Huskies Conclude Homestand With Thursday Night Matchup Against LBSU

Thursday, August 21

Seattle, Wash.

7:00 p.m. PT

University of Washington

Long Beach State

Huskies Conclude Homestand With Thursday Night Matchup Against LBSU

August 20, 2025 | Women's Soccer

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SEATTLE – Looking to build upon the momentum of Sunday's 4-0 victory over Idaho, the Washington women's soccer team finishes up three straight home matches to open the season on Thursday, hosting Long Beach State for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff at Husky Soccer Stadium.

Thursday's match will be available for streaming on B1G+. Links to tickets and full match coverage options are available on the schedule page at GoHuskies.com.

SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE
Mauricio Ingrassia is in his 22nd season at the helm of the Long Beach State program in 2025. Ingrassia is one of 82 active coaches at the NCAA Division I level with more than 200 career wins.

The Beach, picked to finish fourth in the Big West, are 1-1-0 in the early going of the season, opening with a 2-1 win over Hawaii before falling 2-1 at home to Texas on Sunday.

Three different LBSU players have scored the team's three goals this season, including one off the foot of former Husky attacker Radisson Banks, who transferred to Long Beach State this summer. Cherrie Cox and Natelle El Mokbel have also hit the back of the net.

Banks has been The Beach's most aggressive offensive force, firing off 10 shots on the season and putting five on goal.

Junior keeper Aurora Schuck, who played every minute for LBSU in 2024, is back between the posts. The Lakewood, California, native has allowed three goals over the Beach's two matches, making six saves.

SERIES HISTORY
Thursday's match will be the fourth all-time between Washington and Long Beach State, with the Huskies holding an undefeated record of 2-0-1 against LBSU. All three of the previous meetings have come in the last five seasons, including a 2-0 UW victory in Long Beach last season.

LAST MEETING (9/5/24)
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Washington scored late in half one and early in half two to take down Long Beach State 2-0 at George Allen Field.

Kalea Eichenberger put home her first goal of the season just before the halftime whistle, while Radisson Banks doubled the Husky lead mere minutes into the second half.

Meanwhile, Mia Hamant locked up her third clean sheet of the season, her second in as many matches. The California native made four stops on the night.

After fending off a few dangerous chances for the Beach in the early minutes, Ioanna Papatheodorou appeared to have given the Huskies the lead earlier in the match, putting the ball in the back of the net in the 22nd minute. However, the offside flag came up to negate the goal.

The Dawgs remained on the hunt for the opener and with just nine ticks left before the break, Eichenberger put UW on the board, tucking a looping header inside the upper 90.

Less than five minutes after the restart, the Dawgs had their second. Jadyn Holdenried got the attack started with a picture-perfect ball forward into Alex Buck's path. Buck was able to out muscle her defender before slipping a ball across the 18, allowing Banks to race onto it and slot her shot past the keeper, bulging the net.

With two goals to the good, the Huskies were able to salt away the remaining 40 minutes of action without much threat, rounding out their non-conference schedule with a clean sheet.

SHELL GAME
Bagging her second career brace in UW's 4-0 win over Idaho on Sunday, Samiah Shell finished the opening week of the season with five points. The five points tie Shell with Karlee Stueckle (2022) for the most during the opening week of the season since Tina Frimpong's six points on three goals in 2003. Shell's five points are tied for the third most in the Big Ten and 24th nationally.

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 got her senior off to a strong start on Sunday, scoring her first career goal in 14 career appearances for Washington.

PROTECT THIS HOUSE
Dating back to the end of the 2023 season, Washington has been defeated on its home soil just once in the last 15 matches at Husky Soccer Stadium. The Huskies own a 10-1-4 home record during the stretch, outscoring opponents 27-7.

DAWG DEBUTANTS
Washington saw X Huskies make their UW debut during the first week of the season. Laura Cetina, Mary Camp Newton and Maylen Montoya all donned the Purple and Gold for the first time in the season-opener versus Oregon State. Meanwhile, transfer Julia Hüsch and freshmen Vanessa Aguilar and Anouk Westphal made their first UW appearances against Idaho, later joined by sophomore Maggie Dutra, who played her first collegiate match after suffering an ACL injury during the 2024 preseason. In goal, junior Malie Chamberland made her Husky debut in relief of Tanner Ijams, combining for the clean sheet.

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 centerback 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, has made 35 consecutive starts for Washington and contributed to 22 clean sheets throughout her illustrious UW career, including 20 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.

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 49 consecutive matches. Branson is the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and all 21 fixtures of 2024.

SMART COOKIES
For the 10th straight season, Washington has received the United Soccer Coaches Academic Award after earning a 3.67 team GPA.

MIA KICKS CANCER
Washington will be playing for far more than bragging rights and glory on the pitch in 2025, sporting an orange ribbon on the front of its jerseys in support of senior goalkeeper Mia Hamant, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 SMARCB1-deficient kidney cancer. Hamant hopes to return to the pitch in Purple and Gold but will not suit up on the pitch in 2025.

The California native, who recently celebrated her 21st birthday, did more than just perform in her first season as Washington's primary keeper a season ago, she starred. Hamant posted the nation's third-best save percentage in 2024 at .882, while UW collectively hailed the NCAA's top save percentage. Hamant's 0.66 goals against average was the third lowest in a season for a UW keeper, while her seven clean sheets were the sixth most in a season for a Husky.

Hamant, who also excels in the classroom at U Dub as a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District and Big Ten Fall All-Academic honoree, put UW on her back during Washington's postseason run last season. The Redwood HS product was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team after making three penalty saves to lift UW over Iowa into the Big Ten Semifinals, then followed up with more penalty shootout excellence as UW advanced past No. 25 Utah State into the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

The UW community has rallied around Hamant, with several Husky programs donning orange ribbons in the standout shot stopper's honor. Additionally, a GoFundMe to support the various costs associated with Hamant's care has raised over $125,000 to date. Fans can follow along with Hamant's cancer journey on Instagram at @miakickscancer.

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 once again is 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, with USC predicted to win this season's league crown.

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

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.

HOME SWEET HOME
Washington will be forced to leave the friendly confines of its home state just once over the first seven matches of the season. UW opens the season with three-consecutive home fixtures at Husky Soccer Stadium, followed by the only trip across borders in non-conference play to UC Irvine. Road matches at in-state foes Seattle U and Gonzaga follow before UW wraps up non-Big Ten action at home against another former Pac-12 rival in Utah.

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.

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.

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 is set to resume action after tearing her ACL 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 appeared in 16 matches with 10 starts for UW as a freshman and was ranked as a four star recruit and the No. 39 prospect in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer. Meanwhile, Danny has played in 69 matches for Seattle's MLS club, 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
The Leyva's are not the only sibling connection in Seattle. 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 four appearances with one goal. Meanwhile, Anna is in her third season at UW, making 39 appearances with 25 starts and collecting two goals and two assists along the way.

For more information on Husky Women's Soccer, follow @UW_WSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.