By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The University of Washington men’s soccer team continues to find ways to win to begin the 2022 campaign. After a close contest against Central Arkansas just a few days ago, the Huskies were pushed to victory by sophomore forward Ilijah Paul. Paul’s first ever hat trick ensured a Washington victory, moving the top ranked team in the nation to 3-0 to begin the season.
Lucas Meek tallied an assist in the win for Washington (Photo by Melissa Levin)
Paul produces in a big way
As mentioned in the first match of the year, with several seniors graduated this offseason, Washington needs players to step up this season. Ilijah Paul, a sophomore getting plenty of action so far, has taken that call to action. The forward is the leading Huskies in goals and overall points by a large margin, and is being efficient along the way.
In the win over Utah Valley, Paul only took four total shots, three of them on target. That is all it would take to notch his first career hat trick, and give the Huskies a lead that they only built on. Senior Gio Miglietti put away Washington’s third goal in the 62nd minute, and Paul found the back of the net for a third time, just a minute later. Paul is on great pace to be the new face of this Husky program this season.
Senior Gio Miglietti scored the third goal of the night for Washington (Photo by Melissa Levin)
Second half offensive explosion helps Huskies remain undefeated
While the first half yielded no scoring, and some concern with that, Washington made up for it. The Huskies left the quiet first half behind them, as Washington scored four times in a span of 17 minutes. Interestingly enough, the Huskies took more shots in the first half with eight, but were far more efficient with their six shots in the next half. Washington seemingly narrowed their focus, played their game, and were able to flex their muscle to make sure they found their offense to get the win.
Chris Meyers recorded an assist in the win (Photo by Melissa Levin)
Defense mostly clinical in victory
Outside of a Mark Andros goal in the 77th minute of the match for Utah Valley, the Husky backline did their job. Washington was able to minimize any sort of attack that the Wolverines threw at Husky keeper Sam Fowler, with five shots total. Fowler, a junior, only had to make two saves throughout the night and had a relatively solid night. Surely, the Washington keeper wanted the clean sheet, but overall a solid performance.
What’s next?
Following this win, Washington will head on their first road trip of the 2022 season. It’ll be a one match trip, as the Huskies travel to Florida to take on University of South Florida. Kickoff is at 4:30PM PST on Tuesday, September 6th. Washington will aim to continue their positive form, before returning home for a three-match homestand.
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