Friday, November 22
Starkville, MS
4:00 PM
University of Washington
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Mississippi State
UW Hits Magnolia State For NCAA Round Of 32 Friday, Takes On No. 2 Mississippi State
November 21, 2024 | Women's Soccer
STARKVILLE, Miss. – After dispatching No. 25 Utah State on penalties a week ago, the Washington women's soccer team brings its NCAA Tournament run to the Magnolia State, battling No. 2 Mississippi State at the MSU Soccer Field Friday.
Kickoff in Starkville is set for 4 p.m. PT, with the match streaming on ESPN+. A link to live stats is available at HuskyStats.com.
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
Taking home MSU's first-ever SEC Coach of the Year nod this season, James Armstrong has been the head coach at Mississippi State for the last six seasons, building the Bulldogs from an SEC bottom dweller to one of the nation's top programs. Armstrong has led Mississippi State to three of the four NCAA Tournament appearances in program history, earning three straight bids.
Mississippi State, ranked No. 2 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, have posted an 18-2-0 record, including a perfect 11-0 at home. The Bulldogs captured their first-ever SEC Championship, going undefeated in league play at 10-0.
Leading a group of eight All-SEC selections are SEC Midfielder of the Year Macey Hodge, SEC Defender of the Year Rylie Combs and SEC Goalkeeper of the Year Maddy Anderson. Spearheaded by the trio, Mississippi State has allowed just eight goals in 20 matches in 2024.
On the offensive end, junior midfielder Ally Perry, a First Team All-SEC honoree, leads MSU with 10 goals and 24 points, adding four assists. Senior Forward Aitana Martinez-Montoya has added seven goals and five assists for 25 points, while senior midfielder/forward Hannah Johnson paces the Bulldogs with eight assists on the season.
In goal, Anderson ranks sixth in the nation with a .415 goals against average, sitting second on clean sheets with 13 and 17th in save percentage at .849. However, Anderson has allowed four goals in her last two matches as Mississippi State fell in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
SERIES HISTORY
Friday's matchup will be the first ever between Washington and Mississippi State, as well as UW's first-ever visit to the state of Mississippi. The Huskies have faced off against a Magnolia State opponent just once previously, defeating Ole Miss 1-0 in 2009 in Portland.
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER
Washington's postseason success has largely been due to the Huskies' prowess from the penalty spot. Despite failing to score a goal during postseason play, Washington has advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals and the NCAA Round of 32 through penalty shootout victories over No. 17 Iowa and No. 25 Utah State.
The Huskies have converted 8-of-10 kicks in penalty shootouts, making 5-for-7 vs. Iowa and all three against Utah State. Meanwhile, Husky keeper Mia Hamant has allowed just five conversions over 11 attempts in PKs.
B1G DAWGS
Washington landed two All-Big Ten honorees during its first season in the conference in leading goal scorer Ioanna Papatheodorou and top defender Kolo Suliafu. Additionally, junior Lucy Newlin was UW's selection for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
TOURN-ABOUT IS FAIR PLAY
Washington avenged its regular season loss to Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, advancing over the Hawkeyes 5-4 on penalties behind three shootout saves from keeper Mia Hamant. Hamant was rock solid in goal all night, making a career-high 12 saves, tied for seventh most all-time at UW and nearly double her previous career-high of seven.
GET HER TO THE GREEKS
During the final week of the regular season, UW senior striker Ioanna Papatheodorou earned a call up to the Greece National Team for 2025 European Championship qualifying action in Crete, Greece, and Leuven, Belgium. Papatheodorou entered as a sub in the 74th minute of Sunday's second leg as Belgium advanced through the playoff matchup.
It was the second senior team cap for Papatheodorou, who made the starting XI for Greece's 6-0 win over Andorra in group stage qualifying earlier this summer.
BRICK-BY-BRICK
Washington has proven to be one of the toughest defenses to crack in 2024, ranking eighth in the nation with a 0.538 team goals-against-average and first nationally with a 0.893 team save percentage. UW has posted 11 clean sheets, nearly doubling the six from 2023. Along with UCLA, Washington was one of two Big Ten teams that did not allow multiple goals in a single conference match.
KEEP IT UP
Senior keeper Olivia Juarez sits first in program history with a 0.89 career goals against average. The Oregon native's 0.32 GAA this season would also set a program record.
MAMA MIA
Junior Mia Hamant has been a breakout star for Washington in 2024, ranking third in the nation and first in the Big Ten with an .882 save percentage as well as 14th in the NCAA and third in the B1G in goals-against-average at 0.633. Hamant has garnered seven of UW's 11 clean sheets this season.
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, a 1-0 win over No. 2 Florida in Seattle.
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 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' 24 goals in 2024 have come through build-up play. The Huskies have scored 16 times this season from the run of play, compared to eight goals coming off of set pieces.
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 46 consecutive matches. Branson is the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and all 20 fixtures of 2024.
EMPTYING THE TANK
Kolo Suliafu has not come off the pitch in any of the last 25 matches for Washington, playing 2,290 straight minutes for the Huskies. Suliafu played the full 90 minutes in 13 of 18 matches played in 2023.
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%).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Kickoff in Starkville is set for 4 p.m. PT, with the match streaming on ESPN+. A link to live stats is available at HuskyStats.com.
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
Taking home MSU's first-ever SEC Coach of the Year nod this season, James Armstrong has been the head coach at Mississippi State for the last six seasons, building the Bulldogs from an SEC bottom dweller to one of the nation's top programs. Armstrong has led Mississippi State to three of the four NCAA Tournament appearances in program history, earning three straight bids.
Mississippi State, ranked No. 2 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, have posted an 18-2-0 record, including a perfect 11-0 at home. The Bulldogs captured their first-ever SEC Championship, going undefeated in league play at 10-0.
Leading a group of eight All-SEC selections are SEC Midfielder of the Year Macey Hodge, SEC Defender of the Year Rylie Combs and SEC Goalkeeper of the Year Maddy Anderson. Spearheaded by the trio, Mississippi State has allowed just eight goals in 20 matches in 2024.
On the offensive end, junior midfielder Ally Perry, a First Team All-SEC honoree, leads MSU with 10 goals and 24 points, adding four assists. Senior Forward Aitana Martinez-Montoya has added seven goals and five assists for 25 points, while senior midfielder/forward Hannah Johnson paces the Bulldogs with eight assists on the season.
In goal, Anderson ranks sixth in the nation with a .415 goals against average, sitting second on clean sheets with 13 and 17th in save percentage at .849. However, Anderson has allowed four goals in her last two matches as Mississippi State fell in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
SERIES HISTORY
Friday's matchup will be the first ever between Washington and Mississippi State, as well as UW's first-ever visit to the state of Mississippi. The Huskies have faced off against a Magnolia State opponent just once previously, defeating Ole Miss 1-0 in 2009 in Portland.
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER
Washington's postseason success has largely been due to the Huskies' prowess from the penalty spot. Despite failing to score a goal during postseason play, Washington has advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals and the NCAA Round of 32 through penalty shootout victories over No. 17 Iowa and No. 25 Utah State.
The Huskies have converted 8-of-10 kicks in penalty shootouts, making 5-for-7 vs. Iowa and all three against Utah State. Meanwhile, Husky keeper Mia Hamant has allowed just five conversions over 11 attempts in PKs.
B1G DAWGS
Washington landed two All-Big Ten honorees during its first season in the conference in leading goal scorer Ioanna Papatheodorou and top defender Kolo Suliafu. Additionally, junior Lucy Newlin was UW's selection for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
TOURN-ABOUT IS FAIR PLAY
Washington avenged its regular season loss to Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, advancing over the Hawkeyes 5-4 on penalties behind three shootout saves from keeper Mia Hamant. Hamant was rock solid in goal all night, making a career-high 12 saves, tied for seventh most all-time at UW and nearly double her previous career-high of seven.
GET HER TO THE GREEKS
During the final week of the regular season, UW senior striker Ioanna Papatheodorou earned a call up to the Greece National Team for 2025 European Championship qualifying action in Crete, Greece, and Leuven, Belgium. Papatheodorou entered as a sub in the 74th minute of Sunday's second leg as Belgium advanced through the playoff matchup.
It was the second senior team cap for Papatheodorou, who made the starting XI for Greece's 6-0 win over Andorra in group stage qualifying earlier this summer.
BRICK-BY-BRICK
Washington has proven to be one of the toughest defenses to crack in 2024, ranking eighth in the nation with a 0.538 team goals-against-average and first nationally with a 0.893 team save percentage. UW has posted 11 clean sheets, nearly doubling the six from 2023. Along with UCLA, Washington was one of two Big Ten teams that did not allow multiple goals in a single conference match.
KEEP IT UP
Senior keeper Olivia Juarez sits first in program history with a 0.89 career goals against average. The Oregon native's 0.32 GAA this season would also set a program record.
MAMA MIA
Junior Mia Hamant has been a breakout star for Washington in 2024, ranking third in the nation and first in the Big Ten with an .882 save percentage as well as 14th in the NCAA and third in the B1G in goals-against-average at 0.633. Hamant has garnered seven of UW's 11 clean sheets this season.
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, a 1-0 win over No. 2 Florida in Seattle.
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 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' 24 goals in 2024 have come through build-up play. The Huskies have scored 16 times this season from the run of play, compared to eight goals coming off of set pieces.
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 46 consecutive matches. Branson is the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and all 20 fixtures of 2024.
EMPTYING THE TANK
Kolo Suliafu has not come off the pitch in any of the last 25 matches for Washington, playing 2,290 straight minutes for the Huskies. Suliafu played the full 90 minutes in 13 of 18 matches played in 2023.
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%).
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.
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.
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.
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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