shots against UW keeper Spencer Richey (Seattle, Wash.).
The teams went into the half with a 0-0 tie. The second half of play saw possession shift more to Washington's favor, as each team had seven shots. In the 63rd minute, Ian Lange scored off of a corner kick which looked to be the go-ahead goal for UW, but the goal was called off for goal interference.
After 90 minutes of scoreless action, the two teams headed for two 10-minute golden goal overtime periods. Both teams were 1-0 in OT games entering Friday night.
Richey made four saves in the game. Junior defender Taylor Peay led UW with two shots.
Washington has Sunday off before heading to the UAB Tournament next weekend.
