Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Haugen’s 3rd shutout of Pepperdine rewarded

Chris Brown Correspondent

Ashley Haugen swears she doesn’t have a vendetta against the Pepperdine Waves.

She just really, really enjoys beating them.

“Honestly, it’s kind of been a chip on my shoulder,” Gonzaga’s senior goalkeeper said. “But it’s nothing personal, it’s just something that’s always in the back of your mind. You have those teams you love to beat, and for the last four years, that’s been one of them for me.”

It’s hard to blame her. Haugen, named the West Coast Conference co-player of the week Monday, her second player of the week award this season, was recruited heavily by Pepperdine out of Heritage High School in Littleton, Colo. But the Waves dropped their interest in Haugen and decided to go with current goalie Anna Picarelli.

Needless to say, Gonzaga coach Shannon Stiles wasn’t too broken up about the broken relationship between the Waves and her star keeper.

“To get Ashley was a huge get for us,” said Stiles, whose team, at 10-3-2, is off to the best start in program history and cracked the Soccer America Top 25 poll for the first time in team history, debuting at No. 22.

“And the last three years, goalkeeping by her has been the difference (against Pepperdine). … For her to come to GU was a huge thing. I feel great for her on a personal level, for her to vindicate herself.”

Haugen needed to make just two saves Friday as the Bulldogs – who won at No. 11 Pepperdine 1-0 in 2003 and at home against the Waves, then ranked 20th, 2-0 last year – shut out the 10th-ranked Waves for the third straight season.

“It’s tough because I have friends on that team,” Haugen said. “But I just think it’s funny; it’s just one of those ironic things that comes up in sports and I’ve been fortunate to be on the upper end of that. It’s a motivational factor that sticks with you for a while.”

Haugen recorded her seventh shut-out this season, and 18th of her career – both school records – with a 0-0 draw at Loyola Marymount on Sunday.

Arizona protest a no-go

Following Washington State’s 2-1, double-overtime win over No. 19 Arizona, it was thought Wildcats coach Dan Tobias, who had been ejected at the end of regulation, was planning to protest the game to the Pac-10.

With WSU pressing for an equalizer, Alix Rustrum was brought down in the box as time ran out. Referee Jason Panos called the foul just before the final horn blew. Carmen Anderson scored on the penalty kick and then again in the second overtime to give WSU the win.

Tobias, who coached at WSU before moving to Arizona, was ejected while arguing the call. But he couldn’t file a protest, because a coach can’t protest a call made by a referee.

“There is no provision for protesting a referee’s judgment call and that’s what that was,” said Kevin Anderson of the Pac-10 Conference and the conference’s soccer liaison. “He was protesting a call itself.”

Furthermore, the conference isn’t set up to protest the results of the game, regardless of the reason.

“There are no protest mechanisms for soccer,” Anderson said. “There are avenues set up for him to report to the conference office concerning his issues with the referees and that will be handled appropriately.”

The Cougars travel to Los Angeles for a Friday matchup against USC at 3 p.m. and a Sunday date with No. 4 UCLA at 1 p.m.

Pirates on target – again

Whitworth’s men turned in a record performance, scoring 13 goals in two shutout wins over George Fox and Willamette.

With the 7-0 win over the Bruins on Saturday and a 6-0 triumph over the Bearcats on Sunday, both on the road, the Pirates set a team record for most goals in back-to-back games against Northwest Conference opponents.

But what impressed head coach Sean Bushey most wasn’t just the scoring, it was the balanced attack. Eight different players scored during the weekend, with only three registering more than one goal on the weekend, a stat that’s sure to keep the team happy.

“We always like scoring goals,” Bushey said. “It’s something we like to do, and they were teams we needed to beat and we needed to play well. It was exciting because a lot of guys scored, it wasn’t just a couple guys. We had a lot of people chipping in and it was good for the team and the team morale.”

That morale could be important this weekend as the league-leading Pirates (11-1-1, 8-0-1 NWC), who have won 10 straight matches, travel down to the Portland area to take on second-place Linfield before facing Pacific (2-11, 1-8). The Wildcats (7-3-4, 6-0-3) are the only NWC foe Whitworth hasn’t beaten this season, the two playing to a 1-1 tie in late September at Whitworth.

Notes

Idaho, trying to snap a 10-game losing streak, travels to No. 25 Long Beach State today at 3 p.m. before its home finale Sunday at 1 p.m. against Boise State. … Gonzaga’s men and women return home this week, with the men plahying host to always-tough Portland on Thursday at 2 p.m. The women, who’ve played just four of their 15 matches at home, entertain San Diego on Friday at 1 p.m. and No. 5 Santa Clara on Sunday at 11 a.m. There is no word as to whether Martin Field, which has been unplayable for the last two GU home games, has recovered and is playable.