No. 19 Washington Faces Michigan State In B1G Quarterfinals

Thursday, November 7

Bridgeview, Ill.

3:00 PM

University of Washington

Michigan State

No. 19 Washington Faces Michigan State In B1G Quarterfinals

November 06, 2024 | Men's Soccer

Washington Match Notes Michigan State Match Notes Tournament Central B1G+Live Stats

SEATTLE – No. 19 Washington men's soccer begins the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday facing Michigan State at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. PT and streaming on B1G+.

The Huskies concluded the regular season with a record of 8-4-5 and 4-3-3 in conference action to lock up the 4-seed. UW entered the United Soccer Coaches poll for the first time this season, coming in at No. 19.

LAST TIME OUT
Washington concluded the regular season with its second ranked win, and fifth result, of the season in a 1-0 victory over then-No. 25 UCLA on the road. Freshman Alex Hall connected with fellow freshman Zach Ramsey in the 78th minute to secure the eighth win for the Huskies this season.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Since 1997, the Huskies have posted a 188-67-21 overall record at Husky Soccer Stadium, winning at least eight matches in 13 seasons including a 10-1-2 mark in 2013. In 2022, the Huskies set a new program record for single-match attendance when 3,876 people came to see Washington take on Seattle U in the Fewing Cup (formerly WAC/101 Club Cup). This season, UW is 6-1-2 at home.

ROAD DAWGS
Dating back to the 2019 season, the Huskies are 28-9-11 in road contests. UW went undefeated in road matches twice during that span in 2022 (5-0-2) and 2021 (8-0-1). The Huskies also won eight road matches in 2019.

2024 BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
The Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament will have a new home for the 2024 season, with the quarterfinals and semifinals Nov. 7 and 10 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Ill. Both semifinals (Nov. 10 at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET) will be televised live on Big Ten Network and the FOX Sports app, with all three quarterfinal matches (Nov. 7 at 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., and 6 p.m. ET) broadcast on B1G+. The tournament championship, scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 17, will be played on the home field of the highest remaining seed and broadcast live on Big Ten Network. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. ET.

The Huskies enter the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 4 seed and will face 5-seed Michigan State on Thursday. For more information about the Big Ten Tournament click here.

RANKED MATCHUPS
Since the 2019 season, the Huskies are 16-5-7 against ranked opponents in the regular season (at the time the game was played). Last season, Washington went 3-1-2 against ranked teams. UW went undefeated against ranked opponents in 2022 (2-0-1). In the last eight home matches against Top-5 teams, the Huskies hold a record of 6-2-0. This season, UW is 4-3-3 against the Top 25 (at the time the game was played) with victories over then No. 4 Oregon State, No. 11 Seattle U and No. 20 Northwestern - all at home - and No. 25 UCLA on the road.

THE RETURNERS
Plenty of experience returns for Washington with 24 returners from the 2023 team, including all-conference honorees Chris Meyers and Richie Aman. The Huskies return 61% of their goal production led by with Peter Kingston, Nick O'Brien, Mani Diop and Sean Sent who all had two goals apiece. UW also has 50% of their assists returning led by Kingston (5), Aman (4) and Cooper Brunell (3). O'Brien, Harrison Bertos and Joe Dale all had one assist. Kingston, Aman and Sent were all named to the Big Ten preseason players to watch list.

HOMEGROWN TALENT
The 2024 rosters see 17 of its 32 players (53%) from the state of Washington, with 13 from King County.

NEW DAWGS ON THE BLOCK
The Huskies brought in some new talent with six freshman and two transfers - Caden Buckley (Santa Clara) and Rhys Gourdie (San Diego). The WCC transfer duo were named to the all-conference team a season ago and have earned a conference championship at least once in their career. Incoming freshman, Zach Ramsey was named the 2023-24 Washington Boy's Soccer Gatorade Player of the Year after a stellar season at Mount Si. Ramsey is the first UW commit from the state of Washington to be named Gatorade player of the year since Michael Rojas in 2019. He is the second state Gatorade player of the year on the current roster joining Nani Deperro who won it for Oregon in 2022.

SETTING UP FOR SUCCESS
Of Washington's 24 goals on the season, nine have come off of set pieces. Both goals against No. 9 Denver were on corners taken by Peter Kingston to Harrison Bertos and Egor Akulov. In the upset win over No. 4 Oregon State, Chris Meyers sent into the box for Joe Dale. Charlie Kosakoff's goal against Air Force was off a corner by Meyers. In the ninth minute against No. 11 Seattle U, Meyers took a corner that Richie Aman found the back of the net on. Jack Maguire took the set piece against No. 20 Northwestern that Nick O'Brien scored on. Meyers netted his first goal of the season against No. 9 Maryland off a free kick to open the scoring. Egor Akulov scored the ninth set piece goal off of Peter Kingston's corner kick against Rutgers.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Twelve Huskies have contributed goals for UW this season led by Peter Kingston and Charlie Kosakoff with five. Richie Aman (2), Cooper Brunell (2), Egor Akulov (2), Zach Ramsey (2), Chris Meyers (1), Joe Dale (1), Harrison Bertos (1), Nick O'Brien (1), Alex Hall (1) and Chris Peretti (1) have all contributed to the scoring.

THE STARTING XI
Eighteen different Huskies have earned a spot in the starting lineup this season. Chris Meyers, Egor Akulov, Caden Buckley and Jadon Bowton have started in all 16 matches. Harrison Bertos and Sean Sent have 15 starts. Charlie Kosakoff, Peter Kingston and Rhys Gourdie have 14 starts while Richie Aman has 13 and Joe Dale have 12 appearances in the starting XI. Chris Peretti (4), Cooper Brunell (3), Nick O'Brien (2), Zach Ramsey (2), Connor Lofy (2), Alex Hall (1) and Jack Maguire (1) have all seen their names on the lineup sheet. Bowton is the lone Husky to play all 1440 minutes. Akulov has only sat out for nine minutes this season.

BIG SECOND HALVES
The second half has been a game changer for the Huskies so far this season, with 13 of their 24 total goals coming in the last 45 minutes of action.

DEBUT MOMENTS
Nine Huskies have made their debut in the Purple and Gold in the first three matches of the season. In the season opener at Portland, transfers Rhys Gourdie and Caden Buckley got starts, while Egor Akulov saw his first collegiate minutes in the start on Thursday. True freshman Gabe Fernandez came on as a sub in the second half. Conner Leber and Connor Lofy also saw minutes in the season opener. True freshman Alex Hall made his debut in the home opener against Oregon State on Monday night. Zach Ramsey played the final 45 minutes against Denver, recording an assist on Harrison Bertos' goal in the 63rd minute. Chad Sovde made his collegiate debut at Michigan State, tallying 15 minutes.

INSTANT IMPACT
True freshmen Alex Hall, Zach Ramsey and Gabe Fernandez have seen significant time for the Purple and Gold totaling 941 minutes between the trio. Ramsey, in his 451 minutes of action over 12 matches, has recorded a pair of assists and goals to be fifth on the team with six points. He recorded his first career start against Penn State. Hall recorded his first career goal in his first career start against Loyola Marymout and added an assist agains No. 25 UCLA.

AMONG THE ACTIVE LEADERS
Chris Meyers is tied for 46th among active Division I players with 16 career assists. Peter Kingston is tied for 20th with 82 appearances. Jadon Bowton ranks 18th with a 0.974 career goals against average.

HONOR ROLL
Peter Kingston – Big Ten Players to Watch, TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week Honorable Mention (Oct. 22)
Richie Aman – Big Ten Players to Watch
Sean Sent – Big Ten Players to Watch
Chris Meyers – TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Week (Sept. 3), TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week (Sept. 3), Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 10), Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 17)
Jadon Bowton – Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week (Sept. 24), Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week (Nov. 5)
Harrison Bertos – TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week Honorable Mention (Sept. 23)

NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior defender Chris Meyers was tabbed TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Week on Sept. 3 following three consecutive matches with an assist against Oregon State, Denver and Air Force. All three assists came off corner kicks. He is the first Husky since Ilijah Paul in September 2022 to earn TDS National Player of the Week honors. He was named the program's first ever Big Ten player of the week on Sept. 10 following an assist in the upset victory over No. 11 Seattle U. Meyers racked up his second consecutive conference player of the week honor on Sept. 17 following his assist on Peter Kingston's goal in the ninth minute against No. 22 Michigan.

TOUGH SCHEDULE
The 2024 Washington men's soccer schedule features six teams that made the NCAA Tournament a season ago. UW opened the season with three consecutive ranked opponents for the first time in program history in No. 22 Portland, No. 4 Oregon State and No. 9 Denver. The Dawgs have faced 10 opponents - at the time the match was played - that were ranked. Seven opponents are currently ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Week 12 poll. Washington holds a record of 2-2-3 against those teams. UW is 3-3-5 against Quad 1 & 2 teams.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Michigan State concluded the regular season with a record of 5-7-4 and 4-4-2 in conference action to enter the tournament as the 5-seed. Jonathan Stout leads the team with 10 points on the year (four goals, two assists). Sean Kerrigan follows closely behind with nine (four goals, one assist). Zac Kelly leads the keeper group with a 1.14 goals against average in 16 matches. He's tallied 52 saves, the second most in the conference, and holds a 74.3% save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
Washington leads the all-time series with Michigan State 2-1-1. Earlier this season, Michigan State secured its first win over the Huskies in a 1-0 victory in East Lansing. Washington missed a potential match-tying penalty kick in the 86th minute as the shot was saved by the Spartan's keeper.

For more information on the UW men's soccer team, follow @UW_MSoccer on X and Instagram.