Dogfight In Seattle On Sunday
10/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 23, 2003
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Sun., Oct. 26 - at Washington, 2 p.m.
BULLDOGS IN BATTLE OF DOGS: Gonzaga University plays its final non-conference match of the season Sunday when the Bulldogs travel to the University of Washington for a Battle of the Dogs. Both teams enter the fray coming off loses last week, Gonzaga falling 2-1 on the road at No. 8 Santa Clara University, while the then-7th-ranked Huskies were defeated on the road at Oregon State University 3-1.
FIRST MEETING SINCE 2000: Gonzaga University and the University of Washington will be renewing their dogfight for the first time since the 2000 campaign when the two meet on Sunday. The Huskies won that match 3-0 in Seattle. The teams were scheduled to meet in 2001, but the 9/11 tragedy cancelled that contest and the teams were not able to re-schedule the match that season. The teams did not meet last year.
BULLDOGS LOOK FOR WIN: It's been a one-sided dog fight to this point between Gonzaga University and the University of Washington, the Huskies holding a 16-0-1 record in the series that dates back to 1981. The tie came in Spokane in 1999, a 2-2 deadlock. One of the most memorable matches in the series came in 1997 when the Huskies escaped with a 1-0 win, Jeff McAllister's penalty kick in the final minute of play hitting the top corner of the post/crossbar and bounding over the net.
HUSKIES RANKED: Even though the University of Washington lost last weekend, the Huskies remain ranked in a pair of polls. The Dawgs are ranked 12th in the both the Soccer America and Soccer Times polls, and 11th in the College Soccer News rankings. Washington, 7th in the NSCAA/adidas Coaches Poll last week, fell out of the Top 25 this week.
BUCK SHAW JINX: The Buck Shaw Stadium jinx continued for Gonzaga University last Saturday night, host Santa Clara University taking a 2-1 victory. The Bulldogs played the final 57:56 with a man advantage following a red card against SCU but Gonzaga was unable to generate a shot on goal despite the odd-man situation. Gonzaga is 0-5-1 in six trips to Buck Shaw.
MORE INJURIES: Gonzaga University's defense, already hobbled, suffered another blow against Santa Clara University when Daniel Scott suffered a sprained ankle. His status for Sunday is questionable. The freshman from Haiku, Hawai'i had started the past two games for the Bulldogs after injuries to Robert Anderson, Jon Baune, Charles Wells and Grayson Tenney had depleted the Gonzaga defense. Baune is the only one who did not miss any games because of his injury, while Anderson, Tenney and Wells were still sidelined last weekend against Santa Clara University. Their status is still questionable for Sunday's match at the University of
RANKED FOES: For the second straight match Gonzaga University will be playing a ranked team. Santa Clara University was ranked 8th last week Gonzaga University will be playing its first ranked foe of the season when the Bulldogs visit 13th-ranked Santa Clara University on Saturday. Gonzaga is 12-21-3 all-time against ranked teams. The Bulldogs faced five Top 25 teams in 2002 and went 1-4-0, the lone win over 15th-ranked and fellow West Coast Conference combatant University of San Diego.
BULLDOGS DOT SCORING RACE: Arni Ingi Pjetursson scored the lone Gonzaga University goal last Saturday, moving him into a tie for second place in the West Coast Conference scoring race with Alejandro Salazar of the University of Portland with 15 points. Pjetursson has evenly spread his points between five goals and five assists. Kevin Novak of Loyola Marymount University continues to lead the WCC with 19 points coming on the strength of a conference-leading nine goals and one assist. Pjetursson and teammate Scott Yuska are tied for fourth in goals with Santa Clara's Will Weatherly with five each.
WHO'S IN GOAL? Gonzaga University head coach Einar Thorarinsson is uncertain who his starting keeper will be Sunday against the University of Washington. Freshman Kris Wright of Spokane got his third start of the season and his first West Coast Conference start last Saturday in Santa Clara University's 2-1 victory. Freshman Vito Higgins played the WCC opener, a 3-2 overtime setback to the University of Portland. "Nobody has taken control of the position," Thorarinsson said. "We believed we had to get Kris some more playing time. I think the position is currently up for grabs."
FALL BACK: Don't forget to set clocks back one hour Sunday morning (or, if you prefer, Saturday night before going to bed) as Daylight Savings Time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday and standard time begins. The common rule is "spring ahead, fall back" in terms of which way to set the clock.
LIVE ON THE INTERNET: All Gonzaga University home matches as well as all West Coast Conference road matches will be available via Livestats on the Internet at http://www.gozags.com. Some non-conference matches may also be available. Check the Gonzaga web site for all Livestats links.
THE THORARINSSON TALE OF THE TAPE: Gonzaga University head coach Einar Thorarinsson is 78-59-10 in his ninth season with the Bulldogs. His overall record is 197-111-23 that includes nine seasons across town at Whitworth College. After going 3-10-2 in his first season of 1995, the Bulldogs have had winning seasons in six of the last season seasons under Thorarinsson. His teams led the West Coast Conference in wins with a 14-4-0 record in 1997 and 12-4-2 mark in 1998, capturing WCC co-championships in each of those seasons. The Bulldogs were 9-5-2 in 2001, making their inaugural College Cup appearance.
