Dawgs Head To Bay Area For Crucial Pac-12 Matches

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What To Look For
No. 3 Washington (11-3-1, 4-2-1 Pac-12) heads to the Bay Area to face No. 10 Stanford (10-2-3, 3-1-3 Pac-12) and No. 7 California (10-3-1, 4-2-1) in a pair of crucial conference matchups. The Dawgs face the Cardinal on Friday night at 5:00 p.m. and the Golden Bears on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks.

Conference Implications
The Huskies trail UCLA by four points entering the weekend, but the Bruins have played two more games and are off this week. Two wins would give Washington sole possesion of first place in the Pac-12 as the Dawgs control their own destiny to the Pac-12 title. Cal is tied with Washington with 13 points, while Stanford has 12. Each of the Bay Area schools also control their own destiny, making four teams still have hopes of winning a conference title.

Previous Matchups
Jamie Clark is unbeaten at Washington against the Pac-12 Bay Area rivals with a record of 13-0-2. Against Stanford, Washington has a 33-15-4 record all-time, including beating the Cardinal three times last year and once earlier this season. Overall, UW has won 10 straight against Stanford and is unbeaten in their last 12. The Dawgs are 26-17-9 all-time against California, including a 3-2 victory at Husky Soccer Field earlier this year. In the Clark era, UW is 5-0-2 against Cal. The the last loss against the Golden Bears came way back in 2010.

Top Ranking
Washington took over the top ranking in the country on October 7 after sweeping California and Stanford at home to start the conference season. They hung onto the ranking for a second week after tying at Oregon State last on the road, before dropping the spot after a loss to UCLA. The Dawgs had not had a top ranking since taking the No. 1 overall seed into the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame, coached by Jamie Clark's father, Bobby, took over the top spot in the rankings this week.

Last Time Out
Washington has not played since October 26 when it earned its third shutout of the season by defeating San Diego State, 1-0. The game went scoreless all the way to the 85th minute before Cristian Roldan scored the game winner on a header from one of Justin Schmidt's corner kicks. The Dawgs dominated the game, but waited until late to net the winner.

On The Offensive
Washington has been one of the most prolific offensive teams in the country so far this. The Dawgs have scored 33 goals in 15 games, which ranks eighth the nation at 2.20 goals per game. Darwin Jones leads the Huskies with eight goals, which is tied for second in the Pac-12 and 14 points, which is tied for fourth. Mason Robertson and Josh Heard have each chipped in six goals. James Moberg and Justin Schmidt are tied for the team lead with six assists, which is tied for third in the Pac-12. Overall, Washington has had 10 different goal scorers and six with mutiple goals.

Defensive Efforts
The Husky backline has allowed 17 goals so far this season. Justin Schmidt and Michael Gallagher have been mainstays at center back, while Andy Thoma occupies the left fullback spot.Justin Fiddes has earned eight of the last nine starts at right back, but can also play the left side. Charlie Ranahan is back from injury and is an option at right back as well. Washington has allowed just 149 shots or 9.9 per game thus far. Of those 149 shots, only 61 have been on target. In comparison, the Dawgs have taken 269 shots, including 122 on goal. The Husky defense is also noted for getting into the attack with Thoma and Fiddes each having a pair of assists getting up the flanks, while Schmidt has three goals and six assists as an option on set pieces.

In Net
Washington has one of the top goalkeeping tandems in the nation with Spencer Richey and Ryan Herman. Richey returned from a medical redshirt to earn the shutout in the opener against Gonzaga and now has three on the season. Richey has 29 shutouts in his career, while Herman has eight, all last season. Herman took over at goalie last year when Richey was hurt and led the Pac-12 in goals against average, but Richey has taken back his job this season. He has started 12 games for a record of 8-3-1, making 38 saves and allowing just over a goal per game.

Scouting Stanford
The No. 10 Stanford Cardinal are 10-2-3 overall and 3-1-3 in Pac-12 play. Stanford is currently sitting fourth in Pac-12 standings. They have three regular season games remaining against Washington, Oregon State and California in the upcoming two weeks. Brandon Vincent leads all scorers for the Cardinal with six goals on 28 shots for the season. Freshman Corey Baird was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for Oct. 27-Nov. 2. The Cardinal has not lost a match since Oct. 5 against the Huskies who took that meeting with a 3-1 win.

Scouting California
The No. 7 Cal Bears currently tied with the Huskies in second place in Pac-12 standings with a 10-3-1 overall record and a 4-2-1 Pac-12 record. Cal just completed a season sweep of the then-No. 1 ranked UCLA Bruins this past Sunday for the first time since 2006. Connor Hallisey and Setfano Bonomo lead the Bears in scoring with eight goals apiece on the season. Hallisey also tops the charts for the Bears in assists, shots, and shots on goal. The Bears dropped their last meeting with the Huskies 3-2 in Seattle.

Record Watch
Husky goalkeeper Spencer Richey is climbing the all-time UW records in both saves and shutouts. Richey now has 217 career saves, which ranks third at UW and 29 career shutouts, which ranks second. James Moberg is up to 21 assists for his career, which is tied for 10th all-time at Washington.