This past Saturday, men’s soccer head coach Mike Washington earned his 100th career win when Whitman defeated the University of Puget Sound 2-1 in overtime. With Washington entering his 14th year coaching the Missionaries, the head coach had no idea that he had reached the 100-win plateau until the feat was announced after the game.
“When the announcement said ‘I’d like to bring your attention to the middle of the field,’ my thought was that somebody important was there. I’m looking around to see if there was an alum or someone I hadn’t seen in a long time, but then the announcement was made and it was a nice moment,” said Washington.
Win number 100 was certainly one of the more exciting finishes, as Whitman took the full 90 minutes and more before senior Jed Jacobson finished off the Loggers with a sharp-angle strike in the 95th minute. Whitman took the early lead in the 36th minute when sophomore Logan Grime cut around the UPS goalkeeper and finished into an empty net, and the Loggers equalized in the 76th minute, sending the game to overtime.
Coach Washington’s longevity and success can be attributed to the type of relationship that he develops with his players during their time at Whitman. Senior midfielder Andrew Clark has been coached by Washington for four years now and believes the program is lucky to have such a quality coach like Washington.
“He really is a great coach. He deserves all that has come to him. I know all the current players look up to him, and it’s great to see [alumni] come back too, and they are as pumped as ever to see him,” said Clark.
As good of a strategist and motivator that Coach Washington is, one of his greatest coaching attributes resides in the message he sends to his players to create a constantly improving culture.
“We talk to our guys all the time about how it’s their program and the importance of leaving it in better shape than it was when they came in,” said Washington.
With Washington at the helm, the men’s soccer program can look forward to many more successful years to come.
Washington will look for win number 101 when Whitman visits rival Whitworth University Saturday, Oct. 6 in Spokane, Wash. Whitman continues play on the road the following weekend with a trip across the state for rematches with UPS and Pacific Lutheran University, before returning home Oct. 20 and 21 to face off against George Fox University and Pacific University.
