Huskies Host No. 20 Northwestern On Friday Night

Friday, September 20

Seattle, Wash.

7:30 PM

University of Washington

Northwestern

Tickets

September 19, 2024 | Men's Soccer

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SEATTLE – Washington men's soccer returns to Husky Soccer Stadium for its Big Ten home opener against No. 20 Northwestern of Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and streaming on B1G+.

The Huskies enter the matchup with a 3-2-3 and 0-1-1 in Big Ten play.

LAST TIME OUT
UW is coming of its first conference road trip of the season, facing Michigan State and No. 22 Michigan, going 0-1-1 on the weekend. Peter Kingston scored the lone goal for the Dawgs on the trip in the ninth minute against the Wolverines.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Since 1997, the Huskies have posted a 184-66-21 overall record at Husky Soccer Stadium, winning at least eight matches in 13 seasons including a 10-1-2 mark in 2013. In 2022, the Huskies set a new program record for single-match attendance when 3,876 people came to see Washington take on Seattle U in the Fewing Cup (formerly WAC/101 Club Cup).

ROAD DAWGS
Dating back to the 2019 season, the Huskies are 27-8-10 in road contests. UW went undefeated in road matches twice during that span in 2022 (5-0-2) and 2021 (8-0-1). The Huskies also won eight road matches in 2019.

RANKED MATCHUPS
Since the 2019 season, the Huskies are 14-3-6 against ranked opponents in the regular season (at the time the game was played). Last season, Washington went 3-1-2 against ranked teams. UW went undefeated against ranked opponents in 2022 (2-0-1). In the last seven home matches against Top-5 teams, the Huskies hold a record of 6-1-0. This season, UW is 2-1-2 against the Top 25 (at the time the game was played) with victories over then No. 4 Oregon State and then No. 11 Seattle U - both at Husky Soccer Stadium.

THE RETURNERS
Plenty of experience returns for Washington with 24 returners from the 2023 team, including all-conference honorees Chris Meyers and Richie Aman. The Huskies return 61% of their goal production led by with Peter Kingston, Nick O'Brien, Mani Diop and Sean Sent who all had two goals apiece. UW also has 50% of their assists returning led by Kingston (5), Aman (4) and Cooper Brunell (3). O'Brien, Harrison Bertos and Joe Dale all had one assist. Kingston, Aman and Sent were all named to the Big Ten preseason players to watch list, that was announced earlier this week.

HOMEGROWN TALENT
The 2024 rosters see 17 of its 32 players (53%) from the state of Washington, with 13 from King County.

NEW DAWGS ON THE BLOCK
The Huskies brought in some new talent with six freshman and two transfers - Caden Buckley (Santa Clara) and Rhys Gourdie (San Diego). The WCC transfer duo were named to the all-conference team a season ago and have earned a conference championship at least once in their career. Incoming freshman, Zach Ramsey was named the 2023-24 Washington Boy's Soccer Gatorade Player of the Year after a stellar season at Mount Si. Ramsey is the first UW commit from the state of Washington to be named Gatorade player of the year since Michael Rojas in 2019. He is the second state Gatorade player of the year on the current roster joining Nani Deperro who won it for Oregon in 2022.

SETTING UP FOR SUCCESS
Of Washington's 10 goals on the season, six have come off of set pieces. Both goals against No. 9 Denver were on corners taken by Peter Kingston to Harrison Bertos and Egor Akulov. In the upset win over No. 4 Oregon State, Chris Meyers sent into the box for Joe Dale. Charlie Kosakoff's goal against Air Force was off a corner by Meyers. In the ninth minute against No. 11 Seattle U, Meyers took a corner that Richie Aman found the back of the net on.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Eight different Huskies have contributed goals for Washington this season led by Peter Kingston and Charlie Kosakoff with two each. Joe Dale, Zach Ramsey, Egor Akulov, Richie Aman, Harrison Bertos and Cooper Brunell have all contributed to the scoring.

THE STARTING XI
Sixteen different Huskies have earned a spot in the starting lineup this season. Chris Meyers, Egor Akulov, Richie Aman, Jadon Bowton and Caden Buckley have started in all eight matches. Peter Kingston, Harrison Bertos, Rhys Gourdie and Sean Sent have seven starts. Charlie Kosakoff and Joe Dale have made six appearances in the starting XI. Cooper Brunell (3), Nick O'Brien (2), Connor Lofy (1), Jack Maguire (1) and Chris Peretti (1) have all seen their names on the lineup sheet. Two Dawgs have played all 720 minutes thus far in Bowton and Akulov.

BIG SECOND HALVES
The second half has been a game changer for the Huskies so far this season, with six of their 10 total goals coming in the last 45 minutes of action.

DEBUT MOMENTS
Nine Huskies have made their debut in the Purple and Gold in the first three matches of the season. In the season opener at Portland, transfers Rhys Gourdie and Caden Buckley got starts, while Egor Akulov saw his first collegiate minutes in the start on Thursday. True freshman Gabe Fernandez came on as a sub in the second half. Conner Leber and Connor Lofy also saw minutes in the season opener. True freshman Alex Hall made his debut in the home opener against Oregon State on Monday night. Zach Ramsey played the final 45 minutes against Denver, recording an assist on Harrison Bertos' goal in the 63rd minute. Chad Sovde made his collegiate debut at Michigan State, tallying 15 minutes.

INSTANT IMPACT
True freshmen Alex Hall, Zach Ramsey and Gabe Fernandez have seen significant time for the Purple and Gold totaling 284 minutes between the trio. Ramsey in his 104 minutes of action has recorded an assist and a goal to be tied for fourth on the team with three points.

AMONG THE ACTIVE LEADERS
Chris Meyers is tied for 27th among active Division I players with 15 career assists. He's also tied for 49th with 69 matches played. Peter Kingston is tied for 20th with 73 appearances (between Seattle U and Washington).

HONOR ROLL
Peter Kingston – Big Ten Players to Watch
Richie Aman – Big Ten Players to Watch
Sean Sent – Big Ten Players to Watch
Chris Meyers – TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Week (Sept. 3), TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week (Sept. 3), Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 10), Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 17)

NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior defender Chris Meyers was tabbed TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Week on Sept. 3 following three consecutive matches with an assist against Oregon State, Denver and Air Force. All three assists came off corner kicks. He is the first Husky since Ilijah Paul in September 2022 to earn TDS National Player of the Week honors. He was named the program's first ever Big Ten player of the week on Sept. 10 following an assist in the upset victory over No. 11 Seattle U. Meyers racked up his second consecutive conference player of the week honor on Sept. 17 following his assist on Peter Kingston's goal in the ninth minute against No. 22 Michigan.

TOUGH SCHEDULE
The 2024 Washington men's soccer schedule features six teams that made the NCAA Tournament a season ago. UW opened the season with three consecutive ranked opponents for the first time in program history in No. 22 Portland, No. 4 Oregon State and No. 9 Denver. The Dawgs have faced six opponents - at the time the match was played - that were ranked including Friday's matchup with No. 20 Northwestern. Seven opponents are ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Week 4 poll. Washington is on a three-match unbeaten streak with a record of 0-0-3 against teams in the current Top 25 (No. 3 Denver, No. 15 San Diego and No. 16 Michigan).

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Northwestern enters the matchup with a record of 5-2-0 and ranked 20th in the United Soccer Coaches poll. Their only losses have come against No. 4 Western Michigan and RV UCLA. Goalkeeper Rafael Ponce De Leon ranks 10th in the NCAA in shutouts (3) and 11th with a 0.571 goals against average. All eight of Northwestern's goals have been scored by a different Wildcat.

SERIES HISTORY
This is the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

UP NEXT
The Huskies host another Top 25 team in No. 17 Wisconsin on Friday night. Kickoff from Husky Soccer Stadium is set for 7 p.m. PT and streaming on B1G+.

Tickets for the inaugural season in the Big Ten Conference are on sale now. Click here for more information.

HOW TO WATCH THE DAWGS
Aside from the Oregon State, Michigan and Ohio State matchups that will be featured on Big Ten Network, all UW home matches and Big Ten road matches will be available to stream via 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. For more information visit GoHuskies.com/BTN.

For more information on the UW men's soccer team, follow @UW_MSoccer on X and Instagram.