Huskies Host Loyola-Chicago Thursday in Non-Conference Match

Thursday, November 1

Seattle, WA

6:00 PM

University of Washington

Loyola Chicago

Tickets

Washington Men's Soccer Team Celebrates a goal against UCLA

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

Huskies Host Loyola-Chicago Thursday in Non-Conference Match

October 30, 2018 | Men's Soccer

Buy Tickets Game Notes (PDF)

SEATTLE --- The Huskies enter its final stretch of the regular season with a non-conference showdown against Loyola University Chicago on Thursday, Nov. 1, at 6:00 p.m. The rare, late-season non-conference match will be streamed on GoHuskies.com. This will be just the second meeting between the two teams with the last coming during the 2011 season.

Washington is coming off an impressive weekend, sweeping UCLA and San Diego State by identical 2-0 scores. It was the first time since San Diego State joined the Pac-12 in 2005 that the Huskies have swept both teams at home in the same season. Both games saw Washington enter the second half with no score, then erupt for a pair of late goals to win. Both games also featured a goal by senior Scott Menzies, who now has one in each of his last four matches and nine on the season.

The Loyola-Chicago Ramblers At A Glance
The Ramblers wrapped up their conference schedule last week with a tough 1-0 loss to Central Arkansas. The loss was Loyola's first in Missouri Valley Conference play this season, wrapping up with a 3-1-2 conference mark. The Ramblers also saw an impressive 6-0-1 streak snapped in the loss, allowing their first goal in the month of October. It had been 587 minutes (over six matches) since Loyola had last allowed a goal in a match it won 2-1 in overtime.

Loyola has scored 19 goals through 16 matches while allowing 14, though has outscored its opponents 12-2 over its last eight matches. Senior Grant Stoneman and junior Aiden Megally lead the way with three goals each, though a total of 12 players have accounted for the team's 19 goals. In net, junior Josh Lagudah is 8-3-2 with a 0.52 goals against average in 13 matches this season, recording 29 saves and posting eight shutouts on the season.

Series History vs. Loyola-Chicago
Thursday's match between the two schools will be just the second meeting all-time. The only other meeting came on Sept. 2, 2011, when the Huskies downed Loyola 1-0 in overtime at the Portland Nike Invitational in Portland, Ore. Washington dominated that match, out-shooting Loyola 14-4 throughout. However, it wasn't until the 96th minute that the Huskies got their first goal as Brent Richards scored off a rebound to give Washington the victory.

The Huskies are 3-1-1 all-time against teams from the Missouri Valley Conference, though they have played just two current conference members: Loyola (1-0-0) and Evansville (2-1-1).

RPI Check-In
Washington made a big jump in the latest RPI ratings released Tuesday by the NCAA, moving up to No. 27 after being ranked No. 40 last week. The Huskies are still the fourth-highest rated team in the Pac-12 with Stanford at No. 7, UCLA at No. 23 and Oregon State at No. 25. Thursday's opponent Loyola-Chicago dropped from No. 47 to No. 52 after its loss on Sunday. Other UW opponents in the Top 60 are: Denver (No. 17), Maryland (No. 21), Portland (No. 29), Akron (No. 34), and Seattle U (No. 55).

Injuries Piling Up
The Huskies have been dealing with injuries throughout the year, but have really been hit hard over the last few weeks. Junior goalkeeper Saif Kerawala has missed the last six matches due to an injury suffered in the match against Cal (10/11). The Huskies' center back tandem of senior Quentin Pearson (end of Stanford match 10/14) and freshman Ethan Bartlow (both matches in Bay area) missed time two weeks ago due to concussions, with Bartlow returning to the lineup last week. Also, junior Joey Parish, who has turned into the team's utility man this year, has missed the past four matches as well.

Overall, just five players have appeared in all 17 matches for the Huskies this year: seniors Scott Menzies, Corban Anderson and Kyle Coffee, and juniors John Magnus and Jaret Townsend.

Menzies the Man!
Senior Scott Menzies has been on fire lately, scoring a goal in each of his last four matches to bring his season tally to nine goals–second-best in the conference. Those nine goals also are the most by a Husky since the aforementioned Brent Richards scored 10 in the 2011 season.

Menzies has done much of his damage of late from off the bench as his last four matches have been the only four he hasn't started this season. Earlier this year, he recorded a pair of goals against Gonzaga–the second multi-goal match of his career. In addition, Menzies has posted a total of four match-winning goals this year, giving him nine in his career.

Gotta Get That First One
Washington has been solid when scoring the first goal of the season, posting a 10-1-0 record when scoring the match's first goal. That includes a pair of victories over the weekend in which the Huskies scored first. (The lone loss was the 3-2, 2 OT loss vs Stanford.) On the other hand, the Huskies are 0-6-0 when conceding the first goal.

Dominating Defense
Washington's defense has been impressive this season, allowing just 20 goals and posting seven shutouts through 17 matches.

The Huskies haven't just held teams from scoring, but have held teams from taking many shots at all. Washington has allowed just 64 total shots on goal through 17 matches (3.76 per match) and 151 shots overall (8.9 per match). The Huskies have held 10 opponents to 10 shots or fewer this season including five of its seven Pac-12 opponents. Washington has also limited 12 of its opponents to five or fewer shots on goal.

This past weekend, the Huskies posted two more shutouts and limited UCLA and San Diego State to a combined 10 shots (three on goal) throughout the two matches. Against UCLA, Washington limited the high-power Bruins to just three total shots in the match–the fewest shots by a Pac-12 team in a conference match this year.

That's Just Offensive, Man
The Washington offense has been impressive throughout the season, scoring 27 goals through its first 17 matches. The Huskies are averaging 1.59 goals per match thus far with a total of 13 Huskies having recorded points this season (12 of which have tallied two or more points).

Nine different players have found the back of the net for the Huskies with freshman Charlie Ostrem being the latest to score his first goal, opening the scoring at Cal on Oct. 18. Scott Menzies has recorded five goals in his last six matches to lead the team with nine goals on the season. Kyle Coffee is second on the team in points with 14 (4 goals, 6 assists) with five different players each adding three assists.

Last year, UW scored 40 goals–the most since tallying 45 during in 2013. It was just the fourth time in the last 18 years the Huskies had scored 40+ goals in a season. Washington finished second in the Pac-12 and 17th in the NCAA with its 2.00 goals per game average, scoring at least three goals in a match seven times last season, going 6-1-0 in those contests.

Twice is Fun
Earlier this season, the Huskies posted a streak of scoring 2+ goals in eight-straight matches, dating back to last season. That matched the longest streak of games with 2+ goals since the 1991-92 season and ended up one shy of the program record of nine set during the 1981 season. Washington is 9-3-0 this season when scoring two or more goals in a match including a pair of 2-0 victories last week.

In the Rankings ...
The Huskies found themselves back in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 rankings this week, sitting at No. 23 after two big wins. It was the first time Washington has been in the Top 25 since being ranked No. 16 in the Sept. 17 poll.

Grimsby's Growth
Redshirt sophomore Cole Grimsby has been impressive this season for the Huskies, starting all but one match at left back and playing 1,341 minutes–something that seemed impossible last season. Grimsby was low on the depth chart during the 2017 season and appeared in just one match, playing the final minute in a blowout early in the season. However, he has grown by leaps and bounds in the off-season and has been rewarded with the starting spot. Through 17 matches, he has recorded a pair of assists and helped anchor a defense which has allowed just 20 goals this season.

Stopping the PKs
Washington allowed its first PK goal in 62 matches when Stanford converted from the spot on Oct. 14. The Huskies hadn't allowed a PK goal by an opponent since UCLA converted two of three from the spot in Seattle on Oct. 4, 2015. Saif Kerawala has not allowed a PK in his collegiate career, stopping both attempts against him in three seasons. UW has converted all three attempts from the spot this year including two over a two-match span in mid-October in home games against Cal and Stanford.

Overtime Blues
The Huskies' played a pair of overtime matches when they were last at home including snapping a streak of five-straight overtime contests without a win by recording a 1-0 double-overtime victory vs. Cal on Oct. 11. Washington had been 0-4-1 in its last five overtime games with its last win coming in a 1-0 victory at Stanford on Oct. 30, 2016.

Number 200 for Clark
UW's match vs. New Mexico on Aug. 27 was the 200th match coached by UW Head Coach Jamie Clark in 11 seasons. Clark posted a 128-50-22 record in 200 matches during three stops as a head coach including an 89-35-19 record at UW. Clark began his coaching career at Harvard where his teams went 26-10-1 in two seasons. He coached one year at Creighton, going 13-5-2 before moving to Seattle.