Thursday, August 15
Seattle, WA
7:00 PM
University of Washington
vs
Wyoming
Washington Kicks Off 2024 Season At Home Thursday Night Against Wyoming
August 14, 2024 | Women's Soccer
SEATTLE – Kicking off not only a new season but a brand new era on Montlake, Washington women's soccer commences the 2024 regular season Thursday night at Husky Soccer Stadium, taking on the Wyoming Cowgirls in a 7 p.m. PT kick.
Thursday's match will be available for streaming on B1G+, with live stats available at HuskyStats.com.
SCOUTING WYOMING
Coming off of a 6-8-5 campaign in 2023, Wyoming was picked to finish 11th out of 12 in the Mountain West Preseason Coaches' Poll. However, the Cowgirls enter Thursday's tilt with momentum, having beaten No. 3 BYU last Friday in an exhibition match in Provo, Utah.
Wyoming enters its first season under new head coach Josh Purdam, who made the move to Laramie after two seasons as the goalkeeper coach at Colorado State.
The Cowgirls placed three players on the Mountain West's Players to Watch List in graduate student forward Alyssa Bedard, junior midfielder Alyssa Glover and sophomore midfielder Raegan Richardson.
Glover led the Cowgirls in scoring in 2023 and joins senior forward Maddie Chance (5) and graduate student forward Jazi Barela (5) as returners with multiple goals a season ago.
In goal, sophomore Haley Bartel returns for her second season in Laramie after starting eight matches in 2023. Bartel posted a 1.88 goals against average with a .681 save percentage, earning a 3-4-1 record.
SERIES HISTORY
Washington and Wyoming have never faced off previously. The Cowgirls will be one of four brand new opponents for the Huskies this season, joining New Mexico State, Indiana and Iowa.
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.
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 bast 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%).
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 37 matches over her first two seasons, leading the Huskies to 11 clean sheets. Also making an impact on offense, Suliafu has contributed four assists in her career.
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. Paptheodorou 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.
T-MONEY
Junior Tatum Thomason ended the 2023 season on a heater, scoring each of Washington's final three goals of the campaign. The Liberty High School product scored an 88th-minute winner at Oregon before capping her sophomore season with her first career brace to vault the Dawgs to a Boeing Apple Cup victory over rival Washington State.
WHAT'S GOOD, HOLMES?
Senior defender Jace Holmes finished the 2023 season with an assist on seven of the Huskies' final 12 goals. Despite not recording her first helper of the season until Washington's 12th match of the season, the junior defender tied for the Pac-12 lead with her seven assists. All of Holmes' assists for the season came in conference action.
LIV MAS
Among the bevy of returners for the Huskies is senior goalkeeper and 2023 team captain Olivia Juarez, who started 18-of-19 matches between the posts for UW in 2023, missing one through injury. Juarez posted four solo clean sheets and added in three more combined shutouts during her junior campaign, her first as the Dawgs' primary keeper. Juarez boasts a 1.07 career goals against average, the fifth-lowest in program history.
STINGY ON D
Over its final six matches of the season in 2023, Washington allowed just three goals total and didn't surrender more than one goal in any of those affairs. The Huskies had to hold a few elite offenses at bay during that stretch, including ranked foes in No. 2 Stanford and No. 18 Colorado.
SPREADING THE LOVE
Washington found its offensive production from a variety of different places in 2023, with 12 different players recording at least one goal, including nine players who scored for the first time in a Husky kit.
RIVERSIDE REUNION
Thursday's match will be a reunion of sorts for Husky sophomore Samiah Shell, squaring off against high school teammate and Wyoming freshman Rory Murry. Shell and Murry starred alongside one another at Auburn Riverside High School in Auburn, Washington. Shell is ARHS's all-time leading scorer.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Despite returning the vast majority of its 2023 roster, Washington nonetheless reloaded with a talented crop of nine freshmen newcomers.
Among the group are three players who were selected to the prestigious High School All-American Game in Alex Buck, Maggie Dutra and Andrea Leyva.
HOMECOMING
In addition to nine freshmen, Washington also adds a newcomer with proven experience at the college level in sophomore forward Sophie Runje. Runje, a product of nearby Issaquah High School in Issaquah, Washington, made the move back to King County after spending her freshman season across the state at Gonzaga. Runje scored five goals as a rookie, earning All-WCC Freshman Team plaudits.
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).
SETTING THE STAGE
15 of Washington's 31 goals during the 2023 came off of set pieces, with six goals coming as the result of corner kicks, five being scored off of free kicks and all four penalties being converted.
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.
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.
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.
Additionally, UW's two non-conference road matches will be streamed live via ESPN+.
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.
Thursday's match will be available for streaming on B1G+, with live stats available at HuskyStats.com.
SCOUTING WYOMING
Coming off of a 6-8-5 campaign in 2023, Wyoming was picked to finish 11th out of 12 in the Mountain West Preseason Coaches' Poll. However, the Cowgirls enter Thursday's tilt with momentum, having beaten No. 3 BYU last Friday in an exhibition match in Provo, Utah.
Wyoming enters its first season under new head coach Josh Purdam, who made the move to Laramie after two seasons as the goalkeeper coach at Colorado State.
The Cowgirls placed three players on the Mountain West's Players to Watch List in graduate student forward Alyssa Bedard, junior midfielder Alyssa Glover and sophomore midfielder Raegan Richardson.
Glover led the Cowgirls in scoring in 2023 and joins senior forward Maddie Chance (5) and graduate student forward Jazi Barela (5) as returners with multiple goals a season ago.
In goal, sophomore Haley Bartel returns for her second season in Laramie after starting eight matches in 2023. Bartel posted a 1.88 goals against average with a .681 save percentage, earning a 3-4-1 record.
SERIES HISTORY
Washington and Wyoming have never faced off previously. The Cowgirls will be one of four brand new opponents for the Huskies this season, joining New Mexico State, Indiana and Iowa.
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.
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 bast 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%).
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 37 matches over her first two seasons, leading the Huskies to 11 clean sheets. Also making an impact on offense, Suliafu has contributed four assists in her career.
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. Paptheodorou 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.
T-MONEY
Junior Tatum Thomason ended the 2023 season on a heater, scoring each of Washington's final three goals of the campaign. The Liberty High School product scored an 88th-minute winner at Oregon before capping her sophomore season with her first career brace to vault the Dawgs to a Boeing Apple Cup victory over rival Washington State.
WHAT'S GOOD, HOLMES?
Senior defender Jace Holmes finished the 2023 season with an assist on seven of the Huskies' final 12 goals. Despite not recording her first helper of the season until Washington's 12th match of the season, the junior defender tied for the Pac-12 lead with her seven assists. All of Holmes' assists for the season came in conference action.
LIV MAS
Among the bevy of returners for the Huskies is senior goalkeeper and 2023 team captain Olivia Juarez, who started 18-of-19 matches between the posts for UW in 2023, missing one through injury. Juarez posted four solo clean sheets and added in three more combined shutouts during her junior campaign, her first as the Dawgs' primary keeper. Juarez boasts a 1.07 career goals against average, the fifth-lowest in program history.
STINGY ON D
Over its final six matches of the season in 2023, Washington allowed just three goals total and didn't surrender more than one goal in any of those affairs. The Huskies had to hold a few elite offenses at bay during that stretch, including ranked foes in No. 2 Stanford and No. 18 Colorado.
SPREADING THE LOVE
Washington found its offensive production from a variety of different places in 2023, with 12 different players recording at least one goal, including nine players who scored for the first time in a Husky kit.
RIVERSIDE REUNION
Thursday's match will be a reunion of sorts for Husky sophomore Samiah Shell, squaring off against high school teammate and Wyoming freshman Rory Murry. Shell and Murry starred alongside one another at Auburn Riverside High School in Auburn, Washington. Shell is ARHS's all-time leading scorer.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Despite returning the vast majority of its 2023 roster, Washington nonetheless reloaded with a talented crop of nine freshmen newcomers.
Among the group are three players who were selected to the prestigious High School All-American Game in Alex Buck, Maggie Dutra and Andrea Leyva.
HOMECOMING
In addition to nine freshmen, Washington also adds a newcomer with proven experience at the college level in sophomore forward Sophie Runje. Runje, a product of nearby Issaquah High School in Issaquah, Washington, made the move back to King County after spending her freshman season across the state at Gonzaga. Runje scored five goals as a rookie, earning All-WCC Freshman Team plaudits.
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).
SETTING THE STAGE
15 of Washington's 31 goals during the 2023 came off of set pieces, with six goals coming as the result of corner kicks, five being scored off of free kicks and all four penalties being converted.
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.
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.
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.
Additionally, UW's two non-conference road matches will be streamed live via ESPN+.
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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