Huskies Cruise Past No. 11 Marshall 4-1 to Reach NCAA Quarterfinals

Sunday, December 1

Seattle, WA

5:00 PM

University of Washington

17-3-0

Marshall

15-3-3

Marshall

Washington

Huskies Cruise Past No. 11 Marshall 4-1 to Reach NCAA Quarterfinals

December 01, 2019 | Men's Soccer

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SEATTLE --- Ethan Bartlow scored a pair of goals and Blake Bodily scored his 12^th goal of the season as No. 6 Washington beat No. 11 Marshall 4-1 in an NCAA Tournament Third Round match on Sunday night at Husky Soccer Stadium.

The Huskies (17-3-0) advance to face No. 3 Georgetown on Saturday, Dec. 7 in the Quarterfinals. The match is at Georgetown and is slated for a Noon ET start (9:00 AM PT). It is just the second time the Huskies have reached the NCAA Quarterfinal. Marshall closes out its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament with a 16-3-3 record.

"I'm just incredibly proud of this group," said Washington Head Coach Jamie Clark. "We've shown some glimpses this past few weeks of just how special a team this is. We're playing some of our best soccer right now and it comes at the right time."

Washington erupted for four goals, scoring four goals for the third time in NCAA tournament games and recording at least four for the third time this season. The Huskies have scored nine goals in their last three matches including six in a pair of NCAA tournament matches.

Bodily got the Huskies on the board in the eighth minute, scoring off an early corner kick. Lucas Meek took the corner and sent it toward the near post where John Magnus settled the ball down to Bodily, who blasted it into the net.

The goal was Bodily's 12^th of the season and eighth in as many matches. He is the first Husky to score 12 goals in a year since Ely Allen had 12 in 2007. It also gave Meek his seventh assist in nine matches to go along with his six goals on the season.

Despite heavy pressure by the Huskies to add to the lead, Marshall would tie the game on a PK in the 24^th minute. The Herd earned the spot kick after after a player was taken down in the box with Jamil Roberts converting the kick. It would prove to be the only shot on goal for the Herd in the first half.

"Giving up that goal to Marshall was really a testing moment for us," said Clark. "When you play against better teams, they are going to make comebacks and test you in different ways. And that was a test. And while it didn't feel good to any of us when it went to 1-1, but there is no point to hanging your head and see if we can get the second one."

Just before the half, Bartlow would put the Huskies back on top with an impressive goal in the 43rd minute. After Marshall cleared an initial push by Washington, Joey Parish collected the ball to the right side of the box and sent a quick cross into the six-yard box. There, Bartlow got in behind the Marshall defense and finished with a right foot from close.

"I think that was huge for us to get on the scoresheet early," said Bodily. "The second put us up 2-1 at half instead of 1-1 is huge. Going into the half, we talked about keeping that cleansheet for the second half and we knew that if we kept a cleansheet we would win. So, getting that second goal was really big for us."

The Huskies added another just 45 seconds into the second half as freshman Christian Soto beat a defender down the right side with a nutmeg, then worked toward the goal and fired a shot from a tough angle. The ball beat the keeper over his shoulder and rattled into the net giving Soto his first collegiate goal.
Washington continued to press until Bartlow capped the scoring from the spot in the 73^rd minute. The sophomore converting PK after Meek was taken down in the box on a great run from the left side. Bartlow, the Pac-12 Defender of the Year, stepped up and slid his shot under the diving netminder, who guessed right but was unable to stop the shot.

The victory gives Washington 17 wins for the just the fifth time in program history and the first time since 1983. It also helps them reach the NCAA's Round of Eight for the second time. The last time was in 2013 when the Huskies suffered a tough 1-0 loss to New Mexico in a cold match on a frozen pitch in Seattle.

Washington's next opponent is Georgetown, the No. 3 seed in the tournament field which defeated Louisville 5-1 on Sunday and has scored five goals in each of its first two tournament matches. The winner of Saturday's match advances to the College Cup in Cary, N.C., Dec. 13-15.