SEATTLE — When Annie Sittauer and Lindsey Bos committed to play women’s soccer at the University of Washington nine months ago, they planned on spending four years building up memories of a lifetime.
Little did the Snohomish County duo know that their biggest moment would come a few weeks into their freshman year.
Sittauer and Bos could probably play 50 more years of college soccer and never see what they saw last Sunday afternoon. Bos was in the middle of the action, and Sittauer was on the sideline, when the Huskies played one of the most memorable games in program history, a 2-1 NCAA tournament victory over second-ranked University of Portland that included 110 minutes of soccer followed by 22 penalty kicks in a shootout that the Huskies won 10-9.
“It was definitely one of the most nerve-wracking, but exciting and rewarding, games,” said Bos, a freshman from Snohomish who went to Archbishop Murphy High School.
So what can the Huskies do for an encore? They could start by beating UC Irvine in a Sweet 16 match this afternoon in California and advancing to the Elite Eight for only the second time in program history.
“We’ll see as we get further into the tournament (if the Huskies can top it),” said Sittauer, an Everett High grad, “but we’ll see. I know I want to top it.”
When it comes to drama, the Huskies will have a hard time topping last weekend’s performance.
UW (12-8-1) and Portland (18-1-2) played to a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes and played two 10-minute overtimes without scoring a goal, with the Pilots out-shooting the Huskies 27-6 and UW goalkeeper Jorde Lafontaine-Kussman adding to the tension with 13 saves.
The two teams moved on to a penalty-kick shootout, beginning with a best-of-5 format. UW took a quick 2-1 lead when Portland missed its second shot, but the Huskies followed with a miss of their own before the first PK shootout ended in a 4-4 tie.
The two teams alternated penalty kicks in a sudden-death format. One by one, the teams chose players to shoot. Bos was UW’s second player to step into the box,
“I was extremely nervous,” she said. “(Before the kick) I was holding (teammate Kelli Stewart’s) hand like my life depended on it. It’s a good thing she was next to me.”
Bos made her shot, but the Pilots responded with a goal of their own.
Stewart, a junior from Mukilteo who played at Kamiak High School, got a turn and made her PK. Portland scored to tie the score again.
UW coach Lesle Gallimore chose Lafontaine-Kussman, her goalkeeper, to take the next shot. The junior scored to put UW ahead 8-7, but Portland responded with a goal of its own on the next attempt.
Sittauer, who scored a goal in a first-round win over Oklahoma, had to watch from the sidelines as the drama built.
“It was one of the most intense experiences I’ve ever experienced,” she said. “I was having a panic attack watching.”
After both teams made another PK, Huskies junior Kate Deines stepped in for her second attempt. She scored, and Lafontaine-Kussman knocked away an attempt from Portland’s Jessica Tsao to clinch UW’s victory.
“It was almost surreal,” Stewart said of the final shot going wide. “It happened so fast. You’re on edge for so long, thinking the game is going to be over for so long. When it was over, it was cool.”
Gallimore called it one of the most memorable matches she’s ever seen.
“In 17 years here,” she said, “it was top five — for sure.”
Portland had beaten UW five consecutive times, including a victory that knocked the Huskies out of last year’s tournament, so revenge was long overdue.
“That was the best part, the history,” Stewart said. “The games have been so close, and it’s always a battle. To finally come out on top was rewarding.”
When asked whether she’s ever been a part of something like that, Stewart laughed.
“No way,” she said. “That doesn’t happen very often. It’s straight from the movies. You couldn’t have scripted that any better. But it was fun. A lot of fun.”
It was quite a day at the pitch. And today, the Huskies will try to top it.
They might never be able to do that, no matter how long the program is going.
“That’s definitely going to be one of the most memorable games, I think,” Bos said.
Asked whether the Huskies could be in for another game like that one, Stewart said: “I don’t know if that’s possible. The chance of that … It was pretty cool to be a part of.”
GRAFIC:
UW women’s soccer (11-8-1) vs. UC Irvine (19-2-2)
NCAA tournament
Third-round match
Today, 6 p.m.
Irvine, Calif.
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