Thursday, August 27
Seattle, Wash.
5:00 p.m. PT
University of Washington
vs
Gonzaga
No. 11 Washington Hosts In-State Foe Gonzaga Thursday Night In Seattle
August 26, 2026 | Women's Soccer
SEATTLE – With three wins in tow to start the season, the No. 11 Washington women's soccer team looks to continue its winning ways on Thursday, playing host to in-state foe Gonzaga at 5:00 p.m. PT at Husky Soccer Stadium.
The match is part of a Dawg Doubleheader, with the UW men's team facing No. 3 Portland at 8:00 p.m. Fans with a ticket to either match will be granted admission to both.
It will also be Pups at the Pitch at Husky Soccer Stadium, encouraging fans to bring their dogs to the match and cheer on the Dawgs. A liability waiver required upon entrance to Husky Soccer Stadium.
Thursday's match will be available for streaming through B1G+. Links to live coverage are available on the women's soccer schedule page at GoHuskies.com.
SCOUTING GONZAGA
Katie Benz is in her third season as head coach at Gonzaga, moving to Spokane for the 2021 season initially as an assistant coach. A member of the 2023 West Region Staff of the Year at GU, Benz has led the Bulldogs to 20 wins in her first two-plus seasons at the helm.
Picked tied for sixth in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll, the Bulldogs have split their first four matches at 2-2-0, earning wins over South Florida and New Mexico, while falling to Oregon and Oregon.
After earning National Player of the Week honors after Week One with four goals, Shoreline native Amelia Severn paces GU with five goals and two assists. Kenmore product Samantha Snorsky has added the Bulldogs' other four goals in 2026, adding an assist.
Junior keeper Sydney Head, a teammate of UW Second Year Maylen Montoya at Amador Valley HS in Pleasanton, California, has started all four matches for Gonzaga. Head owns a 1.75 GAA, making 18 saves for a .720 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY
Washington owns a dominating 12-1-1 record all-time against Gonzaga, including 6-1-0 on its home pitch. UW is undefeated in its last seven against the Bulldogs with a 6-0-1 record over the stretch. Prior to UW's 1-0 win in Spokane last season, the two sides had not met since 2015.
LAST MEETING (Aug. 31, 2025)
SPOKANE, Wash. - Washington took the lead early in Spokane and made it stick, fending off sweltering temps as well as the Gonzaga attack in a 1-0 victory at Luger Field Sunday.
UW outshot the Bulldogs 10-4 on the day, with Husky keeper Tanner Ijams dealing with the lone shot on goal Gonzaga could muster.
The Huskies jumped ahead less than seven minutes in behind the right boot of Jadyn Holdenried.
Playing a one-two with Alex Buck, Holdenried touched off a pass and took off on a run, meeting Buck's through ball in stride and slotting a shot past the charging keeper to put the Dawgs in front.
With the lead in tow, Washington continued to boss the pace of play throughout the rest of the first half, but was unable to add to the advantage, hitting the halftime break up 1-0.
Holdenried nearly made it a brace shortly after the restart. Capitalizing on a Gonzaga turnover in the attacking third, Ava Morton found the junior all alone at the top of the 18. Holdenried's strike was true but rose just high, clearing the crossbar.
The Dawgs continued to pile on the pressure in search of a second goal but were unable to breakthrough. However, UW was able to kill away the closing minutes expertly
DEFEND THE THRONE
Washington enters 2026 with a target on its back, winning the Big Ten double a season ago as the league's regular season and conference champions, UW's first conference championship since 2000. UW became the first league team to claim the Big Ten double since Minnesota in 2016 and the first school to win both championships undisputed since Nebraska in 2013.
POLL POSITION
Despite a 2-0-0 week, Washington slipped one spot to No. 11 in the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches Poll. It is the eighth straight week UW has appeared in the poll. In the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25, the Huskies moved up one spot to the No. 2 slot, tied for the highest ranking in program history.
STARTING STRONG
Washington is 3-0-0 start since the 2014 season and is seeking its first 4-0-0 start since 2012, when the Huskies rattled off seven straight wins to open the season.
STACKING BRICKS
The Huskies have demonstrated one of the nation's stingiest defenses over the last two-plus season, tying the program record for clean sheets with 11 in 2024 before breaking said record with 12 shutouts in 2025. With a clean sheet Thursday versus Gonzaga, UW will have four straight clean sheets to open a season for the first time in program history. UW's 26 clean sheets since the start of the 2024 season are tied for the fourth-most in the nation, second most among Power Five programs.
Most Shutouts since 2024
Georgetown – 28
Mississippi State – 27
Saint Louis - 27
Washington - 26
Dayton - 26
Florida State - 26
Montana – 26
North Carolina - 26
UCLA – 26
Utah State – 26
Duke – 25
Lipscomb – 25
Virginia - 25
TOP DRAWER TALENT
Washington has two players listed in TopDrawerSoccer's Top-100 player rankings, with third year forward Alex Buck slotting in at No. 26 and third year goalkeeper Tanner Ijams coming in at No. 65. Buck, who was also named TopDrawerSoccer Third Team Best XI, ranked third in the Big Ten in points in 2025, while Ijams' 0.67 GAA was the fourth-lowest in a season in Husky history, tying the program record for single season clean sheets with 11.
VET SCHOOL
Washington boasts a roster laden with experience, with 17 of 30 Huskies in their third collegiate season or later. Of the eight returning starters for Washington, seven own at least two seasons of collegiate experience. Included in the group of veteran leaders for UW are fifth years Lucy Newlin and Avery Nguyen, who return for a final season after receiving waivers this offseason, as well as sixth-year South Dakota State transfer Taylor Thomas.
THREE TO WATCH
Washington boasts three players among the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches MAC Hermann Trophy Positional Players to Watch. The Dawgs are represented up and down the field with defender Maya Loudd, midfielder Jadyn Holdenried and forward Alex Buck tabbed to their respective lists.
SAVING HER BEST
Alex Buck has scored all 11 of her career goals after the start of conference play, including nine such goals in 2025, tied for the most in the Big Ten.
WINNER'S MENTALITY
Of the eight goals scored by Jadyn Holdenried since the start of 2025, six have been match-winners, the most by any Husky in that time frame. The fourth year, who entered last season with four total goals in her first two seasons, has scored eight times since. UW is 11-0-1 all-time when Holdenried scores.
HITTING THE WORLD STAGE
Alex Buck and Grace Duncan will represent their home nations at the U20 World Cup in Poland in September, suiting up for the USWNT and the Football Ferns of New Zealand, respectively. Slotted in Group D, the two teammates will face off on Sept. 12 at Arena Sosnowiec.
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 35 career appearances for Washington.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATION
Washington was picked to finish third in its title-defending season in the 2026 Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll, receiving the third-most votes behind predicted champion Michigan State and UCLA. UW was selected ninth in the 2025 iteration of the preseason poll, going on to win the regular season title with a match in hand.
2026 Big Ten Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
1. Michigan State
2. UCLA
3. Washington
4. Wisconsin
5. Ohio State
6. Penn State
7. USC
8. Northwestern
9. Illinois
10. Iowa
11. Michigan
12. Nebraska
13. Purdue
14. Minnesota
15. Rutgers
16. Indiana
17. Maryland
18. Oregon
THE NOTORIOUS NVD
Washington locked up reigning unanimous Big Ten Coach of the Year Nicole Van Dyke this offseason, inking the Husky gaffer to a contract extension through the 2030 season. The extension comes after Van Dyke led the Dawgs to the NCAA Elite Eight for the third time on program-history, the third NCAA Tournament bid during Van Dyke's UW tenure. In her six seasons on Montlake, Van Dyke has guided Washington to 60 wins and has developed 15 all-conference players, including All-Americans Summer Yates, Kolo Suliafu and Alex Buck.
HERE TO ASSIST
The Washington sideline will have a new look this season with three new assistant coaches manning the bench.
Whitney Pitalo joins the UW staff after serving as head coach at Cal State Bakersfield in 2025. Pitalo previously resided in the Evergreen State as an assistant coach at Gonzaga, earning United Soccer Coaches West Region Staff of the Year honors in 2023.
Paige Brandt will direct the development of the Husky goalkeepers, coaching All-WCC Honorable Mention keeper Mya Sanchez during her lone season in the same role at Oregon State.
After three seasons as UW's program coordinator, Husky alum Mary Walstad joins the coaching staff in 2026. Walstad appeared in 42 matches with 38 starts over four seasons at Washington from 2019-2022.
LEFT SIDE, BEST SIDE
Of the 30 members of Washington's 2026 roster, 22 hail from West Coast states, featuring 11 homegrown products of Washington, 10 natives of California and one player from the Portland suburbs in Oregon. However, Washington's squad spans the US and globe, with natives of Georgia, Kansas, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia as well as a pair of internationals from Belgium and New Zealand donning the Purple and Gold.
SMART COOKIES
For the 11th-straight season, Washington has received the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award after posting a 3.50 cumulative GPA team GPA.
At the individual level, fifth year Lucy Newlin received UW's Academic Excellence Award for 2026 for graduating with the highest cumulative GPA among graduating student-athletes at 3.98. Newlin also received the Big Ten's Wayne Duke Postgraduate Scholarship and was one of two UW student-athletes to receive the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2024-25.
NATTY TEAM CALLING
This summer, All-American forward Alex Buck has played all across the country and globe, representing the Stars and Stripes with the U20 United States Women's National Team. Earning her first national team caps, Buck has been rostered for friendlies against Brazil, England and Columbia stateside, while traveling across the pond to Spain to take on France.
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 last season with the NWSL's Seattle Reign, making 33 appearances and 21 starts with three goals and two assists. Meanwhile, Anna is in her fourth season at UW, making 63 appearances with 49 starts and collecting two goals and three assists along the way.
TURN ON THE TUBE
Washington will be featured in front of a national audience on the Big Ten Network three times during the regular season, tied for the most of any conference member. The Huskies' home battles with Maryland and Rutgers will both air on the network, while October's road trip to Tinsel Town will get the big screen treatment as Washington takes on UCLA. All UW home matches not selected for the Big Ten Network will be available for streaming through B1G+.
For more information on Husky Women's Soccer, follow @UW_WSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
The match is part of a Dawg Doubleheader, with the UW men's team facing No. 3 Portland at 8:00 p.m. Fans with a ticket to either match will be granted admission to both.
It will also be Pups at the Pitch at Husky Soccer Stadium, encouraging fans to bring their dogs to the match and cheer on the Dawgs. A liability waiver required upon entrance to Husky Soccer Stadium.
Thursday's match will be available for streaming through B1G+. Links to live coverage are available on the women's soccer schedule page at GoHuskies.com.
SCOUTING GONZAGA
Katie Benz is in her third season as head coach at Gonzaga, moving to Spokane for the 2021 season initially as an assistant coach. A member of the 2023 West Region Staff of the Year at GU, Benz has led the Bulldogs to 20 wins in her first two-plus seasons at the helm.
Picked tied for sixth in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll, the Bulldogs have split their first four matches at 2-2-0, earning wins over South Florida and New Mexico, while falling to Oregon and Oregon.
After earning National Player of the Week honors after Week One with four goals, Shoreline native Amelia Severn paces GU with five goals and two assists. Kenmore product Samantha Snorsky has added the Bulldogs' other four goals in 2026, adding an assist.
Junior keeper Sydney Head, a teammate of UW Second Year Maylen Montoya at Amador Valley HS in Pleasanton, California, has started all four matches for Gonzaga. Head owns a 1.75 GAA, making 18 saves for a .720 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY
Washington owns a dominating 12-1-1 record all-time against Gonzaga, including 6-1-0 on its home pitch. UW is undefeated in its last seven against the Bulldogs with a 6-0-1 record over the stretch. Prior to UW's 1-0 win in Spokane last season, the two sides had not met since 2015.
LAST MEETING (Aug. 31, 2025)
SPOKANE, Wash. - Washington took the lead early in Spokane and made it stick, fending off sweltering temps as well as the Gonzaga attack in a 1-0 victory at Luger Field Sunday.
UW outshot the Bulldogs 10-4 on the day, with Husky keeper Tanner Ijams dealing with the lone shot on goal Gonzaga could muster.
The Huskies jumped ahead less than seven minutes in behind the right boot of Jadyn Holdenried.
Playing a one-two with Alex Buck, Holdenried touched off a pass and took off on a run, meeting Buck's through ball in stride and slotting a shot past the charging keeper to put the Dawgs in front.
With the lead in tow, Washington continued to boss the pace of play throughout the rest of the first half, but was unable to add to the advantage, hitting the halftime break up 1-0.
Holdenried nearly made it a brace shortly after the restart. Capitalizing on a Gonzaga turnover in the attacking third, Ava Morton found the junior all alone at the top of the 18. Holdenried's strike was true but rose just high, clearing the crossbar.
The Dawgs continued to pile on the pressure in search of a second goal but were unable to breakthrough. However, UW was able to kill away the closing minutes expertly
DEFEND THE THRONE
Washington enters 2026 with a target on its back, winning the Big Ten double a season ago as the league's regular season and conference champions, UW's first conference championship since 2000. UW became the first league team to claim the Big Ten double since Minnesota in 2016 and the first school to win both championships undisputed since Nebraska in 2013.
POLL POSITION
Despite a 2-0-0 week, Washington slipped one spot to No. 11 in the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches Poll. It is the eighth straight week UW has appeared in the poll. In the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25, the Huskies moved up one spot to the No. 2 slot, tied for the highest ranking in program history.
STARTING STRONG
Washington is 3-0-0 start since the 2014 season and is seeking its first 4-0-0 start since 2012, when the Huskies rattled off seven straight wins to open the season.
STACKING BRICKS
The Huskies have demonstrated one of the nation's stingiest defenses over the last two-plus season, tying the program record for clean sheets with 11 in 2024 before breaking said record with 12 shutouts in 2025. With a clean sheet Thursday versus Gonzaga, UW will have four straight clean sheets to open a season for the first time in program history. UW's 26 clean sheets since the start of the 2024 season are tied for the fourth-most in the nation, second most among Power Five programs.
Most Shutouts since 2024
Georgetown – 28
Mississippi State – 27
Saint Louis - 27
Washington - 26
Dayton - 26
Florida State - 26
Montana – 26
North Carolina - 26
UCLA – 26
Utah State – 26
Duke – 25
Lipscomb – 25
Virginia - 25
TOP DRAWER TALENT
Washington has two players listed in TopDrawerSoccer's Top-100 player rankings, with third year forward Alex Buck slotting in at No. 26 and third year goalkeeper Tanner Ijams coming in at No. 65. Buck, who was also named TopDrawerSoccer Third Team Best XI, ranked third in the Big Ten in points in 2025, while Ijams' 0.67 GAA was the fourth-lowest in a season in Husky history, tying the program record for single season clean sheets with 11.
VET SCHOOL
Washington boasts a roster laden with experience, with 17 of 30 Huskies in their third collegiate season or later. Of the eight returning starters for Washington, seven own at least two seasons of collegiate experience. Included in the group of veteran leaders for UW are fifth years Lucy Newlin and Avery Nguyen, who return for a final season after receiving waivers this offseason, as well as sixth-year South Dakota State transfer Taylor Thomas.
THREE TO WATCH
Washington boasts three players among the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches MAC Hermann Trophy Positional Players to Watch. The Dawgs are represented up and down the field with defender Maya Loudd, midfielder Jadyn Holdenried and forward Alex Buck tabbed to their respective lists.
SAVING HER BEST
Alex Buck has scored all 11 of her career goals after the start of conference play, including nine such goals in 2025, tied for the most in the Big Ten.
WINNER'S MENTALITY
Of the eight goals scored by Jadyn Holdenried since the start of 2025, six have been match-winners, the most by any Husky in that time frame. The fourth year, who entered last season with four total goals in her first two seasons, has scored eight times since. UW is 11-0-1 all-time when Holdenried scores.
HITTING THE WORLD STAGE
Alex Buck and Grace Duncan will represent their home nations at the U20 World Cup in Poland in September, suiting up for the USWNT and the Football Ferns of New Zealand, respectively. Slotted in Group D, the two teammates will face off on Sept. 12 at Arena Sosnowiec.
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 35 career appearances for Washington.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATION
Washington was picked to finish third in its title-defending season in the 2026 Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll, receiving the third-most votes behind predicted champion Michigan State and UCLA. UW was selected ninth in the 2025 iteration of the preseason poll, going on to win the regular season title with a match in hand.
2026 Big Ten Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
1. Michigan State
2. UCLA
3. Washington
4. Wisconsin
5. Ohio State
6. Penn State
7. USC
8. Northwestern
9. Illinois
10. Iowa
11. Michigan
12. Nebraska
13. Purdue
14. Minnesota
15. Rutgers
16. Indiana
17. Maryland
18. Oregon
THE NOTORIOUS NVD
Washington locked up reigning unanimous Big Ten Coach of the Year Nicole Van Dyke this offseason, inking the Husky gaffer to a contract extension through the 2030 season. The extension comes after Van Dyke led the Dawgs to the NCAA Elite Eight for the third time on program-history, the third NCAA Tournament bid during Van Dyke's UW tenure. In her six seasons on Montlake, Van Dyke has guided Washington to 60 wins and has developed 15 all-conference players, including All-Americans Summer Yates, Kolo Suliafu and Alex Buck.
HERE TO ASSIST
The Washington sideline will have a new look this season with three new assistant coaches manning the bench.
Whitney Pitalo joins the UW staff after serving as head coach at Cal State Bakersfield in 2025. Pitalo previously resided in the Evergreen State as an assistant coach at Gonzaga, earning United Soccer Coaches West Region Staff of the Year honors in 2023.
Paige Brandt will direct the development of the Husky goalkeepers, coaching All-WCC Honorable Mention keeper Mya Sanchez during her lone season in the same role at Oregon State.
After three seasons as UW's program coordinator, Husky alum Mary Walstad joins the coaching staff in 2026. Walstad appeared in 42 matches with 38 starts over four seasons at Washington from 2019-2022.
LEFT SIDE, BEST SIDE
Of the 30 members of Washington's 2026 roster, 22 hail from West Coast states, featuring 11 homegrown products of Washington, 10 natives of California and one player from the Portland suburbs in Oregon. However, Washington's squad spans the US and globe, with natives of Georgia, Kansas, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia as well as a pair of internationals from Belgium and New Zealand donning the Purple and Gold.
SMART COOKIES
For the 11th-straight season, Washington has received the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award after posting a 3.50 cumulative GPA team GPA.
At the individual level, fifth year Lucy Newlin received UW's Academic Excellence Award for 2026 for graduating with the highest cumulative GPA among graduating student-athletes at 3.98. Newlin also received the Big Ten's Wayne Duke Postgraduate Scholarship and was one of two UW student-athletes to receive the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2024-25.
NATTY TEAM CALLING
This summer, All-American forward Alex Buck has played all across the country and globe, representing the Stars and Stripes with the U20 United States Women's National Team. Earning her first national team caps, Buck has been rostered for friendlies against Brazil, England and Columbia stateside, while traveling across the pond to Spain to take on France.
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 last season with the NWSL's Seattle Reign, making 33 appearances and 21 starts with three goals and two assists. Meanwhile, Anna is in her fourth season at UW, making 63 appearances with 49 starts and collecting two goals and three assists along the way.
TURN ON THE TUBE
Washington will be featured in front of a national audience on the Big Ten Network three times during the regular season, tied for the most of any conference member. The Huskies' home battles with Maryland and Rutgers will both air on the network, while October's road trip to Tinsel Town will get the big screen treatment as Washington takes on UCLA. All UW home matches not selected for the Big Ten Network will be available for streaming through B1G+.
For more information on Husky Women's Soccer, follow @UW_WSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
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GK
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MF/D
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MF
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F
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D
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/ Women's SoccerSunday, August 23
Sunday, August 23
Sunday, August 23
Sunday, August 23
