UW To Celebrate Pride Day Sunday Afternoon Versus No. 10 USC

Sunday, October 1

Seattle, WA

1:00 PM

University of Washington

USC

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UW To Celebrate Pride Day Sunday Afternoon Versus No. 10 USC

September 30, 2023 | Women's Soccer

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SEATTLE – Wrapping up a three-match home stand, Washington faces a top-10 opponent for the second match in a row, hosting No. 10 USC Sunday afternoon at Husky Soccer Stadium for a 1 p.m. PT kickoff.

The match will celebrate UW's Pride Day, the first known Pride Day competition in the history of Washington Athletics. The Huskies will be celebrating equality, acceptance, and inclusion of all people, with activities including a Pride flag giveaway, Pride tie-dye t-shirt-making station, Pride photo booth, CHEER Seattle performance at halftime and UW Q Center table.

The matchup will be aired nationally on Pac-12 Washington. Links to live coverage can be found above and on the schedule page at GoHuskies.com.

SCOUTING USC
Former Duke standout and UCLA assistant coach Jane Alukonis is in her second season as head coach at USC. She owns an 18-5-3 record during her stint leading the Women of Troy, guiding the Trojans to the NCAA Tournament in year one.

The Trojans enter Sunday's match ranked 10th in the TopDrawerSoccer.com rankings, boasting a 6-2-0 record after pulling off a comeback 2-1 win at Washington State on Thursday.

Junior Kayla Colbert and freshman Maribel Flores lead USC with four goals on the season, while German international Hannah Griffin bagged the winner in Pullman, her team-leading second game-winning goal of the season. Colbert has also dished out three assists to tie Zoe Burns and Izzy Kimberly for the team lead.

Sophomore Hannah Dickinson and freshman Hannah Poulter have split time in goal, with Dickinson starting three matches and Poulter starting five. Dickinson owns a 1.13 GAA with a .750 save percentage on 12 saves, while Poulter has earned a 1.15 GAA, making eight stops for a .615 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
Washington trails the all-time series with USC 9-17-3, but owns a 6-4-3 advantage against the Trojans in Seattle. The Huskies have won just one of the last seven meetings with the Women of Troy, earning a 2-0 win in LA in 2019.

LAST MEETING (10/27/22)
LOS ANGELES - The Washington women's soccer team was unable to overcome an early goal in the second half at USC, falling 2-1 on a sunny afternoon in SoCal.

USC took an early lead in the match, with Helena Sampaio, putting away a second ball off a corner kick in the 12th minute.

The Huskies would spend the majority of the rest of the second half fending off a ferocious USC attack from netting a second. Then, just minutes before the halftime break, Kelsey Branson followed up her own rebound and pushed the ball over the line for the equalizer.

With momentum on their side, the Huskies looked to come out of the break strong. Instead, Croix Bethune tucked home a volleyed goal in the 48th minute to recapture the lead for the Trojans.

Pegged back for the second time on the day, Washington responded well in search of another equalizer.

Karlee Stueckle came close in the 67th minute, muscling off her defender before unleashing a wicked strike. However, Anna Smith got down low to make the save, denying the tying goal.

The Huskies pressed on but couldn't break through for a second time, falling 2-1 at Soni McAlister Field.

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 in each of the last two matchups, Nguyen has appeared in seven matches 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 888 minutes.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS
Of the 16 collegiate matches that Husky keeper Olivia Juarez has appeared in, eight 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 opportunities are tied for the fourth 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.