Crucial SoCal Road Trip Awaits Huskies
November 04, 2015 | Men's Soccer
Pac-12 Networks | SDSU Live Stats | UCLA Live Stats
What To Look For
Coming off a dramatic win over No. 4 Stanford, Washington heads back out on the road this weekend for another crucial set of games. Traveling to Southern California, the Dawgs will face San Diego State on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. and then No. 19 UCLA on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 5 p.m. There is no broadcast of Friday's game, but Sunday against UCLA will be a Pac-12 Networks TV game.
On The Offensive
Washington has scored just 15 goals in 16 games this season and ranks just 168th in the country at 0.94 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. Last weekend did see a breaktrough from Kyle Coffee who scored the game winner against Stanford. It was Coffee's first career goal as he has become a featured player in the UW attack. Mason Robertson also returned the lineup after missing six games with injury.
Defensive Efforts
The Huskies have been excellent so far defensively with 10 shutouts in 16 games. The 10 shutouts are tied for fifth in the country. The Washington record for shutouts is 14 set by the 1982 squad. The Dawgs are allowing just 0.58 goals per game, which ranks sixth 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 tied for seventh 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 71 saves on the year and a 87.7 percent save percentage that ranks fifth in the country. His goals against average of 0.614 is 13th-best in the country. For his career, the redshirt senior now has 17 shutouts and a 21-6-8 record. Auden Schilder has also seen time this season, starting at Drexel and earning the shutout and win.
Previous Matchups
The Dawgs see both the Aztecs and the Bruins twice a season with the current Pac-12 format and have a 15-4-7 all-time record with San Diego State and a 12-29-3 mark against UCLA. Since Jamie Clark took over in 2011, the Huskies are undefeated against SDSU with a record of 8-0-1, while the Dawgs are just 1-7-1 against UCLA. It is the only team in the conference that Clark has a losing record against. Earlier this season, the Dawgs beat San Diego State 1-0 on Danny Gavin diving header, but fell 3-2 to UCLA as the Bruins scored all three goals on penalty kicks.
Scouting San Diego State
San Diego State is 7-7-2 on the season overall with a conference record of 1-6-0. The Aztecs are coming off of a 3-0 road victory over Wright State on Halloween. Forward Rene Reyes scored against Wright State to put him at a team-best, six goals on the season. San Diego State has seen more success at home with a 5-2-1 record compared to a 2-5-1 record on the road. Their only conference win came against California on Oct. 16 at home, where they shut out the Bears 1-0. The Aztecs have three remaining games in the regular season, all at home, against Washington, Oregon State, and UCLA.
Scouting UCLA
UCLA will head into their final three games of the regular season ranked No. 19 in the nation. The Bruins hold an 8-7-1 record overall with a 3-3-1 conference record. On Nov. 1, UCLA upset No. 6 Akron 4-2 on the road. Jose Hernandez scored two goals for the Bruins against Akron, moving his season total to 11 goals, which is just one shy of the UCLA all-time record for goals by a freshman in a single season. He is tied with Seattle native, Seyi Adekoya who also scored against Akron, for most goals on the season for the Bruins. The Bruins will finish out their home schedule against Washington before closing out the regular season at San Diego State.
Senior Class
Washington has a class of seven seniors that have been instrumental in the team's success. This group has a record of 48-16-15 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 seven seniors are 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 has an outside shot at earning a share of the conference title. Defending conference champion Stanford leads the Pac-12 with 20 points and could clinch the conference title with a win or a tie against California in their final game. If Stanford were to lose that game, the Dawgs could tie for the Pac-12 title by winning each of their last three games. Cal is currently second with 14 points, but only has one game remaining. UW is third with 11 points, while UCLA has 10 and Oregon State seven. Each of UW, UCLA and OSU has three games to play, but only the Huskies still could win the conference. Washington is looking 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.
