Coach’s Corner
University of Washington Huskies 1
Washington State University Cougars 3
November 5, 2015
Husky Soccer Field – Seattle, WA
The Univerity of Washington Huskies hosted the Washington State University Cougars on Thursday night in Seattle on a beautiful November night on a nearly perfect looking grass pitch at Husky Soccer Field. WSU came away with a 3-1 victory in front of 1,192 fans and a TV audience in an exciting match.
Early play titled heavily in the Huskies favor as they pressed the pace and took advantage of excellent wing play on both sides. The early Husky goal was a result of a quick play outside to the wing and service back into the box for a nice one touch finish by Kelcie Hedge just after ten minutes. WSU countered pretty quickly with Kaitlyn Johnson taking advantage of an intercepted clearance to tie it up at sixteen minutes.
Play overall tended to continue in the same manner, with the Huskies favoring possession and continuing their dangerous wing service into the box. WSU absorbed the UW pressure and countered often with Cara Wegner giving the Cougs a lead they would not relinquish in the twenty-sixth minute on a through pass she was able to finish cleanly.
The Dawgs had a number of excellent chances to tie, forcing Cougar keeper Ella Dederick into dealing with ongoing wing service into the box and a number of saves. The UW never ceased their pressure, taking 19 shots and earning 6 corners.
However, WSU got the third goal late in the match when a long ball from keeper Ella Dederick got past the UW defense to Kelsee Crenshaw in the 83rd minute.
The win gives WSU a 12 match unbeaten run against their cross state rivals with 8 wins and four draws since a 2003 2-0 UW victory in Seattle. Given the equivilent success and quality of the two programs the streak itself is surprising. Both sides are quality and yet the streak continues.
WSU finishes the regular season at 14-5-0 and 7-4-0 in PAC-12 play. The UW ends the season at 12-6-2 and 5-5-1 in conference. Both sides have quality conference, non-conference, and road wins. Both teams will find out their fate on Monday November 9 during the NCAA Tournament Selection broadcast and both should be continuing their seasons.
Photos by Jeff Lageson
