University of Washington
Houston
Huskies Kickoff 2023 Season at Home vs. Houston
August 16, 2023 | Women's Soccer
The match will be streamed live through Pac-12 Insider. Links to live coverage can be found to the right and on the schedule page at GoHuskies.com.
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SCOUTING HOUSTON
Entering its first season as a member of the Big 12 Conference, Houston is led by second-year head coach Jaime Frias, who made the move to H-Town after spending 10 years as an assistant coach at Virginia.
In Frias' first season, the Cougars earned a 6-7-3 overall record, including a 2-4-2 mark in American play. Houston struggled away from its home base, posting a 2-5-2 road record in 2022. The Cougars were picked to finsih 10th in the 2023 Big 12 Preseason Poll.
In the absence of leading scorer Janna Singleton, Houston's leading returner in goals is forward Nadia Kamassah, who found the back of the net three times as a junior. Senior midfielder Caitlyn Matthews is the only other returner with multiple goals in 2022, scoring twice. Much like the Huskies, the Cougars will be looking to replace a bulk of its experience from a year ago, returning four players with double digit starts in 2022.
Despite the departure of Haley Woodward, who started all 16 matches for Houston between the posts, the Cougars return a veteran keeper in redshirt senior Mikaela Gracia. Gracia was UH's primary keeper in 2021, garnering a 0.81 goals against average with a .778 save percentage, posting nine clean sheets.
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday's season opener will be the first-ever between Washington and Houston. The Cougars will be the 132nd unique opponent for the Dawgs.
MONTLAKE MAGIC
Washington will look to turn Husky Soccer Stadium into a fortress once again in 2023. The Dawgs were nearly unbeatable on their home pitch a season ago, posting a 7-1-1 record on Montlake.
NON-CON CONTROL
The Huskies are undefeated in their last 10 non-conference matchups, turning in the program's first-ever undefeated non-con schedule in 2022. UW has racked up a 7-0-3 record over those 10 matches.
FRESH FACES
With 10 of 11 primary starters gone from the 2022 roster, Washington will be 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.
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.
ALL-AMERICAN GIRL
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.
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.
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).
Eight 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 have 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 Kala McDaniel signed with Racing Power FC in Portugal.
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.
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.
