ST. LOUIS - The Washington women's soccer team invades the Gateway to the West on Thursday, taking on No. 8 UCLA in the semifinal round of the Big Ten Tournament at CITYPARK.
The match is set to kickoff at 2:30 p.m. PT and will air nationally on the Big Ten Network. A link to live stats is available at HuskyStats.com.
After avenging a loss to Iowa earlier in the season with a 5-4 penalty shootout win to advance through the quarterfinals, UW will seek more revenge, having fallen 1-0 to the Bruins in Los Angeles during the regular season.
SCOUTING UCLA
The Bruins are in their third season under the direction of head coach Margueritte
Aozasa, who led UCLA to a national championship in her first season, the first
rookie head coach to ever lead her team to the sports' highest peak. Aozasa
earned back-to-back Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors after leading the Bruins to
the Pac-12 title in 2023.
Ranked No. 8 in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer, UCLA finished its first season in the Big Ten second in the league table, earning an 8-1-2 conference record. UCLA is 14-3-3 overall, posting 13 clean sheets.
The Bruins are led in scoring by junior forward Bridgette Marin-Valencia and junior midfielder Sofia Cook with four goals apiece. Three of Cook's four goals in 2024 have been match-winners. Five different Bruins are tied for the team lead with a pair of assists.
UCLA placed eight players on the All-Big Ten teams, including Defender of the Year Lilly Reale and Freshman of the Year Nicki Fraser.
However, the main key to UCLA's success has been its lock down defense, which has surrendered just seven goals behind Second Team All-Big Ten keeper Ryan Campbell. The Stanford transfer owns a 0.35 goals against average and a .844 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY
UCLA's victory over Washington in LA this season marked nine-straight wins in the series for the Bruins. UCLA leads the all-time series 25-4-2, with the last Husky win coming in Seattle in 2015.
LAST MEETING (10/5/24)
LOS ANGELES - Despite controlling the pace of play for the majority of the match on a brisk night at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, Washington suffered a 1-0 loss to No. 18 UCLA.
The Huskies and Bruins were a dead heat in shots on the night at 15 apiece, though UCLA put six on goal to Washington's two. Though taking the loss, Husky keeper stood tall with five saves in the match.
Washington was chasing the equalizer for nearly the entire night after UCLA jumped ahead just over five minutes in on a Quincy McMahon goal.
The Dawgs responded immediately, ratcheting up the pressure on the Bruins and maintaining possession for the majority for the rest of the half. However, the Bruins held the advantage into the halftime break.
After the restart, the Huskies jumped right back on the offensive, knocking on the door for the proceeding 45 minutes in search of the equalizer.
came mere inches from punching back for the Huskies in the 68th minute, sending her shot narrowly wide.
also had a late look at the equalizer after cutting onto her right foot in the 84th minute. However, the junior's shot from about 23 yards sailed slightly over the crossbar.
POLL POSITION
Washington returned to the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25 this week at No. 22. UW was previously ranked No. 24 in the Week 9 poll.
TOURN-ABOUT IS FAIR PLAY
Washington avenged its regular season loss to Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, advancing over the Hawkeyes 5-4 on penalties behind three shootout saves from keeper . Hamant was rock solid in goal all night, making a career-high 12 saves, tied for seventh most all-time at UW and nearly double her previous career-high of seven.
GET HER TO THE GREEKS
During the final week of the regular season, UW senior striker earned a call up to the Greece National Team for 2025 European Championship qualifying action in Crete, Greece, and Leuven, Belgium. Papatheodorou entered as a sub in the 74th minute of Sunday's second leg as Belgium advanced through the playoff matchup.
It was the second senior team cap for Papatheodorou, who made the starting XI for Greece's 6-0 win over Andorra in group stage qualifying earlier this summer.
BRICK-BY-BRICK
Washington has proven to be one of the toughest defenses to crack in 2024, ranking seventh in the nation with a 0.494 team goals-against-average and second nationally with a 0.895 team save percentage. UW has posted 10 clean sheets, eclipsing its total of six from 2023. Along with UCLA, Washington is one of two Big Ten teams that did not allow multiple goals in a single conference match.
MAMA MIA
Junior has been a breakout star for Washington in 2024, ranking fourth in the nation and first in the Big Ten with an .901 save percentage as well as 11th in the NCAA and second in the B1G in goals-against-average at 0.510. Hamant has garnered seven of UW's 10 clean sheets this season.
SPARTY PARTY
Washington's victory over No. 5 Michigan State on Sunday was UW's first win over a top-5 ranked team since 2017, when the Huskies defeated No. 2 Florida 1-0 at Husky Soccer Stadium.
ROOKIE RECOGNITION
Washington's , a midfielder out of Las Vegas, came in at No. 56 in TopDrawerSoccer's midseason Top-100 Freshman rankings. Leyva has appeared in 15 matches for the Huskies, cracking the Starting XI 10 times.
YES INDEED I CAN RUN IT, RUN IT
While Washington made its living largely off of set piece opportunities in 2023, the vast majority of the Huskies' 24 goals in 2024 have come through build-up play. The Huskies have scored 16 times this season from the run of play, compared to eight goals coming off of set pieces.
STARTING XI FIXTURE
Since making seven-straight starts to end her freshman campaign, junior has not failed to crack the Huskies' starting XI a single time, a streak spanning 44 consecutive matches. Branson is the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and all 18 fixtures of 2024.
EMPTYING THE TANK
has not come off the pitch in any of the last 23 matches for Washington, playing 2,090 straight minutes for the Huskies. Suliafu played the full 90 minutes in 13 of 18 matches played in 2023.
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%).
B1G PAPI
Leading Washington to a six-point weekend with wins over Michigan and No. 5 Michigan State, senior striker was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. The Greek international bagged four goals on the week, including both match winners. Papatheodorou both scored the equalizing goal and gave Washington the lead in Thursday's 3-1 victory over the Wolverines, then doubled down with a pair of long range free kick strikes, the second with just over five minutes left on the clock, to lift the Huskies 2-1 over the Spartans on Sunday.
Papatheodorou is Washington's first-ever Big Ten Player of the Week honoree and the first Husky to earn conference player of the week honors since and were named the Pac-12 Offensive Player and Goalkeeper of the Week for week 9 of 2023 after Washington's 1-1 draw at No. 2 Stanford.
The senior was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the week and reeled in NCAA Player of the Week laurels.
PAYING (OFF) THE PENALTY
is about as sure of a thing from the penalty spot as there is in college soccer. The senior has converted seven of the eight spot kicks taken in her career, including each of the last five. Papatheodorou has been called to take a penalty exactly twice in all four of her collegiate seasons.
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.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
For the first time since 2018, Washington returns every member of its coaching staff, retaining assistant coaches , and to '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.
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 and and defender .
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.
YOU CAN FIND ME IN DA CLUB
One of the more unique paths to the Husky roster comes from junior , 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.
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.
2024 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.