University of Washington
Oregon State
Uyehara Nails Game-Winner; Huskies Await NCAA Selection
November 09, 2012 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 9, 2012
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No. 24 Washington 1, OSU 0 2OT Goal: Uyehara 106' |
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CORVALLIS, Ore. - A goal in the 106th minute from junior Michael Uyehara gave the No. 24 Huskies the 1-0 win in double overtime at Oregon State on Friday to end the regular season with a 12-4-3 record and to cement second place in the Pac-12 at 7-1-2.
Washington has only lost one of its last 11 games and that was to then-ranked No. 7 UCLA. UCLA won the Pac-12 title with a 2-1 victory over SDSU on Friday afternoon. UCLA receives the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Washington will hope to receive an at-large berth and will find out its fate on Monday at 2:30 p.m. The show will air live on NCAA.com.
"What a great regular season and that put the cap on it," said head coach Jamie Clark. "We've been winning close games all season and to pull out a double OT win again it must give our guys belief that we can do things in the NCAA tournament because those games are close and we win close games."
Uyehara, the Agoura Hills, Calif., native and transfer playing his first season at the UW, scored his first Husky goal on the game-winner. He had a team-high four shots off the bench and three on goal. Just before the game-winner he took a shot with his right foot and then got the rebound back at his left foot to strike the ball into the lower right corner of the net.
The Beavers end the season with a 6-9-3 overall record and a 1-7-2 Pac-12 mark. Washington outshot the Beavers 19-9 overall and eight to two on goal. James Moberg and Patrick Pacheco each had two shots on goal for the Huskies.
Each team had chances in the first 90 minutes of play to win the game. The first 45 minutes were back and forth and the majority of good chances came in the second half. Pacheco, Ben Fisk and Michael Harris each took good shots in the last 20 minute of regulation. The Huskies really put the pressure on in the final 10 minutes and in both OT periods.
Junior goalkeeper Spencer Richey (Seattle, Wash.) made two great saves and posted his ninth shutout of the year. He has 24 career shutouts which ranks fourth all-time in school history.
"We hope that would earn us a first round bye. We had an incredible season and we are one of the top teams in the country and I think we've proved that and deserve it (the bye)," added Clark.
If Washington earns a berth into the 2012 tournament it will be its first since 2007 in which the Huskies advanced to the NCAA Second Round against UCSB and hosted Portland in the First Round. The Huskies hosted a First Round game in each of their last three years in the NCAA Tournament and earned a bye in 2003 and made their way to the Third Round for the first time in school history.
The NCAA Tournament will consist of 48 teams, 22 conference champions and 26 automatic qualifiers. The top 16 teams in the tournament will receive first-round byes. The NCAA First Round begins on Nov. 15.
