“Everyone wants to beat the Huskies,” said head men’s soccer coach Pete Fewing, and that is exactly what his men accomplished as they outlasted the No. 10 University of Washington Thursday night at Championship Field. The 2-1 victory for the Redhawks was played in front of a record crowd of over 1,800 people.
Photos by Jessie Koon • The Spectator
Seattle University, once again employing a midfield diamond, enjoyed success early on as Cameron Rohani, Jeff Rose, Alex Roldan and Sergio Rivas dictated the tempo in the middle of the park. Rivas, a true freshman, impressed yet again playing just behind Seattle U’s two strikers and caused problems for the Huskies backline with his intelligent movement and quick play on the ball.
It took until the 28th minute for the Redhawks to break through UW’s defense, when Rose switched play to Roldan with a lovely driven pass. Roldan then played into the feet of forward David Olsen, who’s expertly timed back heel was cushioned into the path of Rivas. Rivas made a burst directly at UW’s center backs before slipping the ball back to Olsen, who tucked away his finish exquisitely at the near post.
The massive crowd was quelled shortly afterward; however, as Nick Prasad brought down Washington fullback Justin Fiddes just inside the penalty area. Just minutes after the Redhawks took the lead, Josh Heard struck his penalty kick in the bottom right corner to level the match.
Entering the halftime break after outplaying the Huskies yet sitting level with them on the scoreboard, Fewing was confident that his team’s play would outshine their opponent in the end.
“It’s a long season and you’re going to have to play under pressure,” Fewing said.
And the pressure was soon lifted when Hamza Haddadi’s early second half goal propelled the Redhawks in front and proved to be the game winner. Haddadi, whose goal was his 7th on the year, equaling his tally for last term, truly felt that the entire squad came together to get the result.
“It’s a big win for us, I thought it was a whole team effort,” the forward noted. “We thought we were the better team on the field today and I think it showed.”
After losing Roldan to injury mid way through the second half, the pace of the game was still played to Seattle U’s favor. Crosses kept coming into the box and Olsen and Haddadi proved to be a handful. The Redhawks outshot the Huskies 23-7.
Fewing will now hope that this victory can give his players belief that they stand among the nation’s elite.
“That’s not an easy team to play against [in UW], and if you can be successful against them, you can be successful against most teams in the country,” Fewing said.
Seattle University Men’s soccer continued their streak of great form Sunday as they knocked off No. 13 Oregon State by a score of 2-1. Two late goals, both coming in the last 1:36 of play from captain Kyle Bjornethun, propelled the Redhawks to a 7-2 record heading into WAC conference play this week. After dumping the University of Washington to the same score line just three days prior, Seattle U has now risen to the No. 16 ranking in the first NCAA RPI poll of the year. After being ranked as high as No. 22 last season, this year’s breakthrough into the top 25 is a major accomplishment for a team that has impressed the college soccer realm across the whole country. The Redhawks also come in at No. 15 in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 and No. 16 in the College Soccer News Top 30.
After his two goals against OSU, Bjornethun picked up not just WAC honors, but nationwide recognition. The defender was named both the WAC offensive player of the week on top of being awarded the title of College Soccer News National Player of the Week. Bjornethun now has contributed three goals this season from the back, after another game winner came against Santa Clara earlier in the campaign. And through their first nine games, the Redhawks have conceded just 5 goals while scoring 18.
Seattle U next faces University of Missouri Kansas City in their WAC opener, at home on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.
Chaucer may be reached at [email protected]
