Bodily Nets Winner as No. 1 UW Wins 1-0 at UCLA

Thursday, October 24

Los Angeles, CA

5:00 PM

University of Washington

13-1-0, 6-0-0Pac-12

UCLA

5-7-2, 1-4-1Pac-12

Washington

UCLA

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

October 24, 2019 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights Blake Bodily Post-Match Interview

LOS ANGELES --- Blake Bodily and Lucas Meek teamed up to tally the lone goal of the match as No. 1 Washington picked up its ninth-straight win and remained perfect in Pac-12 play with a 1-0 victory at UCLA on Thursday evening.

The Huskies improve to 13-1-0 on the season and move to 6-0-0 in the conference. Washington also runs its winning-streak to nine, its longest streak since winning 10-straight during the 1999 season. The Bruins fall to 5-7-2 and to 1-4-1 in the Pac-12.

"That was a hard fought road win, said UW Head Coach Jamie Clark. "UCLA really were tough tonight and made us earn every one of our chances. Thankfully we found a way to breakthrough."

The Huskies first goal came in the 66th minute as Blake Bodily tapped in a deflected cross to break the ice. Christian Soto started the play well behind the midfield line, sending a long cross to the left side of the pitch where Lucas Meek ran onto it. He carried it down the left side, beating a defender with a nice move before his cross deflected of UCLA defender and went right to an on-rushing Bodily who tapped it into the open net.

"We picked the ball up in transition and I did my best to get open in the box," said Bodily. "Meek worked his magic to get the ball to me and I was fortunate enough to get the goal. I feel good about the season so far, everything is just clicking right for us right now."

66' - Meek with the great run, sends a deflected cross toward the goal where Bodily cleans it up for his sixth goal of the year!

UW 1 | UCLA 0#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/iKTqwTz2tt
— Washington Men's Soccer (@UW_MSoccer) October 25, 2019

Bodily's goal was his sixth of the season, matching him with Meek for the most on the team. Bodily leads the Huskies with 17 points, scoring six goals and adding five assists. Bodily and Meek each have three goals in Pac-12 play, though nine different Huskies have scored UW's 13 goals through six conference matches.

Neither team had a lot of shots in the first half as the defenses cracked down throughout. Washington held a slight 4-2 edge, recording three shots over the 17 minutes including a great chance by Imanol Rosales in the 38th minute. The freshman was able to intercept a poor clearance inside the box, beat a defender with a quick move and fired a shot only to see it blocked by a UCLA defender.

Washington would get a break in the 72nd minute as a UCLA defender gave a kick to the back of Meek while he was down on the ground, drawing a straight red card.

Playing down a man against one of the toughest defenses in the NCAA, UCLA was only able to muster just one shot the rest of the way.

Washington posted its 10th shutout of the season thanks to its defense, which held UCLA to just seven shots. Bryce Logan got the win in goal, improving to 6-1-0 on the season while lowing his goals against average to 0.70. He only had to make one save on the night, but it was a great stop on a low shot from UCLA's leading scorer Milan Iloski off a free kick from 35 yards out.

The Huskies keep up their best start to a season since 1982 when they opened the year with a 15-1-0 record en route to an 18-2-1 final record.

Overall, Washington has just one loss over its last 19 matches (17-1-1) dating back to last year.

"We know the second time through the Pac-12 season will be harder so we need to keep growing and getting better," said Clark.

The Huskies play their penultimate road match of the regular season on Sunday, traveling south to face San Diego State (3-8-1, 0-5-0 Pac-12) at 2:30 p.m. The Aztec host Oregon State later Thursday night.