Friday, September 22
Seattle, WA
7:00 PM
University of Washington
vs
California
UW Opens Pac-12 Play at Home Against Cal Friday
September 21, 2023 | Women's Soccer
SEATTLE – Washington women's soccer opens up Pac-12 play on its home turf Friday night, facing Cal at Husky Soccer Stadium for a 7 p.m. PT kickoff.
It will be a Purple Out in the Emerald City, with fans encouraged to wear purple Husky gear. UW will also honor its Husky faculty and staff for their contributions to the community during the WholeU match.
The match will be available for streaming through Washington Live Stream 2. Links to live coverage can be found above and on the schedule page at GoHuskies.com.
SCOUTING CAL
Neil McGuire is in his 16th season as the head coach at Cal, sitting as the program's all-time wins leader with 181 victories during his time in Berkeley. In McGuire's 16 previous seasons, the Bears have earned an NCAA Tournament bid 13 times.
Going 1-0-1 last week with a draw against Utah Valley and a win over San Diego, the Golden Bears are 3-3-2 on the season entering Pac-12 play, sitting 1-2-0 on the road. Cal was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll.
Junior forward Karlie Lema leads the Golden Bears with three goals and is also tied with senior forward Amaya Grey for the team lead on two assists. Lema also paces Cal in shots and shots on goal. Junior forward Velize King is the only other Golden Bear to score multiple goals this season.
A Preseason All-Pac-12 honoree, sophomore keeper Teagan Wy has started all eight matches for Cal. The California native boasts a 1.38 goals against average and a .744 save percentage, owning a pair of clean sheets.
SERIES HISTORY
Playing for the final time as conference foes, Washington owns a slim 17-14-1 advantage in the all-time series with Cal. The Golden Bears snapped a four-match Husky winning streak last season with a 2-1 victory in Berkeley. Cal has not won in Seattle since 2017, with the Huskies boasting a 12-4-1 mark all-time on home turf against the Golden Bears.
LAST MEETING (10/9/22)
BERKELEY, Calif. - Washington and Cal battled back-and-forth Sunday afternoon but the Bears came out on top, defeating the Huskies 2-1 at Edwards Stadium.
In the 25th minute, Washington struck to take the lead. Summer Yates pushed UW ahead, gathering a Kala McDaniel feed, turning her defender and firing a shot from 25 yards out into the upper 90.
The Huskies continued to be the aggressors as the first half wore on but in the 42nd minute the Bears drew level on the counter through a perfectly placed shot from Hannah Cooper.
Coming out of the locker room in a 1-1 tie, Olivia Sekany kept the score even shortly after the break with a strong hand low to save Karlie Lema's effort.
Minutes later, McKenzie Weinert unleashed a wicked shot to the near post that was stopped on a diving save by Angelina Anderson.
As the match continued to go back-and-forth, Cal took the lead in the 58th minute as Lema found Keely Roy, who dinked a shot over Sekany to make it 2-1.
Down a goal, the Dawgs amped up the pressure. Weinert was mere inches away from tying the match in the 74th minute after a failed punch from Anderson, seeing her ensuing shot cleared off the line.
The Huskies continued to press for an equalizer but came up short, dropping a tight one in Berkeley.
PAC YOUR BAGS
Friday's matchup is the final Pac-12 opener for both Washington and Cal, who are both charter members of the conference, founding what was then known as the Pacific Coast Conference in a meeting at the Imperial Hotel in Portland, Oregon along with Oregon and Oregon State.
SISTERLY AFFAIR
Friday's match will be the first time UW senior Sophie Dimry and Cal freshman Soleil Dimry will suit up in the same match.
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 708 minutes.
SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN CLEAN
With four total shutouts for the season, UW's .500 shutout percentage is the fourth highest in the Pac-12.
Of the 14 collegiate matches that Husky keeper Olivia Juarez has appeared in, half of them have finished as Washington clean sheets. The junior shot stopper has registered five combined and two solo shutouts in her UW career.
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
Half of Washington's 16 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 two penalties being converted.
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 six starts this season for the Huskies have been made by freshmen and sophomores. 13 of UW's 16 goals in 2023 have been scored by underclassmen.
MONTLAKE MAGIC
Over the past two seasons, Washington has created a tough environment to play against on its home turf. Since the start of the 2022 season, UW owns a 10-2-2 record at Husky Soccer Stadium.
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.
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.
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).
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 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. 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.
HUSKIES PICKED SEVENTH IN PAC-12 PRESEASON POLL
The Pac-12 announced the 2023 Preseason Coaches' Poll prior to the season, with Washington predicted to match its 2022 finish and place seventh in the league table as voted on by the conference's 12 head coaches. The Huskies received the same number of votes as both Arizona State and Colorado.
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.
It will be a Purple Out in the Emerald City, with fans encouraged to wear purple Husky gear. UW will also honor its Husky faculty and staff for their contributions to the community during the WholeU match.
The match will be available for streaming through Washington Live Stream 2. Links to live coverage can be found above and on the schedule page at GoHuskies.com.
SCOUTING CAL
Neil McGuire is in his 16th season as the head coach at Cal, sitting as the program's all-time wins leader with 181 victories during his time in Berkeley. In McGuire's 16 previous seasons, the Bears have earned an NCAA Tournament bid 13 times.
Going 1-0-1 last week with a draw against Utah Valley and a win over San Diego, the Golden Bears are 3-3-2 on the season entering Pac-12 play, sitting 1-2-0 on the road. Cal was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll.
Junior forward Karlie Lema leads the Golden Bears with three goals and is also tied with senior forward Amaya Grey for the team lead on two assists. Lema also paces Cal in shots and shots on goal. Junior forward Velize King is the only other Golden Bear to score multiple goals this season.
A Preseason All-Pac-12 honoree, sophomore keeper Teagan Wy has started all eight matches for Cal. The California native boasts a 1.38 goals against average and a .744 save percentage, owning a pair of clean sheets.
SERIES HISTORY
Playing for the final time as conference foes, Washington owns a slim 17-14-1 advantage in the all-time series with Cal. The Golden Bears snapped a four-match Husky winning streak last season with a 2-1 victory in Berkeley. Cal has not won in Seattle since 2017, with the Huskies boasting a 12-4-1 mark all-time on home turf against the Golden Bears.
LAST MEETING (10/9/22)
BERKELEY, Calif. - Washington and Cal battled back-and-forth Sunday afternoon but the Bears came out on top, defeating the Huskies 2-1 at Edwards Stadium.
In the 25th minute, Washington struck to take the lead. Summer Yates pushed UW ahead, gathering a Kala McDaniel feed, turning her defender and firing a shot from 25 yards out into the upper 90.
The Huskies continued to be the aggressors as the first half wore on but in the 42nd minute the Bears drew level on the counter through a perfectly placed shot from Hannah Cooper.
Coming out of the locker room in a 1-1 tie, Olivia Sekany kept the score even shortly after the break with a strong hand low to save Karlie Lema's effort.
Minutes later, McKenzie Weinert unleashed a wicked shot to the near post that was stopped on a diving save by Angelina Anderson.
As the match continued to go back-and-forth, Cal took the lead in the 58th minute as Lema found Keely Roy, who dinked a shot over Sekany to make it 2-1.
Down a goal, the Dawgs amped up the pressure. Weinert was mere inches away from tying the match in the 74th minute after a failed punch from Anderson, seeing her ensuing shot cleared off the line.
The Huskies continued to press for an equalizer but came up short, dropping a tight one in Berkeley.
PAC YOUR BAGS
Friday's matchup is the final Pac-12 opener for both Washington and Cal, who are both charter members of the conference, founding what was then known as the Pacific Coast Conference in a meeting at the Imperial Hotel in Portland, Oregon along with Oregon and Oregon State.
SISTERLY AFFAIR
Friday's match will be the first time UW senior Sophie Dimry and Cal freshman Soleil Dimry will suit up in the same match.
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 708 minutes.
SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN CLEAN
With four total shutouts for the season, UW's .500 shutout percentage is the fourth highest in the Pac-12.
Of the 14 collegiate matches that Husky keeper Olivia Juarez has appeared in, half of them have finished as Washington clean sheets. The junior shot stopper has registered five combined and two solo shutouts in her UW career.
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
Half of Washington's 16 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 two penalties being converted.
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 six starts this season for the Huskies have been made by freshmen and sophomores. 13 of UW's 16 goals in 2023 have been scored by underclassmen.
MONTLAKE MAGIC
Over the past two seasons, Washington has created a tough environment to play against on its home turf. Since the start of the 2022 season, UW owns a 10-2-2 record at Husky Soccer Stadium.
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.
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.
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).
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 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. 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.
HUSKIES PICKED SEVENTH IN PAC-12 PRESEASON POLL
The Pac-12 announced the 2023 Preseason Coaches' Poll prior to the season, with Washington predicted to match its 2022 finish and place seventh in the league table as voted on by the conference's 12 head coaches. The Huskies received the same number of votes as both Arizona State and Colorado.
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.
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