Huskies Host Utes For Breast Cancer Awareness Match

Thursday, October 19

Seattle, WA

4:00 PM

University of Washington

Utah

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October 18, 2023 | Women's Soccer

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SEATTLE – Playing in front of its home crowd for the first time since the beginning of the month, Washington kicks off the first of two home matches during the week on Thursday, hosting Utah at Husky Soccer Stadium for a 4 p.m. PT kick.

It will be the Huskies' annual Breast Cancer Awareness match, with the Dawgs sporting special pink warm up shirts and ribbons.

Thursday's match will be available on your television set on the Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Washington and Pac-12 Mountain. Links to live coverage can be found above.

SCOUTING UTAH
The Utes are in their third season under the direction of head coach Hideki Nakada, who made the intra-conference move to Salt Lake City after seven seasons as an assistant coach at Stanford. Nakada has guided Utah to an improved win total in both of his first two seasons.

The Utes enter Thursday's match .500 on the campaign at 5-5-5, including a 1-3-2 mark in Pac-12 play. Utah is winless in its last three matches but boasts an impressive 4-1-4 record in road matches this season.

The Utes are led offensively by senior forward and former Husky Katie O'Kane, who has scored seven times in 2023 after posting just three goals total in her first three collegiate seasons. Graduate student midfielder Courtney Brown is Utah's primary playmaker with four assists on the season.

In goal, junior Kasey Wardle has started 10 matches, posting a 1.74 goals against average with a .782 save percentage. Meanwhile, junior Evelyn Vitali has made five starts, boasting a 1.15 GAA and a .786 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
Thanks to last season's dramatic late winner, Washington holds a slim 8-7-1 advantage in the all-time series with Utah, including a 5-2-0 mark in seattle. The Huskies have claimed seven of the 12 meetings with Utah since the Utes joined the Pac-12 in 2011.

LAST MEETING (9/29/22)
SEATTLE - After relinquishing an early lead, Washington pulled out a late winner, stunning Utah 3-2 behind Shae Holmes' 87th goal at Husky Soccer Stadium.

Along with Holmes, fellow veteran Summer Yates starred in the affair for the Huskies, bagging the third brace of her career. Karlee Stueckle and McKenzie Weinert recorded two assists apiece on the night.

It took Yates just over five minutes to push the Huskies in front, finding the far corner after Weinert slipped in a through ball to beat the Ute back line.

In the 15th minute, Stueckle and Weinert teamed up again to setup Yates. Meeting Stueckle's service to the back post, Weinert headed the ball into the middle of the 18-yard box and Yates charged in to meet it, hitting a half volley with her left to bulge the back of the net.

While Utah pulled a goal back in the 27th minute, Washington stayed on the offensive and held a 2-1 lead heading into the halftime break.

The Huskies protected their lead all the way until the 85th minute, when Madeline Vergura's cross sailed over Olivia Juarez's head and into the side netting, leveling the score at two goals apiece.

That score would last just over two minutes. After the Utes committed a late foul on the right wing, Holmes sent in a curling ball and tucked it inside the upper 90, sending both her teammates and the packed stands into a frenzy.

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
Thursday's affair is Washington's annual Breast Cancer Awareness match, with the Huskies donning special pink warm up shirts and ribbons.

MONUMENTAL ROAD POINT
Washington's 1-1 draw at No. 2 Stanford was no ordinary tie. The result gave the Huskies their first point against the Cardinal since 2004, snapping a 19-match losing streak to Stanford.

While it took a total team effort to get the job done, two Huskies were noted for their performances for the week. Scoring the opening goal just over five minutes into the contest, Kelsey Branson was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts. Meanwhile, UW keeper Olivia Juarez garnered Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week plaudets after registering a career-high 12 saves, tied for seventh in a single match in program history. Juarez was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week.

ON FIRE
Kelsey Branson's sixth-minute goal on The Farm was her third in the last three matches, her first three goals of the season. Branson is the first Husky to score in three consecutive matches since Kennedy Smith in 2019.

WHAT'S GOOD, HOLMES?
Jace Holmes has been awarded an assist on five of Washington's last six goals, making up all five of the defender's assists for the season. Those five assists are good for a tie for the third most in the Pac-12.

SPREADING THE LOVE
The Huskies have gotten their offensive production from a variety of different places this season, with 11 different players recording at least one goal.

WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
After playing 29 total minutes as a freshman a year ago, defender Lucy Newlin has been subbed out of just two matches this season, leading UW with 1,233 minutes.

SET IT UP, KNOCK IT DOWN
12 of Washington's 24 goals this season have come off of set pieces, with five goals coming as the result of corner kicks, three being scored off of free kicks and all four penalties being converted. UW's four penalty kick conversions are tied for the eighth most in the nation.

YOU CAN FIND ME IN DA CLUB
Among Washington's 15 newcomers for the 2023 season is sophomore Avery Nguyen, who was offered a roster spot during preseason training after a trial. A native of the Kansas City metro area and a former standout for Olathe Northwest High School and Sporting Blue Valley, Nguyen led the UW club team in scoring as a college freshman in 2022.

Playing a key role for the Huskies for most of the season, including making a pair of starts, Nguyen has appeared in 10 contests for the Huskies this season.

YOUNG GUNS
Washington has started at least three true freshmen in every match this season, including a pair of starting XIs that featured five rookies. Aside from keepers, all but 10 starts this season for the Huskies have been made by freshmen and sophomores. 18 of UW's 24 goals in 2023 have been scored by underclassmen.

AYE PAPI!
Washington junior Ioanna Papatheodorou has been ranked at No. 92 in TopDrawerSoccer's annual preseason player rankings. It is the first time that the Greek international has been ranked by the service. It is the fourth-straight season that the Huskies have had a player ranked in the top-100 in the preseason rankings.

FRESH FACES
With 10 of 11 primary starters gone from the 2022 roster, Washington is relying on a bevy of newcomers and returners who played in a reserve role a season ago to replace the production lost.

Gone from the 2022 roster are 27-of-37 goals (73.0%), 31-of-38 assists (81.6%), 85-of-112 points (75.9%), 252-of-312 shots (80.8%) and 43-of-46 saves (93.5%).

Of the 28 players on the Huskies' roster, just seven are upperclassmen. U Dub boasts 11 freshmen and 10 sophomores on its squad list. Outside of the 17 matches started by Kalea Eichenberger at Cal State Bakersfield in 2022, those 21 underclassmen have recorded just 27 collegiate starts collectively.

ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS
Washington had two representatives at the 2022 rendition of the prestigious High School All-American game as true freshmen Maya Loudd and Samiah Shell were both selected to the West Team.

NEW SCHOOL, WHO DIS?
Washington added three transfers to its roster for the 2023 season in forwards Kalea Eichenberger and Ioanna Papatheodorou and goalkeeper Megan Nail.

Eichenberger spent her freshman season at Cal State Bakersfield, earning All-Big West Freshman Team honors. The California native appeared in 20 matches for the Roadrunners, starting the final 17 of the 2022 season. She bagged a team-high four goals, finishing the season with 10 points to pace the UCSB. She was named Big West Player of the Week after securing a brace against Cal Poly.

Papatheodorou joined Washington in the spring after starring for two seasons at UMass Lowell, earning back-to-back First Team All-America East nods. A Greece international, Papatheodorou was named the 2021 America East Striker of the Year after leading UMass Lowell with 10 goals. She followed up in 2022 with another 10-goal campaign, ranking second on the America East.

Nail is a graduate transfer from San Francisco, where she played for four seasons for the Dons, securing the starting role between the posts in 2022. Making the USF Starting XI 14 times on the year, she garnered a 1.23 goals against average. The veteran shot stopper tallied 64 saves for a .790 save percentage, logging five clean sheets.

COWART MAKES HISTORY
This summer, former Husky Jessika Cowart became the sixth former Dawg to make a World Cup roster, joining Hope Solo, Tina Frimpong, Veronica Perez, Mireya Grey and Dominique Bond-Flasza. Representing her mother's home nation, Cowart suited up for the Philippines National Team after helping the Philippines lift the 2022 AFF Cup. One of the great storylines of the tournament, Cowart started all three matches of the group stage as the Philippines made its first-ever World Cup appearance.

FOR DAWGS AND COUNTRY
This summer, two Huskies represented their home country and donned their nation's badge as part of their respective national teams. Ioanna Papatheodorou was called into the Greece National Team in July for a pair of friendlies against Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Budapest, Hungary.

Meanwhile, Husky freshman Enora Matté made the squad list for Belgium's Under-19 team for the 2023 UEFA U19 Championship, receiving one cap during the group stage.

Another freshman on the Dawg's roster, Daniella Alali was called into the Nigeria U17 Women's National Team Camp ahead of the 2022 FIFA U17 Women's World Cup, but did not attend the camp due to injury.

PROS MADE HERE
Over the past two seasons, Washington has developed 11 different players who have gone on to play at the professional ranks. Following the 2021 campaign, Olivia Van der Jagt was selected in the 3rd round of the NWSL Draft by OL Reign, while Ameera Hussen signed with Icelandic club IBV. Since finishing her Husky career, Jessika Cowart has gone on to ink deals with Çaykur Rizespor (Turkey), Spartak Subotica (Serbia) and IFK Kalmar (Sweden).

10 former Huskies from the 2022 roster are now playing at the professional level. Shae Holmes was drafted in the second round of the NWSL Draft by OL Reign, followed in the fourth round by Summer Yates, who was selected by the Orlando Pride. Olivia Sekany and McKenzie Weinert also signed NWSL contracts with Racing Louisville and OL Reign, respectively.

Overseas, Vanessa Millsaps signed with Liga MX club Pachuca. Cori Sullivan also signed a Liga MX deal with Cruz Azul and has since signed with Glasgow City in Scotland. Evelina Pettersson returned to her native Sweden to play for Trelleborgs FF, while fellow Swedish product Alice Sondergaard has signed with Serie A club Sampdoria. UW has two former players playing in Portugal in Kala McDaniel (Racing Power FC) and Shaye Seyffart (S.F. Damaiense). Following her stint with OL Reign, Weinert has signed on with Melbourne Victory in Australia.

RAPHA'S RETURN
A former standout player and coach for Washington's men's soccer team, Raphael Cox returned to Montlake ahead of the 2023 as an assistant coach following one season as a men's team assistant at San Diego State.

Cox spent three seasons on Jamie Clark's staff at Washington as volunteer assistant coach from 2019-21. As a player, Cox a two-time All-Pac-12 selection at UW where he played from 2006-2008. After graduating, Cox was selected in the fourth round of the MLS SuperDraft by Real Salt Lake, where he was part of the MLS Cup Champion squad in 2009.

B1G THINGS COMING
The 2023 season will be Washington's last in the Pac-12 Conference, with the university announcing in August that it has accepted an invitation to the Big Ten Conference, beginning play in the conference in Fall 2024.

UW was one of the four founding members of what started in December of 1915 as the Pacific Coast Conference, which eventually grew to become the Pac-12.

2023 PAC-12 PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
Team
1. UCLA (9)
2. Stanford (3)
3. USC
4. Cal
5. Washington State
6. Arizona
T7. Washington
T7. Arizona State
T7. Colorado
10. Utah
11. Oregon
12. Oregon State

FOLLOW THE DAWGS!
Fans can keep up with all the goings on around the Washington women's soccer program by following the Huskies on the team's various social media platforms. You can find the Dawgs on X at @UW_WSoccer, on Instagram at @uw_wsoccer or on Facebook by searching "Washington Women's Soccer". Fans can also follow the Huskies through the women's soccer page at GoHuskies.com.