Western Washington University men’s soccer beat the University of Washington Huskies 1-0 in a sunny spring scrimmage at Husky Soccer Stadium on Saturday, April 12.
“Lots of credit to UW, they’re a very good program and we’re always grateful for opportunities to play them this time of the year,” Western assistant coach Chuck Pitts said. “It is a very good test for our program and for our guys.”
The first half ended scoreless despite both teams having good attacking chances. Both teams also had solid defense and controlled the ball well.
“At halftime, we talked about where we cannot lose the ball,” senior captain Joar Tidblom said. “In the middle of the field it could be bad if we lose the ball, and when we lose the ball, we have to stop the counter attack.”
Momentum shifted in the second half when Western defender Henry Catlin passed the ball into the box for teammate and captain Edgar “Cuauh” Serrano to slot the ball into the back of the net. As the team ran to the corner to celebrate, cheers were heard from the Western fans that made the trip down to Seattle.
“[Catlin] broke the line and I saw the gap near post and I was able to get my touch on it, and maybe a lucky deflection from a defender too,” Serrano said. “At the end of the day, it went in the back of the net, very happy and very proud of the boys and the big W today.”
With 10 minutes left in the game, UW was awarded a penalty kick after Tidblom fouled a UW striker. Western sophomore goalkeeper Quinn Sappington leaped to the right and saved the shot to keep UW scoreless.
“Credit to Quinn, what a f*****g save,” Serrano said. “Collectively we all had a very good game.”
The spring season is a time for teams to experiment with different tactics and play against teams that they would normally not play in the fall.
“Spring season is an opportunity for a lot of players to get experience, get comfortable with each other and try new things moving into the fall,” Tidblom said. “Playing against these teams, it’s always fun to try that and good players to play against and it’s a really good opportunity.”
The spring season are not reported and no statistics are tracked. It's a chance to prepare for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) regular season games in the fall.
“GNAC games are a little bit different in other ways,” Tidblom said. “They could be more tense and have more rivalry, but I think it is always fun to play against these teams.”
Western has played two spring matches so far and has three left to play. Their final matches are against Seattle University, Snohomish United and Ballard Football Club to finish off the spring season.
“Fitness and health are definitely the most important things for the team at the moment,” Pitts said. “Giving the guys a little bit of a chance to rest and recover and get healthy going into those games because we have a little bit of time now, but also continuing to improve and work on the things that we’ve been working on in training.”
Brady Rufner (he/him) is a sports and recreation reporter for The Front. He is in his first year at Western and is majoring in visual journalism. When he isn’t covering stories or taking photos, he is usually running, skiing, or playing soccer. You can reach him at bradyrufner.thefront@gmail.com.
