SEATTLE — The didn’t get the win but they did make history. On Sunday, the University of Washington’s men's soccer team faced Clemson in the NCAA championship game, marking the first appearance in the program’s history.
Inside Alaska Airlines Arena the most dedicated UW soccer fans attended a viewing party with the shared hope of watching the Huskies bring home a championship.
“It is such a big deal it’s so rare for a Washington team to get this far, let alone a soccer team, and so I think they’re the first team in women’s and men’s soccer to get to the college cup especially the final,” said recent UW graduate and former collegiate soccer player Kaylene Pang.
To get to the championship the men’s team put up 18 wins in a season - far from average. Their season ended with a 18-2-2 record.
“As a student athlete during COVID, it was really hard for us to adjust to new COVID protocols and being off campus for such a long time and not being able to compete as normal; so getting to see all your hard work pay off at the end of the year – where a lot of us are training alone – it’s a really big deal,” Pang added.
The Dawgs trailed early and spent the majority of the match trying to come back from a two goal deficit.
“Soccer games are long and – I think these guys have played with heart all season long and I’m sure they will continue to do so in this game,” said UW Alumni Angie Holmes.
Despite many second half opportunities and close calls they couldn’t quite do it. Tears were shed on the field while fans quietly made their way home.
Though as cliché as it may sound, the team won simply by playing.
“For us, we’re big sports fans so it was rough not being able to see sports for a year and I think it’s just made it so much more excited to be back and be able to watch these kids play and I think it was super hard for the athletes to not be able to do what they love and do what they worked so hard for,” Holmes said.
