Hall wins MVP as Huskies split weekend

A goal in the 77th minute by junior forward Katy Dowling proved to be the deciding factor in the Washington women's soccer team's 1-0 victory over New Mexico in the final game of the Pac-10/Mountain West Challenge at Husky Soccer Field last Friday.

Melissa Beal recorded her team-high third assist of the season on the goal, which Dowling tucked into the lower right corner from six yards out. The goal was Dowling's second of the season, and Washington's 11th as a team"which is already three more than last season's output of eight.

The Huskies, who placed second in the tournament, improved their record to 5-5-0 despite being outshot 15-11 by the Lobos.

"New Mexico had a difficult style of play to play against, because they're a tall, physical team," explained coach Lesle Gallimore. "We got some chances and stuck one. It's great."

Again, the UW's defense was impressive. Senior goalkeeper Kelsey Rasmussen recorded her third shutout of the season. Rasmussen racked up seven saves on the night, including a terrific, win-preserving stop on an 85th minute blast from point-blank range.

"Kelsey bounced back really well tonight," said Gallimore. "That one that hit the post early was a little bit of a gift for us, but we"ve had our share of bad bounces this season."

Gallimore was referring to New Mexico's Kristine Sweat's 13th minute miss off the goalpost.

"The defense has looked great, they're really coming together," praised Gallimore. "We didn"t have to face any breakaways, and I"m really proud of how they played defensively."

Washington played so well defensively that sophomore defender Katie Hall was named as the tournament's defensive MVP.

"Everybody worked hard as a team, and we all bring out the best in each other," said Hall, who was also named to the All-Ohio State Tournament team earlier in the season. "It's kind of cool."

The UW visits fifth-ranked Portland on Friday, September 29, in their final non-conference tilt of the season.

Thursday vs. Brigham Young

Thanks to a goal off a free kick from Brooke Bowman in the 35th minute, BYU edged the Washington women's soccer team 1-0 in the second game of the Pac-10/Mountain West challenge at the Husky Soccer Field last Thursday.

The goal, assisted by Katie Larkin came after a violation by Husky goalkeeper Kelsey Rasmussen, who illegally touched a backwards pass from a teammate with her hands. Larkin softly tapped the ball to Bowman, who slammed it home from 12 yards out for the game's lone score.

Bowman's goal was her third of the season, tying Larkin for the BYU team-high.

"I thought tonight was a well-played, hard fought game played by two very good teams," said Washington coach Lesle Gallimore. "We gave up clearly a poor goal, which never should have happened, but we rebounded very, very well in the second half."

During that second half, Washington produced a 14-4 shot advantage over the Cougars, and even though it did not result in a goal the Huskies were encouraged.

"We clearly created enough chances to even it out, and it's heartbreaking because our team played well enough tonight to win that game," Gallimore said.

She went on to praise the improvement shown by her team in the second period.

"I thought the second half we shut them down defensively. The other keeper (Erika Woodbury, who had eight saves on the night) came up with a couple of big saves, and we got unlucky in front of the goal a couple of times, but that"ll come."

Though Gallimore expressed frustration and disappointment over the outcome of a game that the Huskies had several chances to take control of, she is pleased with the progression shown by this team thus far.

"Our goal is obviously to win games, but more importantly the improvement that this team has shown over the last couple games"it doesn't show on the scoreboard, but I think it's going to start," she said. "This team has a mindset to win and they're coming together as a group. I couldn"t be more pleased with where we are in our season. This was a really disappointing game because we played well enough to win."

Contributing writer Christian Caple: develop@thedaily.washington.edu