Huskies Hit The Desert, Take On Arizona State Thursday

Thursday, October 5

Tempe, AZ

7:00 PM

University of Washington

Arizona State

October 04, 2023 | Women's Soccer

UW Notes ASU Notes Watch Live Stats

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Washington women's soccer team hits the road for the first time in Pac-12 play this season, starting a two-match desert road trip with a matchup against Arizona State in Tempe Thursday night.

The Huskies and ASU will do battle at 7 p.m. PT at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. The match will be available for streaming through Pac-12 Insider. Links to live coverage can be found above.

SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE
Graham Winkworth is in his seventh season leading the Sun Devil program, leading Arizona State to the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three campaigns. The Sun Devils have posted three-consecutive winning seasons, the first such streak since 2012-15.

ASU is 6-2-4 on the season, sitting at 1-1-1 in Pac-12 play after a week in the Bay Area in which the Sun Devils fell at No. 3 Stanford 2-1 before rebounding with a 1-1 draw at Cal Sunday.

The Sun Devil offense is led by sophomore Enasia Colon, who ranks second in the conference with seven goals on the year. Fifth year Suzuka Yosue paces ASU with five assists, one ahead of freshman Savannah Maley.

Sophomore Pauline Nelles has started all 12 matches at keeper and not left the pitch this season. The German native's 0.50 goals against average is the second best in the Pac-12, as is Nelles' .878 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
Pulling off a dramatic comeback victory in Seattle in 2022, Washington extended its series lead over the Sun Devils at 11-9-6 all-time. The Huskies are seeking their first win in Tempe since 2000, owning a 2-5-4 all-time road record against the Sun Devils.

LAST MEETING (10/23/22)
SEATTLE - After trailing the majority of the match against Arizona State, Washington came up with some Montlake Magic, scoring twice in the final four minutes to come away with a 2-1 Senior Day victory.

Despite spending most of the matchup on the wrong side of the scoreboard, the Huskies dominated statistically, outshooting the Sun Devils 23-5 and earning 10 corners to ASU's three.

While Washington started the match strong, a moment of brilliance from ASU's Alexia Delgado left the Huskies down 1-0 in the 14th minute. Hitting a ball on the volley, Delgado buried a shot in the right corner of the goal to put the Sun Devils ahead.

Washington spent virtually the entirety of the second half on the front foot, pinning ASU back in its defensive third and forcing the Sun Devils to fend off a relentless attack.

Just when it looked like the effort would not bare any fruit, a pair of fifth year seniors in Summer Yates and Karlee Stueckle turned UW's fortunes around.

After Yates was taken down just a few yards outside of the 18-yard box, the Pasco, Washington native took the ball herself to setup the free kick. From there, the senior delivered, bending a sumptuous strike into the side netting to level the score in the 87th minute.

The Dawgs were not done there. Just a few minutes later, with less than a minute left on the clock, Kala McDaniel's shot was deflected, requiring an outstretched save from ASU's Pauline Nelles. Karlee Stueckle pounced on the rebound, slotting the ball into the vacant goal to send the home crowd into euphoria.
BRACE FOR IMPACT
Converting twice from the penalty spot Thursday night against No. 4 UCLA, Ioanna Papatheodorou bagged her first brace in a Husky kit to take over the team lead with four goals on the season. It was the fourth-career multi-goal match for the Greek international, who registered a pair of braces and a hat trick in two seasons at UMass Lowell.

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.

Starting two of the last three matches for the Huskies, Nguyen has appeared in eight contests for the Huskies this season.

WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
After playing 29 total minutes as a freshman a year ago, defender Lucy Newlin has been subbed out of just one match this season, leading UW with 978 minutes.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS
Of the 16 collegiate matches that Husky keeper Olivia Juarez has appeared in, seven of them have finished as Washington clean sheets. The junior shot stopper has registered five combined and two solo shutouts in her UW career and has surrendered more than one goal just twice.

IT FEELS LIKE THE VERY FIRST TIME
Washington has had seven first time goal scorers this season as Radisson Banks, Jadyn Holdenried, Chloe Seelhoff, Lucy Newlin, Anna Menti, Ioanna Papatheodorou and Kalea Eichenberger have all found the back of the net for the first time in a Husky kit.

SET IT UP, KNOCK IT DOWN
10 of Washington's 18 goals this season have come off of set pieces, with four goals coming as the result of corner kicks, two being scored off of free kicks and all four penalties being converted. UW's four penalty kick conversions are tied for the seventh most in the nation.

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 keeper Olivia Juarez, all but three starts this season for the Huskies have been made by freshmen and sophomores. 13 of UW's 18 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.