Sunday, September 22
Piscataway, NJ
10:00 AM
University of Washington
at
Rutgers
Huskies Wrap Up Coastal Tour With Sunday Matinee At Rutgers
September 21, 2024 | Women's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Fresh off a 3-0 victory at Maryland on Thursday, Washington women's soccer looks to keep the good times rolling up the eastern coast, taking on Rutgers at Yurcak Field Sunday at 10 a.m. PT.
The match will be streamed live on B1G+, with live stats available at HuskyStats.com.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
Mike O'Neill is in his 11th season at the helm of Rutgers, having been with the Scarlet Knights women's soccer program for the past 25 years. Under O'Neill, Rutgers has earned 12-consecutive bids to the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the College Cup twice.
Winners of five matches in a row, Rutgers enters Sunday's matchup with a 6-1-1 record, tied atop the Big Ten standings with six points after defeating Wisconsin and Oregon.
Junior midfielder Allie Post paces the Scarlet Knights with four goals, including a pair of match winners. Senior forward Riley Tiernan directs the Rutgers offense, ranking second in the nation with seven assists.
Redshirt-sophomore Olivia Bodmer is in her second season as the starting keeper in Piscataway. Bodmer has allowed just two goals in eight matches, good for a 0.25 goals-against-average. The New Jersey native has made 19 saves in 2024, owning a .905 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY
Washington and Rutgers have met up three times previously, though none have been in the last decade. The last matchup came in 2010, a 1-0 win for the Scarlet Knights in a neutral site matchup in Portland, Oregon. The two sides played a home-and-home in the late 90s, with Rutgers earning a 4-3 shootout victory in 1997 in Seattle and Washington answering with a 3-1 win in Piscataway the following year.
LAST MEETING (9/12/10)
PORTLAND, Ore. - After a scoreless first half, No. 24 Rutgers scored a goal late in the second half to pick up the 1-0 victory over the Washington Huskies in women's soccer non-conference action.
Washington outshot Rutgers 12-7 but the Scarlet Knights were able to get the winning goal in the back off the net in the 71st minute. The goal was off of a header by Tricia DiPaolo. The assist came from Julie Lancos and Jonelle Filigno off of the corner kick.
Senior McKenna Waitley had the first shot of the game for either team in the fifth minute, it was blocked in the box and she shot again off of the rebound but it was wide right.
UW had a great opportunity to tie the game late, when junior Alex Webber's shot hit the post in the 88th minute.
Waitley and freshman Lindsay Elston led the team with three shots each.
Junior Jorde LaFontaine-Kussmann got the start in goal for the Huskies. She made two saves, one in each half, and allowed the one goal. Her record is 1-2-1.
SOPHOMORE SURGE
Washington leading goal scorer Samiah Shell is enjoying a breakout sophomore campaign this season, pacing the Huskies with four goals after bagging a brace in Thursday's 3-0 at Maryland. Shell has been efficient with her opportunities, needing just 10 shots for her four goals and putting seven of those 10 attempts on frame. Appearing in 15 matches during her freshman season a year ago, Shell attempted just five shots as a rookie.
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 34 consecutive matches. Branson is the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and start the first eight fixtures of 2024.
INSTANT IMPACT
The Huskies have gotten immediate contributions from three true freshmen in Alex Buck, Kate Cheldelin and Andrea Leyva, with Cheldelin starting seven-consecutive matches on the back line and Leyva and Buck each making three starts and recording one assist apiece.
EMPTYING THE TANK
Kolo Suliafu has not come off the pitch in any of the last 14 matches for Washington, playing 1,260 straight minutes for the Huskies. Suliafu played the full 90 minutes in 13 of 18 matches played in 2023.
TITLE FAVORITES
Washington played two teams during its non-conference schedule that were projected to claim their respective conference's regular season championship in Long Beach State and Santa Clara, the Big West and WCC favorites. Meanwhile, Seattle U and New Mexico State were picked to finish second in the WAC and C-USA, respectively.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
2023 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 streamed live on B1G+, with live stats available at HuskyStats.com.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
Mike O'Neill is in his 11th season at the helm of Rutgers, having been with the Scarlet Knights women's soccer program for the past 25 years. Under O'Neill, Rutgers has earned 12-consecutive bids to the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the College Cup twice.
Winners of five matches in a row, Rutgers enters Sunday's matchup with a 6-1-1 record, tied atop the Big Ten standings with six points after defeating Wisconsin and Oregon.
Junior midfielder Allie Post paces the Scarlet Knights with four goals, including a pair of match winners. Senior forward Riley Tiernan directs the Rutgers offense, ranking second in the nation with seven assists.
Redshirt-sophomore Olivia Bodmer is in her second season as the starting keeper in Piscataway. Bodmer has allowed just two goals in eight matches, good for a 0.25 goals-against-average. The New Jersey native has made 19 saves in 2024, owning a .905 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY
Washington and Rutgers have met up three times previously, though none have been in the last decade. The last matchup came in 2010, a 1-0 win for the Scarlet Knights in a neutral site matchup in Portland, Oregon. The two sides played a home-and-home in the late 90s, with Rutgers earning a 4-3 shootout victory in 1997 in Seattle and Washington answering with a 3-1 win in Piscataway the following year.
LAST MEETING (9/12/10)
PORTLAND, Ore. - After a scoreless first half, No. 24 Rutgers scored a goal late in the second half to pick up the 1-0 victory over the Washington Huskies in women's soccer non-conference action.
Washington outshot Rutgers 12-7 but the Scarlet Knights were able to get the winning goal in the back off the net in the 71st minute. The goal was off of a header by Tricia DiPaolo. The assist came from Julie Lancos and Jonelle Filigno off of the corner kick.
Senior McKenna Waitley had the first shot of the game for either team in the fifth minute, it was blocked in the box and she shot again off of the rebound but it was wide right.
UW had a great opportunity to tie the game late, when junior Alex Webber's shot hit the post in the 88th minute.
Waitley and freshman Lindsay Elston led the team with three shots each.
Junior Jorde LaFontaine-Kussmann got the start in goal for the Huskies. She made two saves, one in each half, and allowed the one goal. Her record is 1-2-1.
SOPHOMORE SURGE
Washington leading goal scorer Samiah Shell is enjoying a breakout sophomore campaign this season, pacing the Huskies with four goals after bagging a brace in Thursday's 3-0 at Maryland. Shell has been efficient with her opportunities, needing just 10 shots for her four goals and putting seven of those 10 attempts on frame. Appearing in 15 matches during her freshman season a year ago, Shell attempted just five shots as a rookie.
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 34 consecutive matches. Branson is the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and start the first eight fixtures of 2024.
INSTANT IMPACT
The Huskies have gotten immediate contributions from three true freshmen in Alex Buck, Kate Cheldelin and Andrea Leyva, with Cheldelin starting seven-consecutive matches on the back line and Leyva and Buck each making three starts and recording one assist apiece.
EMPTYING THE TANK
Kolo Suliafu has not come off the pitch in any of the last 14 matches for Washington, playing 1,260 straight minutes for the Huskies. Suliafu played the full 90 minutes in 13 of 18 matches played in 2023.
TITLE FAVORITES
Washington played two teams during its non-conference schedule that were projected to claim their respective conference's regular season championship in Long Beach State and Santa Clara, the Big West and WCC favorites. Meanwhile, Seattle U and New Mexico State were picked to finish second in the WAC and C-USA, respectively.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
2023 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.
Players Mentioned
D
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
D/MF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
M/D
/ Women's Soccer
M/F
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F/M
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
M/F
/ Women's SoccerWashington 1, Wisconsin 0 | Huskies Highlights
Sunday, October 19
Washington 3, Minnesota 2 | Huskies Highlights
Friday, October 17
SECURED THAT DUB by Kelsey Branson
Friday, October 17
Second Goal from Avery Nguyen
Friday, October 17
