Penalty Kicks Send Washington To Elite Eight Over No. 7 Virginia

Sunday, November 23

Charlottesville, Va.

11 a.m. PT

University of Washington

15-2-7, 8-1-2

Virginia

14-3-5, 6-2-2

Washington

Virginia

Dawg pile celebration after the penalty shootout victory to reach the NCAA Elite Eight

Penalty Kicks Send Washington To Elite Eight Over No. 7 Virginia

November 23, 2025 | Women's Soccer

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – With one kick to keep the Huskies season alive, Lucy Newlin swung her left foot and sent her penalty into the right corner of goal, sending Washington past top-seed Virginia and into the Elite Eight on penalty kicks.

It is Washington's third time advancing to the Elite Eight round. The Huskies are seeking their first-ever trip to the NCAA College Cup.

Tanner Ijams saved the Cavaliers' first shootout attempt and from there, her teammates did the rest.

Anna Menti, Julia Hüsch, Alex Buck and Samiah Shell each calmly converted their attempts from the spot, setting up Newlin's clinching kick from 12 yards.

What seemed like several hours before that, Kalea Eichenberger put the Huskies on top early, unleashing a rocket from just outside the 18-yard box top bins into the upper 90 in the 12^th minute.

The Dawgs took the advantage into the half, where the shot disparity remained tight at 6-4 in favor of Virginia. However, a full-team defensive effort would be required the rest of the way as the Cavaliers racked up 23 shots from the start of the second half on, compared to just two UW.

Eight minutes into the second half, UVA's Addison Halpern leveled the score at a goal apiece, leaving Ijams no chance at a save with a perfectly placed hit right into the bottom corner.

Alex Buck drew a 62^nd minute penalty on a foul by UVA's Victoria Safradin inside the 18-yard box. However, the Cav keeper atoned by saving Jadyn Holdenried's spot kick, recovering quickly to also save Shell's attempted follow up.

The match's script was flipped in the 80^th minute when Eichenberger was shown a red card, putting the Huskies down to 10 players with 10 minutes remaining in regular time.

With heart, gut, guile and a little luck from the woodwork, Washington was able to hold Virginia off the scoreboard for the next 30 minutes through both overtime periods before providing the heroics in penalties.

The Huskies will head to play two seed and No. 11 ranked Duke in the Elite Eight on Friday, squaring off against the Blue Devils at 3:00 p.m. PT at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The match will be available for streaming on ESPN+.

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