Sunday, October 20
Lincoln, NE
11:00 AM
University of Washington
at
Nebraska
No. 24 Dawgs Wrap Up Road Schedule At Nebraska Sunday
October 19, 2024 | Women's Soccer
LINCOLN, Neb. – Looking to rebound from Thursday's 1-0 defeat to No. 14 Iowa, the 24th ranked Washington women's soccer team concludes the road portion of the regular season Sunday at Nebraska, kicking off at 11 a.m. PT.
The match will be available for streaming on B1G+, with live stats available at HuskyStats.com.
SCOUTING NEBRASKA
John Walker is the only head coach the Nebraska women's soccer program has ever known, having started the Cornhusker program in 1994 and guiding the team for the past 31 seasons. Under Walker, the Cornhuskers have made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, including three Elite Eight trips.
Nebraska enters Sunday's matchup with a 5-9-1 record, earning their second Big Ten win on Thursday with a 3-0 result over Oregon. The Cornhuskers are 13th in the B1G table with seven points at 2-6-1.
The Cornhuskers are led offensively by two-time First Team All-Big Ten midfielder/forward Sarah Weber. A senior from Gretna, Nebraska, Weber has scored nine times on an eye-catching 76 shots this season and owns 41 career goals. Junior defender Lauryn Anglim paces the Huskers with five assists.
Sophomore Cece Villa and senior Sami Hauk have split time in goal for the Cornhuskers. Villa has started eight matches, owning a 1.77 goals against average with a .745 save percentage on 41 saves. Meanwhile, Hauk has manned the net for eight matches with seven starts, posting a 1.97 GAA and a .611 save percentage with 22 saves.
SERIES HISTORY
Washington and Nebraska have faced each other just twice previously, splitting the results. UW earned a 5-1 win in Portland in 1995, while Nebraska got revenge with a 2-1 win in an NCAA Tournament first round match 2003, also in Portland.
LAST MEETING (11/14/03)
PORTLAND, Ore. - Jenna Cooper assisted on the opening goal and scored the game-winner with less than two minutes remaining Friday, lifting Nebraska to a 2-1 victory over 25th-ranked Washington in the first round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament at Merlo Field.
Cooper blasted a low 30-yard free kick from the right side, just outside the box, for the winner. The ball brushed the outside of Washington's defensive wall, trickled through the box and carried just inside the left post at 88:21.
The hard-luck Huskies ended the season with an 11-7-3 record. Washington lost despite outshooting the Cornhuskers 20-10 and controlling the run of play for the majority of the 90 minutes. Only three shots were directed on goal by Nebraska which converted two of them. The Huskies fired 12 shots directly on goal, but three of them were cleared off the line by Nebraska defenders and another caromed off the crossbar.
The Cornhuskers opened the scoring on an 18th-minute tally set up by a free kick. Cooper's kick from the left side was deflected right back to her. She then sent a cross toward the right post that was headed in by Jessie Bruch from five yards out. Nebraska led 1-0 at halftime despite an 11-5 shot deficit.
Washington sophomore Kim Taylor netted the equalizer 12 minutes into the second half on a 15-yard strike. She quickly collected the ball off an errant clearance by Ingram and booted it into the upper right corner at 57:13.
After Washington had a pair of would-be goals cleared off the line in the second half, Cooper secured the late winner for the Cornhuskers to send Nebraska to the second round.
POLL POSITION
Washington received its first national ranking of the season this week, coming in at No. 24 in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25 rankings. It is UW's first time appearing in either major poll since being ranked No. 23 by TDS for Week 7 in 2022.
B1G PAPI
Leading Washington to a six-point weekend with wins over Michigan and No. 5 Michigan State, senior striker Ioanna Papatheodorou was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. The Greek international bagged four goals on the week, including both match winners. Papatheodorou both scored the equalizing goal and gave Washington the lead in Thursday's 3-1 victory over the Wolverines, then doubled down with a pair of long range free kick strikes, the second with just over five minutes left on the clock, to lift the Huskies 2-1 over the Spartans on Sunday.
Papatheodorou is Washington's first-ever Big Ten Player of the Week honoree and the first Husky to earn conference player of the week honors since Kelsey Branson and Olivia Juarez were named the Pac-12 Offensive Player and Goalkeeper of the Week for week 9 of 2023 after Washington's 1-1 draw at No. 2 Stanford.
The senior was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the week and reeled in NCAA Player of the Week laurels.
SPARTY PARTY
Washington's victory over No. 5 Michigan State on Sunday was UW's first win over a top-5 ranked team since 2017, when the Huskies defeated No. 2 Florida 1-0 at Husky Soccer Stadium.
BRICK-BY-BRICK
Washington has proven to be one of the toughest defenses to crack in 2024, ranking 19th in the nation with a 0.600 team goals-against-average and 13th nationally with a 0.862 team save percentage. UW has posted seven clean sheets, already eclipsing its total from 2023. Along with UCLA, Washington is one of two Big Ten teams to not allow multiple goals in a single conference match.
ROOKIE RECOGNITION
Washington's Andrea Leyva, a midfielder out of Las Vegas, came in at No. 56 in TopDrawerSoccer's midseason Top-100 Freshman rankings. Leyva has appeared in all 15 matches for the Huskies, cracking the Starting XI 10 times.
YES INDEED I CAN RUN IT, RUN IT
While Washington made its living largely off of set piece opportunities in 2023, the vast majority of the Huskies' 19 goals in 2024 have come through build-up play. The Huskies have scored 13 times this season from the run of play, compared to six goals coming off of set pieces.
MAMA MIA
Junior Mia Hamant has been a breakout star for Washington in 2024, ranking 13th in the nation and first in the Big Ten with an .865 save percentage as well as 29th in the NCAA and third in the B1G in goals-against-average at 0.609. Hamant has garnered five of UW's seven clean sheets this season.
STARTING XI FIXTURE
Since making seven-straight starts to end her freshman campaign, junior Kelsey Branson has not failed to crack the Huskies' starting XI a single time, a streak spanning 40 consecutive matches. Branson is the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and start the first 14 fixtures of 2024.
EMPTYING THE TANK
Kolo Suliafu has not come off the pitch in any of the last 20 matches for Washington, playing 1,800 straight minutes for the Huskies. Suliafu played the full 90 minutes in 13 of 18 matches played in 2023.
PAYING (OFF) THE PENALTY
Ioanna Papatheodorou is about as sure of a thing from the penalty spot as there is in college soccer. The senior has converted seven of the eight spot kicks taken in her career, including each of the last five. Papatheodorou has been called to take a penalty exactly twice in all four of her collegiate seasons.
HOMEGROWN TALENT
Nine of Washington's 32 players hail from the Evergreen State, with six products of King County (Alex Buck, Malie Chamberland, Maggie Dutra, Anna Menti, Shelby Runje, Samiah Shell), two natives of Pierce County (Sophie Blake, Ava Morton) and one product of Snohomish County (Deanna Montero).
GANG'S ALL BACK
Washington returns nearly the entirety of its roster from the 2023 roster, standing as the only team in the Big Ten to return its entire starting XI with 11 returners with 10 or more starts in 2023.
What's more, the bulk of the Huskies firepower is back, with Washington returning the vast majority of its goals (26/31, 83.9%), assists (31/33, 93.9%), points (83/95, 87.4%) shots (215/246, 87.4%), shots on goal (90/108, 83.3%) and game-winning goals (9/9, 100%) from a season ago.
Additionally, with 3-of-4 goalkeepers back from the 2023 roster, the Dawgs return practically all of its goalkeeper minutes (1605:29/1710:00, 93.9%) and saves (62/64, 96.9%).
A B1G NEW ERA
Washington enters a new era in 2024 as a member of the prestigious Big Ten Conference. The move means not only new destinations but new challenges for the Huskies as well, with the Big Ten boasting nine teams that earned a bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament and seven schools ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll.
Washington, a founding member of what eventually became the Pac-12 Conference, began play in what was then known as the Pac-10 during the conference's first season supporting women's soccer in 1995. UW launched its women's soccer program in 1991.
EURO TRIP
This summer, Husky senior Ioanna Papatheodorou was called upon to don her nation's colors, earning a call up to the Greece National Team for a pair of qualifiers for the 2025 UEFA Women's European Championships. Papatheodorou earned a starting XI cap for Greece's 6-0 win over Andorra.
Papatheodorou isn't the only Husky with European experience at the national team level, with Enora Matté earning a handful of caps for the Belgium Under-19 National Team.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
For the first time since 2018, Washington returns every member of its coaching staff, retaining assistant coaches Cole Schmit, Raphael Cox and Kary Whitney to Nicole Van Dyke's staff.
SMART COOKIES
For the ninth straight season, Washington has received the United Soccer Coaches Academic Award after earning a 3.67 team GPA.
KEEP AN EYE OUT
Prior to the season, the Big Ten Conference announced its Players to Watch List, with a trio of Husky juniors making the cut in midfielder's Kelsey Branson and Tatum Thomason and defender Kolo Suliafu.
Thomason led the Dawgs with six goals in 2023, scoring three times in the final three matches of the season. Thomason came up in the clutch all season long for the Huskies, bagging four of UW's nine match-winning goals for the season.
Following up on a breakout freshman campaign, Branson doubled up with another phenomenal season in 2023, scoring four goals and chipping in three assists. The San Diego native earned her second career Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after leading UW to a historic road point at No. 2 Stanford.
With a combination of speed, toughness and defensive awareness, Suliafu has served as a backline anchor for the Huskies since stepping on campus in 2022. The Ontario, California, native has started 40 matches over her first two-plus seasons, leading the Huskies to 13 clean sheets. Also making an impact on offense, Suliafu has contributed four assists in her career.
YOU CAN FIND ME IN DA CLUB
One of the more unique paths to the Husky roster comes from junior Avery Nguyen, who was offered a roster spot prior to the start of the 2023 season after a trial during preseason training. 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.
Nguyen played a significant role for the Dawgs during the 2023 season, appearing in 11 matches and making a pair of starts.
HUSKIES PICKED 13TH IN BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
The Big Ten Conference announced the 2024 Preseason Coaches' Poll prior to the season, with Washington predicted to finish 13th in its new league table as voted on by the conference's 18 head coaches.
2024 BIG TEN PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
1. UCLA
2. Penn State
3. Michigan State
4. Nebraska
5. USC
6. Wisconsin
7. Rutgers
8. Iowa
9. Ohio State
10. Indiana
11. Michigan
12. Northwestern
13. Washington
14. Minnesota
15. Illinois
16. Purdue
17. Maryland
18. Oregon
WATCH THE DAWGS
Aside from Washington's matchups with USC and Iowa, which will be featured on the Big Ten Network, all UW home matches and Big Ten road matches will be available for streaming through B1G+. The live streams require a subscription, priced at $89.99 for one year or $12.99 per month. The B1G+ subscription allows you access to all non-televised Big Ten events, in addition to all non-televised Washington events throughout the year.
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.
The match will be available for streaming on B1G+, with live stats available at HuskyStats.com.
SCOUTING NEBRASKA
John Walker is the only head coach the Nebraska women's soccer program has ever known, having started the Cornhusker program in 1994 and guiding the team for the past 31 seasons. Under Walker, the Cornhuskers have made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, including three Elite Eight trips.
Nebraska enters Sunday's matchup with a 5-9-1 record, earning their second Big Ten win on Thursday with a 3-0 result over Oregon. The Cornhuskers are 13th in the B1G table with seven points at 2-6-1.
The Cornhuskers are led offensively by two-time First Team All-Big Ten midfielder/forward Sarah Weber. A senior from Gretna, Nebraska, Weber has scored nine times on an eye-catching 76 shots this season and owns 41 career goals. Junior defender Lauryn Anglim paces the Huskers with five assists.
Sophomore Cece Villa and senior Sami Hauk have split time in goal for the Cornhuskers. Villa has started eight matches, owning a 1.77 goals against average with a .745 save percentage on 41 saves. Meanwhile, Hauk has manned the net for eight matches with seven starts, posting a 1.97 GAA and a .611 save percentage with 22 saves.
SERIES HISTORY
Washington and Nebraska have faced each other just twice previously, splitting the results. UW earned a 5-1 win in Portland in 1995, while Nebraska got revenge with a 2-1 win in an NCAA Tournament first round match 2003, also in Portland.
LAST MEETING (11/14/03)
PORTLAND, Ore. - Jenna Cooper assisted on the opening goal and scored the game-winner with less than two minutes remaining Friday, lifting Nebraska to a 2-1 victory over 25th-ranked Washington in the first round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament at Merlo Field.
Cooper blasted a low 30-yard free kick from the right side, just outside the box, for the winner. The ball brushed the outside of Washington's defensive wall, trickled through the box and carried just inside the left post at 88:21.
The hard-luck Huskies ended the season with an 11-7-3 record. Washington lost despite outshooting the Cornhuskers 20-10 and controlling the run of play for the majority of the 90 minutes. Only three shots were directed on goal by Nebraska which converted two of them. The Huskies fired 12 shots directly on goal, but three of them were cleared off the line by Nebraska defenders and another caromed off the crossbar.
The Cornhuskers opened the scoring on an 18th-minute tally set up by a free kick. Cooper's kick from the left side was deflected right back to her. She then sent a cross toward the right post that was headed in by Jessie Bruch from five yards out. Nebraska led 1-0 at halftime despite an 11-5 shot deficit.
Washington sophomore Kim Taylor netted the equalizer 12 minutes into the second half on a 15-yard strike. She quickly collected the ball off an errant clearance by Ingram and booted it into the upper right corner at 57:13.
After Washington had a pair of would-be goals cleared off the line in the second half, Cooper secured the late winner for the Cornhuskers to send Nebraska to the second round.
POLL POSITION
Washington received its first national ranking of the season this week, coming in at No. 24 in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25 rankings. It is UW's first time appearing in either major poll since being ranked No. 23 by TDS for Week 7 in 2022.
B1G PAPI
Leading Washington to a six-point weekend with wins over Michigan and No. 5 Michigan State, senior striker Ioanna Papatheodorou was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. The Greek international bagged four goals on the week, including both match winners. Papatheodorou both scored the equalizing goal and gave Washington the lead in Thursday's 3-1 victory over the Wolverines, then doubled down with a pair of long range free kick strikes, the second with just over five minutes left on the clock, to lift the Huskies 2-1 over the Spartans on Sunday.
Papatheodorou is Washington's first-ever Big Ten Player of the Week honoree and the first Husky to earn conference player of the week honors since Kelsey Branson and Olivia Juarez were named the Pac-12 Offensive Player and Goalkeeper of the Week for week 9 of 2023 after Washington's 1-1 draw at No. 2 Stanford.
The senior was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the week and reeled in NCAA Player of the Week laurels.
SPARTY PARTY
Washington's victory over No. 5 Michigan State on Sunday was UW's first win over a top-5 ranked team since 2017, when the Huskies defeated No. 2 Florida 1-0 at Husky Soccer Stadium.
BRICK-BY-BRICK
Washington has proven to be one of the toughest defenses to crack in 2024, ranking 19th in the nation with a 0.600 team goals-against-average and 13th nationally with a 0.862 team save percentage. UW has posted seven clean sheets, already eclipsing its total from 2023. Along with UCLA, Washington is one of two Big Ten teams to not allow multiple goals in a single conference match.
ROOKIE RECOGNITION
Washington's Andrea Leyva, a midfielder out of Las Vegas, came in at No. 56 in TopDrawerSoccer's midseason Top-100 Freshman rankings. Leyva has appeared in all 15 matches for the Huskies, cracking the Starting XI 10 times.
YES INDEED I CAN RUN IT, RUN IT
While Washington made its living largely off of set piece opportunities in 2023, the vast majority of the Huskies' 19 goals in 2024 have come through build-up play. The Huskies have scored 13 times this season from the run of play, compared to six goals coming off of set pieces.
MAMA MIA
Junior Mia Hamant has been a breakout star for Washington in 2024, ranking 13th in the nation and first in the Big Ten with an .865 save percentage as well as 29th in the NCAA and third in the B1G in goals-against-average at 0.609. Hamant has garnered five of UW's seven clean sheets this season.
STARTING XI FIXTURE
Since making seven-straight starts to end her freshman campaign, junior Kelsey Branson has not failed to crack the Huskies' starting XI a single time, a streak spanning 40 consecutive matches. Branson is the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and start the first 14 fixtures of 2024.
EMPTYING THE TANK
Kolo Suliafu has not come off the pitch in any of the last 20 matches for Washington, playing 1,800 straight minutes for the Huskies. Suliafu played the full 90 minutes in 13 of 18 matches played in 2023.
PAYING (OFF) THE PENALTY
Ioanna Papatheodorou is about as sure of a thing from the penalty spot as there is in college soccer. The senior has converted seven of the eight spot kicks taken in her career, including each of the last five. Papatheodorou has been called to take a penalty exactly twice in all four of her collegiate seasons.
HOMEGROWN TALENT
Nine of Washington's 32 players hail from the Evergreen State, with six products of King County (Alex Buck, Malie Chamberland, Maggie Dutra, Anna Menti, Shelby Runje, Samiah Shell), two natives of Pierce County (Sophie Blake, Ava Morton) and one product of Snohomish County (Deanna Montero).
GANG'S ALL BACK
Washington returns nearly the entirety of its roster from the 2023 roster, standing as the only team in the Big Ten to return its entire starting XI with 11 returners with 10 or more starts in 2023.
What's more, the bulk of the Huskies firepower is back, with Washington returning the vast majority of its goals (26/31, 83.9%), assists (31/33, 93.9%), points (83/95, 87.4%) shots (215/246, 87.4%), shots on goal (90/108, 83.3%) and game-winning goals (9/9, 100%) from a season ago.
Additionally, with 3-of-4 goalkeepers back from the 2023 roster, the Dawgs return practically all of its goalkeeper minutes (1605:29/1710:00, 93.9%) and saves (62/64, 96.9%).
A B1G NEW ERA
Washington enters a new era in 2024 as a member of the prestigious Big Ten Conference. The move means not only new destinations but new challenges for the Huskies as well, with the Big Ten boasting nine teams that earned a bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament and seven schools ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll.
Washington, a founding member of what eventually became the Pac-12 Conference, began play in what was then known as the Pac-10 during the conference's first season supporting women's soccer in 1995. UW launched its women's soccer program in 1991.
EURO TRIP
This summer, Husky senior Ioanna Papatheodorou was called upon to don her nation's colors, earning a call up to the Greece National Team for a pair of qualifiers for the 2025 UEFA Women's European Championships. Papatheodorou earned a starting XI cap for Greece's 6-0 win over Andorra.
Papatheodorou isn't the only Husky with European experience at the national team level, with Enora Matté earning a handful of caps for the Belgium Under-19 National Team.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
For the first time since 2018, Washington returns every member of its coaching staff, retaining assistant coaches Cole Schmit, Raphael Cox and Kary Whitney to Nicole Van Dyke's staff.
SMART COOKIES
For the ninth straight season, Washington has received the United Soccer Coaches Academic Award after earning a 3.67 team GPA.
KEEP AN EYE OUT
Prior to the season, the Big Ten Conference announced its Players to Watch List, with a trio of Husky juniors making the cut in midfielder's Kelsey Branson and Tatum Thomason and defender Kolo Suliafu.
Thomason led the Dawgs with six goals in 2023, scoring three times in the final three matches of the season. Thomason came up in the clutch all season long for the Huskies, bagging four of UW's nine match-winning goals for the season.
Following up on a breakout freshman campaign, Branson doubled up with another phenomenal season in 2023, scoring four goals and chipping in three assists. The San Diego native earned her second career Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after leading UW to a historic road point at No. 2 Stanford.
With a combination of speed, toughness and defensive awareness, Suliafu has served as a backline anchor for the Huskies since stepping on campus in 2022. The Ontario, California, native has started 40 matches over her first two-plus seasons, leading the Huskies to 13 clean sheets. Also making an impact on offense, Suliafu has contributed four assists in her career.
YOU CAN FIND ME IN DA CLUB
One of the more unique paths to the Husky roster comes from junior Avery Nguyen, who was offered a roster spot prior to the start of the 2023 season after a trial during preseason training. 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.
Nguyen played a significant role for the Dawgs during the 2023 season, appearing in 11 matches and making a pair of starts.
HUSKIES PICKED 13TH IN BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
The Big Ten Conference announced the 2024 Preseason Coaches' Poll prior to the season, with Washington predicted to finish 13th in its new league table as voted on by the conference's 18 head coaches.
2024 BIG TEN PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
1. UCLA
2. Penn State
3. Michigan State
4. Nebraska
5. USC
6. Wisconsin
7. Rutgers
8. Iowa
9. Ohio State
10. Indiana
11. Michigan
12. Northwestern
13. Washington
14. Minnesota
15. Illinois
16. Purdue
17. Maryland
18. Oregon
WATCH THE DAWGS
Aside from Washington's matchups with USC and Iowa, which will be featured on the Big Ten Network, all UW home matches and Big Ten road matches will be available for streaming through B1G+. The live streams require a subscription, priced at $89.99 for one year or $12.99 per month. The B1G+ subscription allows you access to all non-televised Big Ten events, in addition to all non-televised Washington events throughout the year.
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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/ Women's SoccerWashington 3, Purdue 1 | Huskies Highlights
Sunday, September 28
Kelsey Branson and bullet headers go together like PB & J 🤩
Sunday, September 28
A loose ball in the box and Bucky's got her brace!
Sunday, September 28
The service, the flick, the volley... total team goal to put the Dawgs on top!
Sunday, September 28
