#SundayGoals: No. 21 San Diego State at No. 11 Washington
Who: No. 21 San Diego State at No. 11 Washington
On the call: Rich Burk and Cobi Jones
On the home side: No. 11 Washington (13-4-0, 6-2-0 in Pac-12 play)
With a big win Thursday against UCLA, No. 11 Washington remains in the running for the Pac-12 title. Washington, who trails No. 9 Stanford by four points in the conference standings, has to win both of their next two games and rely on Stanford losing their last game, to claim the Pac-12 title. A win again San Diego State in today’s #SundayGoals keeps the Huskies in the running, while a loss keeps them behind the Cardinal.
Washington, who is on a six game win streak, lost to San Diego state in the first half of conference play in over time. However, the Huskies are 15-5-8 all-time against the Aztecs.
Huskies to watch:
Auden Schilder: Named Conference Player of the Week for the first time, the redshirt junior goalkeeper has recorded five shutouts on the season -- six in his career-- and earned a career-high nine saves against UCLA Thursday night.
Justin Schmidt: The redshirt senior defender was placed on the College Soccer News’ National Team of the week for his defensive performance in last weekend’s matchups. Schmidt has been key for the Huskies all season, most notably last Sunday when the Huskies handed Stanford their first Conference loss in a shutout, making the race for the Pac-12 title with the Cardinal even closer.
Henry Wingo: The junior midfielder, who is makes Top-Drawer Soccer’s Top 100 college player’s list, recorded a huge goal for the Huskies in their 1-0 win Thursday against UCLA. Wingo, who has appeared in 15 of Washington's 18 games and has played a total of 1299 minutes so far this season, has one goal on the season and has been vital to the Huskies success so far.
On the visiting side: No. 21 San Diego State (8-4-4, 3-3-2 in Pac-12 play)
The Aztecs travel to Seattle after a tough overtime loss against unranked Oregon State on Thursday. San Diego State makes their ninth appearance in 10 weeks in the NSCAA college soccer team rankings. The Aztecs sit at third in the conference with two games left to play.
The Aztecs played 98 minutes Thursday night in Corvallis. The Aztecs, who were down 2-0 at half, found a way to equalize off two corner kicks to push the game into over-time. The tie goal came in the 85th minute of regulation- proving once again this season that the Aztecs won’t go down without a fight.
Aztecs to watch:
Adam Allmaras: The redshirt junior goalkeeper tallies two Conference Player of the Week awards this season. Allmaras tied his season high seven saves last weekend against Stanford, which snapped the Cardinal’s five-match win streak. The goalkeeper is third in the nation with an .870 save percentage and is ranked 10th with a .563 goals against average -- both records top the conference. The SDSU redshirt junior leads the Pac-12 with 60 saves and nine shutouts.
Travis Nicklaw: The redshirt senior forward leads his team with five goals and ten points and is 14th in the country and tied for the top spot in the conference with four game-winning goals -- his most recent came against Cal on October 23. His latest goal came Thursday against Oregon State, when he put the Aztecs on the board in the 77th minute. Like Allmaras, Nicklaw earned Conference Player of the Week earlier this season.
Jeroen Meefout: The junior forward headed into the week tied for fifth in the Pac-12 with four goals on the year. Meefout is second on the team with nine points. Meefout, too, earned Conference Player of the Week -- his coming in the third week of conference play.
Stories to watch
Washington will be doing everything they can to earn a win in hopes to keep their Pac-12 Title dreams realistic -- a title they have not held since 2013. The Aztecs are 8-0-2 this season when leading in a match but the Huskies have only lost one game at home this season.
Heading into the final week of conference play, both teams look for a win in order to improve their RPI going into the NCAA tournament. San Diego State sits at No. 32 in the RPI while Washington sits at the No. 3 spot.
Look for this game to be one of the best #SundayGoals we have seen all season, as both teams have a lot to gain with a win and are both looking for finish out the end of conference play on a high note.