The battle of the Pac-10 leaders took place last weekend as the Washington men’s soccer team (8-5-2, 3-2-2 Pac-10) played the UCLA Bruins (6-4-5, 4-1-1 Pac-10) Friday to fight for sole possession of the top spot in the conference.

Although the Huskies had possession throughout the game, especially during the second half, it was UCLA’s substitutions that made all the difference.

When Husky freshman Brent Richards missed an opportunity to score during the 24th minute of play, firing a shot that went just left of the goalpost, the Bruins regained possession and took it all the way to score.

Richards still led the offense with six shots that night, but in the end, it didn’t seem to matter how many scoring attempts were made as the Huskies fell to the Bruins 2-0.

This was the second time Washington has been shut out all season.

In the second game of the weekend against San Diego State (3-7-3, 1-2-3 Pac-10) on Sunday, it was clear the Huskies were fighting for redemption.

It took less than three minutes from when the game clock started for the Huskies to score. The freshman tandem of Brent Richards and Dylan Tucker-Gangnes were at it again: Richards received an assist from Tucker-Gangnes to fire a blazing shot between the Aztec goalie’s legs for the point.

The Aztecs found the equalizer later in the first half when a throw-in caused a jumble of players to congregate, allowing SDSU’s Nick Cardenas to head the ball to teammate Jamel Wallace for the shot.

The teams stayed close in the second half when the Aztecs and Huskies both scored.

They played through two overtimes, but neither team was able to score, ending in a tie.

“All things considered, I’m very pleased with their effort today,” Washington soccer coach Dean Wurzberger said.

The Huskies have a bye week next weekend and face off against Stanford and Cal the following week.

“We’re still in the running for both the conference and an at-large bid for the NCAA’s,” Wurzberger added. “It’ll be a good chance for us to get rested up and play a better finish to the season.”

Reach reporter Sheena Nguyen at sports@dailyuw.com.