Huge Final Home Weekend Awaits Huskies
October 28, 2015 | Men's Soccer
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What To Look For
The Dawgs begin the second round of Pac-12 games by hosting California and No. 4 Stanford. The Golden Bears come to Husky Soccer Field on Friday night at 6 p.m., while the Cardinal visit Seattle on Monday night at 7 p.m. for senior day. Both contests will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks and have major implications in the race for the conference championship.
On The Offensive
Washington has scored just 13 goals in 14 games this season and ranks just 171st in the country at 0.93 goals per games. James Moberg leads the Huskies with three goals, while Ian Lange, Beau Blanchard and Quentin Pearson each have two. Blanchard scored the only goal in the last Pac-12 victory over Oregon State on an assist from Josh Heard. Heard and Blanchard each have two assists this season to lead the Dawgs. Young attacking players Kyle Coffee, David Coly and Henry Wingo have been dangerous up top, but still looking for their first goal. UW is still looking to find consistent scoring with Darwin Jones and Cristian Roldan now playing with the Sounders in MLS and Mason Robertson having played just 158 minutes so far this season as he's battled a calf injury.
Defensive Efforts
The Huskies have been excellent so far defensively with 10 shutouts in 14 games. The 10 shutouts are tied for second in the country behind only St. Francis Brooklyn who has 12. The Washington record for shutouts is 14 set by the 1982 squad. The Dawgs are allowing just 0.52 goals per game, which ranks eighth in the nation. Justin Schmidt leads a young group with freshman Quentin Pearson joining him at center back as that duo has played almost every minute of the year. Redshirt freshman Luke Hauswirth and sophomore Justin Fiddes have been the outside backs and also performed well. Last year's starter Michael Gallagher has moved up the field from center back to a holding midfield role, while Andy Thoma is gone, having graduated and drafted by the Portland Timbers of MLS.
In Net
Ryan Herman has nine shutouts already this season, which is second in the nation. The UW single-season record is 14 by Mark Schuur back in 1982. He was named Pac-12 Player of the Week following a weekend of consecutive shutouts of No. 3 Stanford and Cal the first time the team's met and is starting to receive some Hermann Trophy buzz. The fifth-year senior has 63 saves on the year and a 88.7 percent save percentage that ranks fifth in the country. For his career, the redshirt senior now has 17 shutouts and a 20-5-8 record. Auden Schilder has also seen time this season, starting at Drexel and earning the shutout and win.
Previous Matchups
The Huskies have had good success against both Stanford and Cal, especially recently. Washington is 33-16-5 against the Cardinal all-time, including 8-1-1 under Jamie Clark. The Huskies had won eight-in-a-row over Stanford until the Cardinal won in Palo Alto last season, 2-0. This season, the two teams tied 0-0 in Palo Alto as Ryan Herman made a career-best 11 saves. The Dawgs also eliminated Stanford from the 2013 NCAA Tournament on an Ian Lange header in the Sweet 16 by a score of 1-0. Against Cal, Washington is 27-17-10 all-time and 6-0-3 under Clark. The Dawgs swept the Golden Bears last year with a pair of 3-2 victories and tied earlier this year 0-0-0 in Berkeley. Overall, Clark is an amazing 14-1-4 against Stanford and Cal as the head coach of Washington.
Scouting California
The Golden Bears are curently receiving votes in the NSCAA National Poll with a record of 7-5-2. Cal got off to a slow start in conference play, but swept UCLA and San Diego State at home last week to get back in the conference race. Christian Thierjung leads the Bears with seven goals and four assists and was recently named the Pac-12 Player of the Week. Jose Carrera-Garcia has also been big with five goals and eight assists. Cal has had no problem scoring goals, with 26 braces on the year, but has also given them up, allowing 25.
Scouting Stanford
Stanford leads the Pac-12 with a conference record of 5-0-2. Overall, the Cardinal are 12-1-2 and ranked No. 4 in the country. Stanford lost their opening match at UC Santa Barbara and are unbeaten since. Jordan Morris leads the Cardinal with seven goals and is the only collegiate player in the country to see time with the full U.S. National Team. Stanford has also gotten big contributions from Foster Langsdorf with six goals and Eric Verso with 10 assists. Goalkeeper Andrew Epstein has been good with a 0.64 goals against average, second only to Washington's Ryan Herman in the conference.
Senior Day
Monday's match against Stanford will also be senior day. This year, seven Huskies will be recognized. This group has a record of 47-15-15 at Washington has qualified for three NCAA Tournaments. A trip back this season would make it the first group since the 2001 seniors to make the NCAA's every year of their careers. The recognized seniors will be Michael Gallagher, Josh Heard, Ian Lange, James Moberg, Jim Oganga, Ryan Herman and Chad Wissing. This group has had arguably the most successful run in school history with four NCAA Tournament victories, including the first Elite 8 appearance in 2013 and another Sweet 16 last year. These seniors also won just the second Pac-12 title for UW, coming in 2013.
Player Of The Week
Ryan Herman was the Pac-12 Player of the Week and National Player of the Week as selected by TopDrawerSoccer.com for the week of October 5-11. The senior goalkeeper had 16 saves in a pair of shutouts over No. 3 Stanford and California. In both matches, Herman made critical, late game-savers to help the Dawgs earn at least a point on the road.
Record Watch
Ryan Herman is beginning to threaten the Washington record for shutouts. Herman has nine shutouts, while the record is 14 by Mark Schuur in 1982. Midfielder James Moberg is already on the Husky top-10 list for assists with 21. He is currently tied for 10th and looks to ascend the list, which is led by Jason Boyce (1994-97) who hold the all-time Washington lead with 34 assists. Mason Robertson and Josh Heard are the active leaders for Washington in goals with 13.
Top Players By TopDrawer
TopDrawerSoccer.com released their annual lists of top players in college soccer in late October with four Huskies being recognized. On the list of the top-100 overall players, Ryan Herman ranked 42nd, while James Moberg ranked 44th. The soccer website also did a list of top-100 freshman with Quentin Pearson selected as the 21st-best rookie, while Kyle Coffee ranked 64th among freshman.
Returning All-Pac-12 Players
Washington has three players returning from the All-Pac-12 teams last season. James Moberg and Justin Schmidt were Second Team players, while Ian Lange was honorable mention. Before the year, the Pac-12 named a Preseason All-Pac-12 squad with Moberg and Mason Robertson being included.
Conference Of Champions
Washington still controls its own destiny in the race for the Pac-12 Championship. Defending conference champion Stanford leads the Pac-12 with 17 points, but with two games in hand and one to play against the Cardinal, the Dawgs are guaranteed at least a tie for the title if they could win out. UCLA is currently second with 10 points, but also has played two more games than Washington. Cal is tied with the Dawgs with eight points, while Oregon State has seven. The Beavers have played still played only five games like the Huskies. Washington looks to win its second Pac-12 title in three years, also claiming the crown in 2013. That was their first Pac-12 Championship since 2000 and second overall.
NCAA Tournament History
Washington has played in three-straight NCAA Tournaments under Jamie Clark. The Dawgs defeated Air Force in the first round in 2012, before falling at Creighton as the Blue Jays went on to advance to the College Cup. In 2013, Washington defeated Seattle U. in the second round and Stanford in the third round after a first-round bye. The Dawgs fell 1-0 to New Mexico in the Elite 8. Last season, the Dawgs earned a bye and then knocked out Furman in the second round in penalty kicks. The Dawgs tied the Paladins 0-0 in regulation and then came from behind in the shootout to win 5-4 on the eighth shooter. The following week, Washington earned a 2-2 draw with Michigan State in East Lansing, but fell in penalty kicks. Overall, Washington is 11-20-4 in the NCAA Tournament after back-to-back Sweet 16 seasons. The Dawgs have now advanced to the Sweet 16 three times in program history with the other coming in 2003. The Elite 8 appearance in 2013 was the first ever for the Dawgs. Washington's first NCAA appearance came in 1968, a first round loss to San Francisco. The Dawgs had seven-straight first round exits, before earning their first NCAA victory in 1992 with a 2-1 victory over Portland in the opening round. 2013 also marked the first year Washington won multiple games in the NCAA Tournament.
