No. 3 Huskies Travel to No. 19 Denver

Thursday, August 30

Denver, CO

6:00 PM

University of Washington

Denver

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

August 28, 2018 | Men's Soccer

Game Notes (PDF)

DENVER, Colo. --- The Huskies–the newly minted No. 3 team in the country–remain on the road this week, battling No. 19 Denver in a non-conference matchup on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. The match will be available on Altitude Sports Network (available on satellite dish providers) or via livestream on the Denver athletics website.

Washington made an impressive jump from No. 24 to No. 3 in the latest United Soccer Coaches' Poll after posting a pair of 2-0 shutout victories to open the season. The No. 3 ranking is the team's highest since being ranked No. 2 in the final regular-season poll before the 2013 NCAA Tournament. That was also the last year Washington won the Pac-12 title.

The Huskies recorded another 2-0 victory on Monday, winning at New Mexico in a key, early-season road game. Seniors Scott Menzies and Kyle Coffee were once again your goal scorers with Jaret Townsend adding a pair of assists. Menzies and Coffee lead Washington with a pair of goal each thus far while Townsend and Joey Parish each have a pair of assists.

Washington's defense has allowed a total of three shots on goal through two matches so far this season, posting shutouts in both. Despite allowing 21 total shots, not many have resulted in quality chances to score. Meanwhile, the Huskies have 21 shots as well, putting 14 on frame.

The Denver Pioneers At A Glance
The Pioneers moved up in the latest Coaches' poll as well, jumping from receiving votes to No. 19 after 4-0 drubbing of Monmouth at home in their season-opener on Friday. Senior forward Andre Shinyashiki recorded a hat trick for Denver within the match's first 26 minutes, then added an assist in the second half. The Pioneers play six of their first seven matches at home with a trip to SMU as the first road match before Sept. 22.

Denver has been a top NCAA program over the last six years, posting an 82-25-16 record and reaching the NCAA Semifinals in 2016. Head Coach Jamie Franks is starting his fourth season at the helm. Denver is 47-8-8 under Franks including a 28-3-1 record at home.

Series History
The all-time series between the two teams is tied 2-2-2 though the Huskies hold a 2-1-1 record in four matches played in Denver. The last match was one for the ages with the Pioneers holding on for a 2-1 win in the 2016 NCAA Quarterfinals. Denver led 2-0 with 24 minutes left in the contest when the Huskies turned up the heat. Steven Wright would get a goal for UW in the 78th minute and Washington peppered the Denver goal over the final 10 minutes, but could not find the equalizer.

The Huskies have not defeated Denver since the 2005 season with the Pioneers going 2-0-1 between the two over the last three matches. Four of the six all-time matches have been decided by one-goal with three going to overtime.

That's Just Offensive, Man
The Washington offense has scored four goals over its first two matches, keeping up its impressive rate from last season. In 2017, Washington scored 40 goals–the most since tallying 45 during the 2013 campaign. It was just the fourth time in the last 18 years the Huskies had scored 40 or more 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.

Caution! Hot Coffee!
Kyle Coffee tallied his second goal of the season on Monday, recording the game's first goal just two minutes into the second half. Dating back to last season, Coffee has now scored seven goals in UW's last eight matches. With two goals this season, the redshirt senior now has 13 in his career. Coffee added an assist on Scott Menzies' insurance goal later in the match and leads the team with five points.

Another Game-Winner for Menzies
Scott Menzies tallied the match-winner with his goal off a rebound in the 31st minute vs. Maryland. He added a goal against New Mexico, though–surprisingly–it wasn't a match-winner.The senior now has 11 goals in his career with six of them counting as match-winners.

Number 200 for Clark
Monday's match vs. New Mexico 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 Washington. Clark began his coaching career at Harvard where his teams went 26-10-1 in two seasons. He coached one season at Creighton, going 13-5-2 before moving to Seattle.

Preseason All-Pac-12 Coaches Picks
The Huskies saw three players named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 team: senior defender Quentin Pearson, redshirt senior midfielder Kyle Coffee and sophomore midfielder Blake Bodily. In addition, Washington was picked to finish second by the Pac-12 coaches, just six points behind Stanford and one point ahead of UCLA.

For Openers...
Washington's 2-0 win over Maryland improved its overall record in home openers to 48-5-4. The Huskies have won seven-straight home openers dating back to 2011 and have lost just twice in their last 30 (26-2-2) such matches going back to 1988. Washington also moves to 39-13-5 in season openers all-time.

2017 Pac-12 All-Conference Selections
Washington placed seven players on the All-Pac-12 team including Blake Bodily, who earned First-Team honors and was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. Handwalla Bwana joined him on the First-Team after finishing second in the Pac-12 in points with 22 (8g, 6a) and goals (8). Forward Kyle Coffee, defender Quentin Pearson and goalkeeper Saif Kerawala are among the returners to earn second-team recognition.

Grimsby's Growth
Redshirt sophomore Cole Grimsby cracked the starting lineup at leftback in Friday's home opener, 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 was rewarded with the start on Friday. Grimsby played 80 minutes and contributed on both ends of the field. He was forced off with 10 minutes left after a hard challenge, but will likely see a lot of playing time from here on out.

2018 UW Debuts
Washington saw four players make their collegiate debuts in the Huskies' match vs Maryland. Two of those players were in the starting line-up: true freshman Ethan Bartlow and redshirt freshman Noah Whitman. Bartlow–a highly-rated defender coming out of high school–played the full 90 at center back, looking like a seasoned vet next to senior captain Quentin Pearson.

Whitman turned heads as he made the start at forward. After playing on defense in practice last season, he was moved up top to help provide depth. Whitman made such an impact in fall training, he was given the start and rewarded the decision by showing impressive speed and touch in 52 minutes on Friday.

True freshmen Dylan Teves and Charlie Ostrem came off the bench for the Huskies in their collegiate debuts. Both played around 10 minutes in the match and made solid contributions late in the close contest.

For all of the latest information on Washington men's soccer, follow the team @UW_MSoccer on Twitter and Instagram and at UWMensSoccer on Facebook.