Season Comes To An End In The Elite Eight
CARY, N.C. – The #7 Washington Huskies saw their season come to an end in a tight quarterfinals matchup, falling to the #2 Pittsburgh Panthers 3-0. This is the second year in a row Washington has advanced the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, the farthest the Huskies have ever advanced.
Washington finishes the year 12-4-0. It is the fifth consecutive year and ninth time in ten years under head coach Jamie Clark that Washington has won at least 12 games. This is also the fourth time in those ten years that the Huskies have lost four or fewer games, including in two consecutive years.
It was a competitive game for all 90, with two goals in the final two minutes by Pitt stretching the margin. Both those goals came as essentially empty-net goals as Washington pushed everyone forward.
Ryan Sailor sent a headed ball off the crossbar in the 33rd minute on a beautiful play, with Kendall Burks flicking it over his own head to Sailor, who controlled it with his body then fired the header.
The Husky offense came out of the halftime break with some juice, earning a corner just 30 seconds into the second half. Washington had three shots and six chances in the first three minutes of the second half, with Nick Scardina's crosses causing trouble for the Pitt defense. Unfortunately, an offside call put an end to the Husky momentum, with Pitt scoring on a header less than a minute after regaining possession.
The Huskies didn't roll over, redoubling the pressure on Pitt. In the 66th minute, a free kick from Charlie Ostrem came a hair's width away from Burks' head for the tying goal. That was a part of a long stretch of dangerous play for Washington. Lucas Meek nearly had a goal as well, beating the keeper with a shot in the 78th minute that unfortunately hit an offside teammate in front. Between those two chances, Washington allowed just two touches on the defensive half of the field.
33' | Sailor off the crossbar!
Pitt 0
UW 0#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/C1ArlrvRrd— Washington Men's Soccer (@UW_MSoccer) May 10, 2021
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