Huskies Fall To Denver In Third Round

Saturday, November 26

Denver, Colo.

3:00 PM

University of Washington

14-7-0

Denver

19-0-3

Washington

Denver

November 26, 2016 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Final Box

DENVER, Colo. – The Washington men's soccer team ended their 2016 season in Denver Saturday night after a 1-2 loss.

"Credit to Denver," said head coach Jamie Clark. "They're a very good team and they showed that in the first half. We came in after the half and turned it around. We pushed them to the very limit. If we had gotten to the second (goal) no question we would have gotten to the third. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be."

The Pioneers had the majority of the control that pressured the Husky defense. In the 25^th minute a shot from a corner kick slipped past the chaos in the box and past goalkeeper Auden Schilder to put the Pioneers on the board, 1-0.

In the first 45 minutes Denver out-shot the Dawgs 10-2. Corban Anderson and Handwalla Bwana each inked one shot in the half.

Roles reversed in the second half as the Huskies were able to keep the ball in Denver territory for most of the half. The Dawgs connected opportunities alive taking fifteen shots in the second half alone.

Though the team pressured the defense, Denver kept 10 men behind the ball making it difficult for the Purple and Gold.

In the 65^th minute the Pioneers scored off a free kick from 30 yards making the score 2-0.

Just eight minutes later the Pioneers drew a foul inside the box. Steven Wright converted a penalty kick to get the Dawgs on the board making the score 2-1.

The goal marked his fourth of the season and his third penalty kick conversion.

The goal ignited the Husky offense. Elijah Rice had two close opportunities but both were knocked out by the goalkeeper.

Three back-to-back corner kicks showed promising outcomes for the Dawgs, but again the deep Pioneer defense halted the opportunities.

The team had a total of 17 shots in the match. Individually, Wright and Scott Menzies led the team with three shot apiece. Anderson, Bwana, Henry Wingo, Elijah Rice and Beau Blanchard each had two in the game. Kyle Coffee had one.

"I'm very proud of this team," said Clark. "They've raised the bar for where are expectations are. We should be and we are a Final Four team every year and that's come a long way. We haven't gotten there yet but that's the expectation and the belief. It's not a high in the sky hope, it's a true belief. It's now on to next year's team to make that a reality."

The Huskies finished their season with at 14-7 record. The team swept Pac-12 rival UCLA, handed Stanford their first loss at home since 2014 and appeared in the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the program's fourth time.