Shorecrest grad a strong part of Husky men’s soccer team

Shorecrest graduate and UW Right back Michael Harris
and his trademark "flip throw" in the October 18 game
against San Diego State, UW won 5-3
Photo by Daniel Rubens

Lobos overcome UW in challenging NCAA Tournament game

By Daniel Rubens, UW News Lab

Neither Washington nor New Mexico was prepared for the conditions they faced in Saturday night’s NCAA Tournament Elite Eight matchup. A kickoff temperature of 27 degrees in Seattle made the playing surface rock hard, which caused problems for both sides. 

Integral to the team’s success this season has been Michael Harris of Shoreline, team captain and a graduate of Shorecrest High School. He has led the Pac-12 in assists this year with his trademark “flip-throw,” where he places the ball on the ground for a throw in and flips over it, sending it far downfield.

But on this cold night, even Harris’ substantial skills were not enough. In the end, it was visiting New Mexico who was able to adjust first, and they will move on because of it.

The visiting Lobos got a 37th minute goal from Ben McKendry and made it stand up through heavy pressure from Washington, and they celebrated a 1-0 victory on the Huskies’ home field.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our team,” New Mexico coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “We came into a real challenging situation with the field, and we were really good in the first half. I thought we were very good on both sides of the ball today.” 

Fishbein said that before the game, his assistant coaches went out to a store and bought pairs of turf shoes for the Lobos, instead of the usual cleats that soccer players typically wear. 

The decision paid off, as New Mexico dominated throughout the entire first half. The Lobos outshot the UW 10-1 and found their way onto the score sheet when McKendry tapped home a pass from Oniel Fisher that found its way through a sea of UW defenders.

UW coach Jamie Clark, who served as an assistant for Fishbein at New Mexico for four seasons, made the same change to turf shoes at halftime, but it was too late for the Huskies. Despite a much improved second half in which they were able to generate seven shots, the Huskies weren’t able to put one in the back of the net.

Throughout the match, the Huskies were able to put balls into the box thanks to the special “flip-throw” of right back Harris, but they couldn’t turn one in, as they did in last week’s 1-0 win over Stanford that got the Huskies to the Elite Eight.

“The weather did affect the throw-ins,” Clark said. “It was just a bad night, it was not going to be a pretty night of soccer. Once we could compete evenly with them, it became just a battle. It was a tough night all around.”

The loss knocks the second-seeded Huskies out of the NCAA Tournament and ends the UW careers of both captains, center back Taylor Peay as well as Harris. 

During his senior season, Harris led the Pac-12 with nine assists and was a second-team all-conference selection. Clark said that both of his star defenders will be missed.

“Those guys have seen a huge transition through,” Clark said. “We’ve thrown them challenges, and they were part of a culture that wasn’t a winning culture, and they had to change a lot of pieces. They had to lead a complete transition, and they did it, and they bought in.”

Next up for New Mexico will be a trip the College Cup next weekend in Philadelphia, where they will match up against a Notre Dame team coached by Bobby Clark, Jamie’s father. This year, the father-son matchup just was not meant to be.

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DANIEL RUBENS is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.