University of Washington
Seattle
Huskies To Face Seattle U In Home Opener
August 26, 2015 | Women's Soccer
SEATTLE – After opening the season with two road games, UW women's soccer will take on cross-town rival Seattle University this Friday, Aug. 28, at Husky Soccer Field in the Huskies' home opener.
“We'll focus on improving from last weekend,” UW head coach Lesle Gallimore said. “I think we can be more goal dangerous and tighten up more defensively. We saw those things against Kentucky and Louisville, and this week, in a short amount of time, we're going to make some tweaks and talk about some specific things where we need to make improvements and we're capable of improving. That's really the goal of every game this time of year – to improve and get a result.”
The Huskies are 9-0 all-time against Seattle, including a 5-0 victory the last time the Redhawks visited Husky Soccer Field two years ago. UW visited Seattle U last season and won 1-0 behind a second-half goal from Kimberly Keever and a saved penalty kick from keeper Megan Kufeld.
The two squads met in 1991-93 and started the crosstown showdown again in 2009, playing every year since. UW has shut out the Redhawks four times and won by one goal five times. The Huskies put up six goals on the Redhawks in 1993 for their largest margin of victory. UW also opened at home against Seattle U in 2009, a 2-1 win for the Huskies.
“We're very excited for our home opener,” freshman midfielder Kelcie Hedge said. “We just want to keep improving and play our best. We know Seattle U is a great team, an NCAA tournament team, but we just want to focus on our '1-0' mentality and play our game.”
The Huskies split their opening weekend against a pair of Kentucky schools, falling to Kentucky 1-0 on Friday, Aug. 21, and beating Louisville 2-1 on Sunday, Aug. 23. After a disappointing loss to the Wildcats, junior midfielder and team captain Amanda Perez scored two goals to lead the Huskies to a comeback win over the Cardinals.
“I think we are attacking really well, but there's always room to improve,” Hedge said. “We've felt good in the midfield, but we continue working to improve on spacing and chemistry going forward. I love the environment and the family we have created here so far this season. We're a work in progress and I can't wait to see the outcome.”
Perez's two goals lead the team, and midfielder Shannon Simon's two assists and nine shots on the season lead the Huskies in both categories. A total of 17 players, including four freshman, have seen playing time in the first two games of 2015.
The Redhawks are coming off a weekend split at home against a pair of Pac-12 schools, losing to WSU 3-1 in the their opener on Aug. 21, and then beating Oregon 1-0 in double overtime on Aug. 23.
“We're both coming off wins, and theirs was an exciting one against the Ducks on Sunday, so we know they're feeling good about their ability to play against teams from the Pac-12 and they don't shy away from those teams on their schedule,” Gallimore said. “Their coaching staff does a great job at Seattle U and this game is never a simple one for us.”
Seattle U won its second straight WAC championship in 2014 and the Redhawks were picked to finish first again in 2015 in the preseason conference coaches poll. Seattle U faced WSU in the first round of the 2014 NCAA tournament and beat the Cougars 2-1, then ended their season with a loss to South Carolina in penalty kicks in the second round to finish with a record of 15-4-3.
Kickoff for Friday's game is set for 4:30 p.m. PT at Husky Soccer Field, immediately followed by UW men's soccer playing its home opener against Gonzaga at 7 p.m. Both games game will be shown regionally on Pac-12 Network Washington.
Follow the action between the Huskies and Redhaws with live updates on Twitter as well as live stats.
The Huskies will host Trinity Western in an exhibition matchup on Sunday, Aug. 30, at 1:00 p.m. PT. Admission is free.
For more on UW women's soccer, follow the Huskies on Facebook and on Snapchat, Periscope, Twitter and Instagram at @UW_WSoccer.
Ticket/Parking Information
Game tickets are available on GoHuskies.com. Adult tickets are $10, youth/senior citizen tickets are $5, and group tickets are available for $5 for groups of 10 or more. Group tickets must be purchased in advance. UW students get in free with a student ID.
The Husky Gold Card is also available for purchase at the ticket booth or at the link above. The Husky Gold Card includes admission to all home events for men's and women's soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, softball and baseball, excluding postseason play. The cost is $50 for adults and $40 for youth/senior citizens.
Paid parking is available for all home games in the E18 lot.
