Thursday, September 18
Seattle, Wash.
7:00 p.m. PT
University of Washington
vs
Northwestern
Husky Women’s Soccer To Host No. 24 Northwestern For Hispanic Heritage Night
September 17, 2025 | Women's Soccer
SEATTLE – Looking to build off the momentum of last week's 1-0 road victory at No. 15 USC, the Washington women's soccer team returns home for a pair of matches on the week, beginning with No. 24 Northwestern Thursday night at Husky Soccer Stadium.
The Huskies, who entered the "receiving votes" section of the United Soccer Coaches Poll for the first time this week, will be hosting Hispanic Heritage Night for the 7:00 p.m. PT kickoff. Early fans in attendance will receive a specially designed t-shirt.
Thursday night'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 NORTHWESTERN
Michael Moynihan, the all-time winningest head coach in the history of Northwestern women's soccer with 130 victories, is in his 14th season in Evanston. Moynihan has guided the Wildcats to five NCAA Tournament appearances, the most recent in 2022. Before Northwestern, Moynihan racked up nearly 200 wins over 15 seasons at Milwaukee.
Northwestern, ranked No. 24 in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25, enter Thursday's match with a 4-1-3 record, opening Big Ten play with a 1-1 draw at No. 11 Iowa. The Wildcats are 3-1-2 away from home, including a marquee 1-0 victory at No. 4 TCU on Sept. 4.
Northwestern is led in scoring by sophomore forward Kennedy Roesch, who also led the Wildcats with six goals as a rookie in 2024. Roesch has found the back of the net three times, adding one assist for seven total points. She is tied for the team lead in points with sophomore midfielder/forward Alex Fallon, who owns seven points on two goals and three assists.
True freshman Nyamma Nelson, a Portland metro native, has started all eight matches between the posts for Northwestern. Nelson boasts a 0.90 goals against average on seven goals allowed. The rookie has made 25 saves for a .781 save percentage, racking up four clean sheets.
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday's match will be just the second ever between Washington and Northwestern, the first in over 24 years. In the only other matchup between the two sides, the Dawgs came out on top 1-0 in overtime in a neutral site matchup at Utah State in Logan, Utah.
LAST MEETING (9/3/01)
LOGAN, Utah - Sophomore Katie Ernst scored the lone goal in the seventh minute of overtime Monday, lifting the ninth-ranked Washington women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Northwestern at Utah State's Aggie Field.
Ernst tallied her first collegiate score, a "golden goal" that ended the game at 96:13. A product of Issaquah's Liberty High School, Ernst received a through ball from Jaime Carstensen and pushed an eight-yard shot past Wildcat goalkeeper Susan McCreery.
The UW defense was dominant again, prompting All-America goalkeeper Hope Solo to make only one save. Solo, a junior from Richland High School, played the entire game.
Solo departed immediately after the game for Chicago where she will train with the U.S. National Team in preparation for the Nike U.S. Cup later this month. She is expected to miss two games this weekend and rejoin her Husky teammates in time for a Sept. 14 meeting with No. 4 Nebraska.
STARTING STRONG
Washington has gotten off to quick starts all season, with nine of UW's 12 goals for the season coming in the first half, including five goals inside the first 25 minutes of a match. The Huskies have led at the break in 7-of-8 matches in 2025.
TINSEL TOWN TAKEOVER
Washington made a statement in its Big Ten opener at No. 15 USC, defeating the Trojans behind Alex Buck's first half goal, her first of the season. The victory was UW's first over USC since 2019, which was also the Dawgs' first road win over a ranked opponent since that victory over then-No. 7 USC in 2019. The Huskies are the second team to record a clean sheet against the star studded Trojan offense, holding USC to a season-low six shots.
For their efforts, Buck was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, while Kolo Suliafu was tabbed the league's Defensive Player of the Week. It was the first career Big Ten Player of the Week nod for either player.
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
Washington has allowed just four goals this season, the same scoring output through eight matches the Huskies allowed during the 2024 season in which UW matched the program record for goals conceded in a single season at 12. The Huskies have allowed four goals or fewer through eight matches in 4-of-6 seasons under head coach Nicole Van Dyke.
WELCOME BACK, DAWGS
Washington has seen two players return from season-ending ACL injuries in 2025. Maggie Dutra made her collegiate debut against Idaho after going down during the 2024 preseason, while Enora Matté has come off the bench in each of the last five matches, her first action since injuring her knee against Purdue a season ago.
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 gotten her senior season off to a strong start, scoring her first career goal against Idaho. Nguyen has made 19 career appearances for Washington.
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, made 35 consecutive starts for Washington before a one-match ban to start the season and contributed to 24 clean sheets throughout her illustrious UW career, including 22 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.
SMART COOKIES
For the 10th straight season, Washington has received the United Soccer Coaches Academic Award after earning a 3.67 team GPA.
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 55 consecutive matches. Branson was the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and all 21 fixtures of 2024.
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.
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.
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 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 has appeared in 23 matches with 13 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 96 matches in the MLS (80 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
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 11 appearances with one goal. Meanwhile, Anna is in her third season at UW, making 45 appearances with 31 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.
The Huskies, who entered the "receiving votes" section of the United Soccer Coaches Poll for the first time this week, will be hosting Hispanic Heritage Night for the 7:00 p.m. PT kickoff. Early fans in attendance will receive a specially designed t-shirt.
Thursday night'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 NORTHWESTERN
Michael Moynihan, the all-time winningest head coach in the history of Northwestern women's soccer with 130 victories, is in his 14th season in Evanston. Moynihan has guided the Wildcats to five NCAA Tournament appearances, the most recent in 2022. Before Northwestern, Moynihan racked up nearly 200 wins over 15 seasons at Milwaukee.
Northwestern, ranked No. 24 in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25, enter Thursday's match with a 4-1-3 record, opening Big Ten play with a 1-1 draw at No. 11 Iowa. The Wildcats are 3-1-2 away from home, including a marquee 1-0 victory at No. 4 TCU on Sept. 4.
Northwestern is led in scoring by sophomore forward Kennedy Roesch, who also led the Wildcats with six goals as a rookie in 2024. Roesch has found the back of the net three times, adding one assist for seven total points. She is tied for the team lead in points with sophomore midfielder/forward Alex Fallon, who owns seven points on two goals and three assists.
True freshman Nyamma Nelson, a Portland metro native, has started all eight matches between the posts for Northwestern. Nelson boasts a 0.90 goals against average on seven goals allowed. The rookie has made 25 saves for a .781 save percentage, racking up four clean sheets.
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday's match will be just the second ever between Washington and Northwestern, the first in over 24 years. In the only other matchup between the two sides, the Dawgs came out on top 1-0 in overtime in a neutral site matchup at Utah State in Logan, Utah.
LAST MEETING (9/3/01)
LOGAN, Utah - Sophomore Katie Ernst scored the lone goal in the seventh minute of overtime Monday, lifting the ninth-ranked Washington women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Northwestern at Utah State's Aggie Field.
Ernst tallied her first collegiate score, a "golden goal" that ended the game at 96:13. A product of Issaquah's Liberty High School, Ernst received a through ball from Jaime Carstensen and pushed an eight-yard shot past Wildcat goalkeeper Susan McCreery.
The UW defense was dominant again, prompting All-America goalkeeper Hope Solo to make only one save. Solo, a junior from Richland High School, played the entire game.
Solo departed immediately after the game for Chicago where she will train with the U.S. National Team in preparation for the Nike U.S. Cup later this month. She is expected to miss two games this weekend and rejoin her Husky teammates in time for a Sept. 14 meeting with No. 4 Nebraska.
STARTING STRONG
Washington has gotten off to quick starts all season, with nine of UW's 12 goals for the season coming in the first half, including five goals inside the first 25 minutes of a match. The Huskies have led at the break in 7-of-8 matches in 2025.
TINSEL TOWN TAKEOVER
Washington made a statement in its Big Ten opener at No. 15 USC, defeating the Trojans behind Alex Buck's first half goal, her first of the season. The victory was UW's first over USC since 2019, which was also the Dawgs' first road win over a ranked opponent since that victory over then-No. 7 USC in 2019. The Huskies are the second team to record a clean sheet against the star studded Trojan offense, holding USC to a season-low six shots.
For their efforts, Buck was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, while Kolo Suliafu was tabbed the league's Defensive Player of the Week. It was the first career Big Ten Player of the Week nod for either player.
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
Washington has allowed just four goals this season, the same scoring output through eight matches the Huskies allowed during the 2024 season in which UW matched the program record for goals conceded in a single season at 12. The Huskies have allowed four goals or fewer through eight matches in 4-of-6 seasons under head coach Nicole Van Dyke.
WELCOME BACK, DAWGS
Washington has seen two players return from season-ending ACL injuries in 2025. Maggie Dutra made her collegiate debut against Idaho after going down during the 2024 preseason, while Enora Matté has come off the bench in each of the last five matches, her first action since injuring her knee against Purdue a season ago.
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 gotten her senior season off to a strong start, scoring her first career goal against Idaho. Nguyen has made 19 career appearances for Washington.
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, made 35 consecutive starts for Washington before a one-match ban to start the season and contributed to 24 clean sheets throughout her illustrious UW career, including 22 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.
SMART COOKIES
For the 10th straight season, Washington has received the United Soccer Coaches Academic Award after earning a 3.67 team GPA.
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 55 consecutive matches. Branson was the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and all 21 fixtures of 2024.
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.
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.
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 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 has appeared in 23 matches with 13 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 96 matches in the MLS (80 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
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 11 appearances with one goal. Meanwhile, Anna is in her third season at UW, making 45 appearances with 31 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.
Players Mentioned
MF
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's SoccerWashington 1, No. 15 USC 0 | Huskies Highlights
Friday, September 12
GOALLLLLL over #15 USC!!!
Friday, September 12
The Strength of Mia Hamant | On the Pitch | Washington Women's Soccer
Monday, September 08
Samiah Shell with a chance! 🤌🎯
Friday, September 05
