What started as a hopeful night for the Huskies ended in heartbreak Friday when the men’s soccer team lost 1-0 to Oregon State. The Dawgs came out strong in the first half, outplaying and out-shooting the Beavers. Washington held an 8-2 advantage in shots and a 4-0 advantage in corner kicks at the 45-minute mark, but the score remained dead even.

The Huskies’ best chance to score during the game came early in the 17th minute of play. Shortly before the first goal, freshman Brent Richards fired a shot on goal that was saved, then attempted a rebound while OSU goalkeeper Steve Spangler was still down. The shot went wide right of the far post.

“I thought we worked as hard as we had for quite a while in the first half,” UW coach Dean Wurzberger said of early play. “But we couldn’t sustain it.”

The second half for the Dawgs was a completely different story.

“We wore ourselves out,” Wurzberger said. “In the second half we started losing our ability to get to the ball.”

Although the overall statistics showed the Huskies stayed ahead of the Beavers in shots and corners, OSU doubled Washington’s attempts to score, 6-3, in the final 45 minutes of the game. The attempts paid off for the Beavers when Oregon State’s Ryan Callahan earned a penalty kick and converted it to a goal in the 65th minute.

The Huskies continued to fight during the final moments of the contest and forced Spangler to make four saves. But, in the end, they couldn’t get one past him, resulting in OSU escaping with the win.

“It’s too bad we couldn’t have a better outcome, but I don’t regret anything,” said senior Raphael Cox, who played in his final game as a Husky. “We played hard, and that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

Reach reporter Sheena Nguyen at sports@dailyuw.com.