UW To Face No. 4 Arkansas Thursday In NCAA Second Round

Thursday, November 20

Charlottesville, Va.

Noon PT

University of Washington

Arkansas

Buy Tickets

Kalea Eichenberger plays a ball in the corner against Montana

November 19, 2025 | Women's Soccer

UW Notes Arkansas Notes Watch Live Stats NCAA Tournament Central

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Coming off of a dominant 2-0 home win over Montana in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, the Washington women's soccer team moves across the coast to the campus of the University of Virginia, taking on No. 4 Arkansas at Klöckner Stadium Thursday.

The match is set to kickoff at noon PT and will be available for streaming through ESPN+. Links to live coverage are available on the women's soccer schedule page at GoHuskies.com.

SCOUTING ARKANSAS
Arkansas is in its 14th season under head coach Colby Hale, who has earned four SEC Coach of the Year honors and guided the Razorbacks to five of the last seven SEC Regular Season Championships. Arkansas has made 12 NCAA Tournaments under Hale, including 10 straight.

Ranked No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, the Razorbacks enter Thursday's game with a 10-4-4 overall record, including 7-1-2 to top the SEC table.

The Razorbacks are led in scoring by freshman forward Vailana Tu'ua with six goals, also adding three assists to pace the Hogs with 15 points. Junior midfielder Kennedy Ball leads Arkansas with six assists.

The battery of senior Evelyn Vitali and sophomore sophomore Keegan Smith split time in goal for Arkansas. Vitali owns a 1.24 GAA with a .711 save percentage on 32 saves, while Smith has posted a 1.33 GAA, making 34 saves for a .773 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
Washington and Arkansas have met twice previously, with the Razorbacks earning a 3-2 double overtime win in Pullman, Washington, in 1993 and UW recording a 4-1 win in Seattle in 2002.

THE PEN IS MIGHTIER
Washington has won each of its last five penalty kick shootouts, dating all the way back to the 2010 season. UW claimed the Big Ten Tournament Championship on Sunday via penalties, roughly a year after defeating Iowa in the tournament quarterfinals in 2024. The Huskies would go on to defeat Utah State on penalties in the 2024 NCAA Tournament First Round. UW also advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 on penalties over Saint Louis in the Spring of 2021. In 2010, the Huskies defeated No. 2 ranked Portland on penalties, advancing to the Sweet 16 en route to the program's first Elite 8.

DOUBLED UP
Washington confirmed itself as the undisputed champions of the Big Ten, defeating No. 9 Michigan State 4-1 on penalties to claim its first-ever conference tournament championship. The Huskies are the first team to win both the Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament titles since Minnesota in 2016 and the first team to win both championships outright since Nebraska in 2013. Samiah Shell was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, while Tanner Ijams and Alex Buck were named to the All-Tournament Team. After making a pair of penalty shootout saves, Ijams was tabbed TopDrawerSoccer's National Player of the Week.

TOP DAWGS
With its 1-0 win over No. 15 Wisconsin on Senior Day, Washington secured the 2025 Big Ten Regular Season Championship, the program's first conference title since claiming the 2000 Pac-10 Championship. Alex Buck scored the decisive penalty in the victory, earning her second Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honor of the season.

STARTING STRONG
Washington has gotten off to quick starts all season, with 21 of UW's 33 goals for the season coming in the first half, including 12 goals inside the first 25 minutes of a match. The Huskies have led at the break in 15-of-22 matches in 2025.

GIANT KILLERS
Washington has defeated a top-5 team for the first time in program history with wins over No. 5 Michigan State (2024) and No. 4 UCLA (2025) at home. UW is undefeated at 5-0-1 vs. ranked teams in 2025.

POLL POSITION
Washington continues to be ranked inside the top-20 in both major polls, coming in at No. 3 in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25 and No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. UW's No. 3 ranking is its highest since climbing to No. 2 in 2000.

WE'RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER MANTEL
UW's Nicole Van Dyke was the unanimous selection for Big Ten Coach of the Year, Washington's third conference coach of the year nod (Lesle Gallimore, 2000 and 2019). Meanwhile, seven Huskies were named All-Big Ten, headlined by Defender of the Year Kolo Suliafu, UW's first defensive player of the year since Andrea Morelli earned the Pac-10's honor in 1999.

Suliafu (First Team) was joined by Alex Buck (First Team), Jadyn Holdenried (Second Team), Maya Loudd (Second Team), Kelsey Branson (Third Team), Anna Menti (Third Team) and Maylen Montoya (All-Freshman). UW's seven honorees is its most since garnering nine All-Pac-10 nods in 2000.

BUCKY'S BREAKOUT
All eight of Alex Buck's team-high eight goals have been scored since the start of conference play, tied for the second most in the Big Ten. Buck is tied for sixth in the Big Ten in total points and tied for seventh in total goals.

WINNER'S MENTALITY
Of the seven goals scored by Jadyn Holdenried this season, five have been match-winners, ranking 20th in the nation. The junior, who entered the season with four total goals in her first two seasons, ranks tied for 12th in the conference in goals (7) and tied for ninth in total points (18). UW is 10-0-1 all-time when Holdenried scores.

ROOKIE RECOGNITION
Having started 20 matches at outside back for the Huskies, true freshman Maylen Montoya was ranked as the 11th best freshman in the nation in TopDrawerSoccer's Top-100 Freshmen Rankings.

CROSS-COUNTRY CONQUEST
Penalties on both sides of the pitch proved the difference as Washington collected six crucial points with road wins over Penn State and No. 22 Ohio State. Kelsey Branson drew both pivotal spot kicks for the Huskies, with Jadyn Holdenried converting against PSU and Lucy Newlin scoring her penalty vs. OSU. With the flip script in the 89th minute against the Buckeyes, Husky keeper Tanner Ijams came up with a penalty save to preserve the 1-0 win for UW.

In recognition of her outstanding play during the week, Kolo Suliafu was named the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week, her second Defensive POTW honor of the season.

TINSEL TOWN TAKEDOWN
For the third time in program-history, Washington has defeated both of its LA-based conference foes. En route to earning top-15 victories over USC and UCLA, the stout Husky defense held the Trojans and Bruins to season-low totals in shots.

Washington made a statement in its Big Ten opener at No. 15 USC, defeating the Trojans 1-0 at Rawlinson Stadium. It was UW's first road win over a ranked opponent since topping then-No. 7 USC in 2019.

The Dawgs then locked up No. 4 UCLA in a 1-0 victory in Seattle to leapfrog to the top of the Big Ten table, Washington's highest-ranked win since 2017. Putting forth a ferocious defensive effort, UW held the Bruins without a first half shot, a feat that had not occurred since 2018.

The two wins netted Washington five Big Ten Player of the Week honors in total as Alex Buck and Kolo Suliafu earned respective Big Ten Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week nods following the win at USC, while Jadyn Holdenried, Maya Loudd and Maylen Montoya were tabbed Offensive Player, Defensive Player and Freshman of the Week after UW's win over UCLA.

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 has become one of UW's most dangerous weapons off the bench as a senior, scoring three times this season against Idaho, Minnesota and Oregon. Nguyen has made 33 career appearances for Washington.

STARTING XI FIXTURE
Since making seven-straight starts to end her freshman campaign, Kelsey Branson has not failed to crack the Huskies' starting XI a single time, a streak spanning 69 consecutive matches. Branson was the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and all 21 fixtures of 2024.

ALL ROADS CLOSED
The stout Husky defensive unit, which tied the program record for fewest goals allowed in a single season in 2024, surrendering just 12, is led by senior center back Kolo Suliafu, who was named to the United Soccer Coaches' Defenders to Watch list. Suliafu, a Second Team All-Big Ten and United Soccer Coaches All-Region selection, made 35 consecutive starts for Washington before a one-match ban to start the season and contributed to 33 clean sheets throughout her illustrious UW career, including 31 as a member of the starting XI. Suliafu was also ranked as the No. 91 player in all of women's college soccer in TopDrawerSoccer's annual preseason top-100 list.

WATCH OUT!
Suliafu was joined on the Big Ten Players to Watch List by a pair of teammates in junior midfielder Samiah Shell and fifth year Laura Cetina. It was Suliafu's second consecutive appearance on the preseason list.

Shell, a native of Auburn, Washington, is Washington's leading returning scorer with five goals during a breakout sophomore campaign. A former participant in the prestigious High School All-American Game, Shell also dished out three assists in 2024 for 13 total points. The Auburn Riverside HS product opened her Husky scoring account with a goal at No. 10 Santa Clara, also adding a brace in UW's Big Ten road victory over Maryland.

Meanwhile, Cetina is a fresh face to Montlake, joining Washington after playing the last two seasons at UMass Lowell, the former home of Husky All-Big Ten standout Ioanna Papatheodorou. Cetina brings a winning pedigree in tow, having guided Eastern Florida State College to its first-ever NJCAA National Championship in 2021. Prior to coming stateside, the A Coruña, Spain, native scored 38 goals over four seasons for Spanish club Victoria C.F.

KEEP SLEEPING
Despite grossly outperforming its preseason prognostication of 13th in the 2024 Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll, finishing tied for 5th in the league table and advancing to the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals, Washington was again not predicted to be amongst the league's top teams. The Huskies were picked to finish ninth in the 2025 iteration of the preseason poll, ultimately capturing the conference crown with a match in hand.

2025 Big Ten Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
1. USC
2. UCLA
3. Penn State
4. Michigan State
5. Ohio State
6. Iowa
7. Wisconsin
8. Rutgers
9. Washington
10. Minnesota
11. Purdue
12. Nebraska
13. Michigan
14. Northwestern
15. Illinois
16. Oregon
17. Indiana
18. Maryland

LEADING BY EXAMPLE
This summer, Washington senior Lucy Newlin was one of two UW athletes selected as a Big Ten's Outstanding Sportsmanship Award honoree, along with baseball's Malakhi Knight. A two-way player on the pitch and in the classroom, Newlin leads through both words and actions, showing consummate respect and sportsmanship for both her teammates and opponents. The NorCal native is also a leader in the community for the Dawgs, consistently rating as one of UW's top participants in community service initiatives. On the field, the Newlin is expected to be a key cog to the Husky defense after battling through nagging injuries in 2024.

LEFT SIDE, BEST SIDE
Of the 28 members of Washington's 2025 roster, 20 hail from West Coast states, featuring 11 natives of California, eight home state products from Washington and one product of the Portland suburbs in Oregon. However, Washington's squad spans the US and globe, with natives of Georgia, Kansas, Nevada and five internationals donning the Purple and Gold.

GOING STREAKING
Washington's 10-match unbeaten streak to open conference play was its longest in program-history, eclipsing the 2000 season when UW won the first eight Pac-10 matches. Overall, the 10-match streak was UW's longest unbeaten run since also rattling off 10 straight matches in 2009.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY
For the second consecutive season, Washington returns every member of its coaching staff, retaining assistant coaches Cole Schmit, Raphael Cox and Kary Whitney to Nicole Van Dyke's staff. Previously Washington had not returned every member of its coaching staff since 2018.

CROOTIN' ALL OVER THE WORLD
Washington spanned not only the country to bolster its roster in 2025, the Huskies searched all over the world to bring in the newest group of Dawgs. UW added five Europeans this summer in midfielder Laura Cetina (Spain/UMass Lowell), goalkeeper Cadi Doran (Wales/Liverpool FC), defender Julia Hüsch (Germany/UNC Asheville) and defender Anouk Westphal (Germany/Hertha BSC). Washington also returns junior Belgian international defender/midfielder Enora Matté, who has featured in 11 matches for UW this season after recovering from an ACL injury during Big Ten play in 2024.

VEGAS BORN, SEATTLE PROUD
Hailing from the Las Vegas desert, Washington sophomore Andrea Leyva and her brother, Seattle Sounders midfielder Danny Leyva now call the Evergreen State home. Andrea has appeared in 33 matches with 14 starts for UW and was ranked as a four star recruit and the No. 39 prospect in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer. Meanwhile, Danny has played in 102 matches in the MLS (86 for Seattle), becoming the third youngest player in league history after coming on as a late substitute in the Sounders' away loss to the Montreal Impact.

MENTI BE
Anna and Sally Menti, who starred at Roosevelt High School, less than three miles from Husky Soccer Stadium, have shared different paths to playing in front of their home state fans. Sally was an All-American midfielder at Santa Clara before signing a short-term contract and later a two-year extension this season with the NWSL's Seattle Reign, making 15 appearances with one goal and one assist. Meanwhile, Anna is in her third season at UW, making 57 appearances with 44 starts and collecting two goals and two assists along the way.

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