As sheets of rain poured onto the pitch at Husky Soccer Field, Washington (4-5-6, 1-1-4) knew its chances at winning the conference were on the line at the start of yet another overtime. The Huskies could not hold a 1-0 lead in the first half and gave up a goal, from 20 yards out, to junior forward Andrew Wiedeman of Cal (8-8-1, 2-6-1) in the 35th minute.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw. On Sunday, the Huskies, again, could not find the back of the net in a physical 0-0 draw at home against No. 18 Stanford (10-4-2, 4-3-2).

A rejuvenated Washington team appeared dominant against Cal early. Junior midfielder Brad Keller scored a goal in the 12th minute off a cross from junior midfielder Matt Van Houten.

“I just knew that we needed a goal early, and [I] put it in the net,” said Keller.

Washington is a team desperate for scoring.

But the Husky defense allowed an equalizing goal later in the half to Wiedeman of Cal.

The Huskies only have one Pac-10 victory on a résumé that also has just one in-conference loss, which came at Oregon State on Oct. 17.

“Really impressed with their effort, we’re still in it, we can still look forward to winning our next game,” said head coach Dean Wurzberger. “But I’ve never had a team that’s had four conference draws, so it’s something new for us.”

Said Keller: “We dominated here and there, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to put the ball in the back of the net to win games.”

The two draws this weekend make it six this season for Washington, which ties a school record. Out of the six draws, four have come in-conference, establishing a new record for Washington.

“We outplayed them and outshot them,” said sophomore defender Tyler Klein. “Just the goals didn’t fall, and that’s the unfortunate part about our sport; some games you dominate, and it just doesn’t happen. But if we keep it up, it will go our way eventually. We just need a little luck.”

Washington outshot Stanford 24-7 in Sunday’s match, and it took nine corners while the Cardinal managed only two. Yet the Huskies could not put away their chances. One of them came literally inches from finding the back of the net, a shot by sophomore defender Jamie Finch that bounced off the cross bar.

“We shut down a rhythm team that’s been on a roll. They just beat UCLA and Oregon State,” said Wurzberger. “They never got in rhythm with us because we were so aggressive defensively.”

Sunday’s match was a physical battle that saw six yellow cards handed out. Near the end of the first half, senior defender Taylor Hoss was caught from behind by junior forward Daniel Leon. Both players went to the ground and then came up swinging. Again in the 85th minute, Klein was streaking down the sideline and got tangled up with senior midfielder T.J. Novak. Both players grabbed jersey and got into a shoving match. However, the officials kept the game under control, constantly stopping play for foul calls and making sure that the game never turned into an all-out brawl.

“It’s high emotion, especially in these kind of games where you’re tied up,” said Klein. “You know it’s just part of the game. After the game you give the guy a big hug, you know. But, just during the game, it happens.”

The Huskies’ next match comes on the road this Friday against No. 24 San Diego State (6-4-5, 3-2-2).

“I’m looking forward to next week,” said Wurzberger. “I know we’re just a goal away from a turn in destiny for us, so we’ll look for the goal that we didn’t get, once again, in San Diego on Friday.”

Reach reporter Mark Morgan at sports@dailyuw.com.