No. 13 Huskies Test 14-Match Unbeaten Streak At Home Sunday Versus Penn State
October 10, 2026 | Women's Soccer
SEATTLE – Winners of five matches on the bump on its home ground, the No. 13 ranked Washington women's soccer match welcomes Penn State to Husky Soccer Stadium on Sunday, facing the Nittany Lions at 1:00 p.m. PT.
Sunday's tilt is UW's annual Down Syndrome Acceptance Match as well as Dubs Club Day at Husky Soccer Stadium.
Washington's matchup with Penn State will be available for streaming live via Big Ten Plus. Links to live coverage are available at GoHuskies.com.
SCOUTING IOWA
Penn State is in its 20th season under the direction of Erica Dambach, having guided the Nittany Lions to 19 consecutive NCAA Tournament bids, 11 Big Ten regular season championships and the 2015 National Championship.
Penn State enters Sunday's match two points behind the Huskies in the Big Ten table with a 4-1-2 record in league play. PSU defeated Oregon 1-0 in Eugene on Thursday.
Forwards Aubrey Kulpa and Paige Kalal lead the PSU offense with 10 of the Nittany Lions' 23 goals. Kulpa has registered six goals and three assists to lead the team with 15 points, while Kalal boasts four goals and a team-high four assists.
Veteran keeper Mackenzie Gress is in her third season between the posts for Penn State. Gress owns a 0.77 goals against average with a .816 save percentage on 40 stops.
SERIES HISTORY
While the two sides have met just once since 2010, Washington owns a healthy 4-1-0 advantage in the all-time series with Penn State, defeating PSU in the only two previous meetings in Seattle in 1995 and 2004. UW won on the road in State College last season, 1-0.
LAST MEETING (Oct. 9, 2025)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - As it has done so many times this season, the Washington women's soccer team took an early lead on Thursday and made it stick, earning a 1-0 victory at Penn State to remain atop the Big Ten table.
Mirroring last week's victory over then-No. 4 UCLA, Jadyn Holdenried provided the winning punch for the Huskies in the 18th minute, converting UW's first penalty kick of the season for the night's lone tally.
With the lead in hand, the Husky defense went to work and did its thing, securing Washington's seventh clean sheet of the season, fourth in Big Ten play.
The Dawgs fended off 12 Penn State shots in the match, with Tanner Ijams making two saves to earn the shutout.
The Nittany Lions came mere inches from the opening goal less than eight minutes in, with Aubrey Kulpa pouncing on a loose ball in the middle of the box. With the ball headed for the goal line, Kolo Suliafu was able to clear the line with an outstretched boot to end the threat.
10 minutes later, Kelsey Branson was taken down at the very top of the 18-yard box. The referee pointed to the spot immediately and the call was confirmed by VAR, awarding UW its first penalty of 2025.
The Huskies turned to leading scorer Holdenried, who calmly sent keeper McKenzie Gress the wrong way and slotted a shot into the right corner for her seventh goal of the season.
For the next 72 minutes, Penn State did everything it could to find an equalizer. Instead, time and time again the Nittany Lions ran into a resolute and organized Husky defense, keeping the box clean and thwarting any offensive threat the PSU attack could muster.
LOCK DOWN DEFENDERS
Contributing on both ends of the pitch in UW's 2-0-0 opening week of conference play, second year Maylen Montoya was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, her second weekly award. The outside back was also selected to TopDrawerSoccer's Team of the Week after holding Maryland and Rutgers to nine total shots across a pair of clean sheets, also scoring the match-winner against the Terrapins.
FAR FROM MID
Earlier in the week, third year attacker Alex Buck was named to the Mid-Season Watch List for the 2026 MAC Hermann Trophy, the highest individual honor in college soccer. Despite missing significant time through national team duty, Buck is among 30 of the nation's elite players in consideration for the prestigious award.
CLEAN SHEET COLLECTOR
In less than two seasons' time, Tanner Ijams has placed herself in rarified air. With the shutout win over USC, the Californian passed legendary keeper Hope Solo for sole possession of third place all-time at Washington in career clean sheets with 18. Midway through her second season of playing time, Ijams is just three shutouts shy of Megan Kufeld's record of 21. Ijams is two saves away from reaching 100 for her career.
BACK TO FRONT
A key change to UW's attack in 2026 is the goal contributions from the defensive unit. Five of Washington's goals this season have been scored by players on the back line, with Maylen Montoya and Anna Menti each bagging a pair of goals apiece in addition to Maya Loudd's lone goal. In comparison, Montoya's goal versus Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament was UW's loan goal contribution from the defensive unit in 2025.
POLL POSITION
Washington moved up a couple of spots to No. 13 in the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches Poll. It is the 14th straight week UW has appeared in the poll. UW also continues to be ranked in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25, slotting in at No. 16.
JUST WIN, BABY
15 of Washington's last 19 wins have come by a single goal, including 11 1-0 victories. UW has won 18 matches by one goal since the start of the 2025 season, including each of its last four wins.
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. UW's 31 clean sheets since the start of the 2024 season are tied for the fourth most in the nation.
Most Shutouts since 2024
UCLA – 35
Saint Louis - 32
Utah State – 32
Washington - 31
Georgetown – 31
Mississippi State – 30
North Carolina - 30
Stanford - 30
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.
WINNER'S MENTALITY
Of the 11 goals scored by Jadyn Holdenried since the start of 2025, eight 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 11 times since. UW is 14-0-1 all-time when Holdenried scores.
SAVING HER BEST
Alex Buck has scored 12 of her 13 career goals after the start of conference play, including nine such goals in 2025, tied for the most in the Big Ten.
ON THE WORLD STAGE
Alex Buck and Grace Duncan recently experienced the great honor of representing their home nations at the U20 World Cup in Poland, suiting up for the USWNT and the Football Ferns of New Zealand, respectively. The two sides met up during the group stage, a win for the USA in which Buck scored twice. Buck finished the tournament with three goals, tying for the US lead.
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.
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.
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.
IN IT TO TWIN IT
Five different Husky players are a part of a twin or triplet pairing in Vanessa Aguilar, Ryan Boehm, Angelica Chou, Grace Duncan and Mary Camp Newton. In fact, Boehm faced off against twin sister Myra earlier in the season when UW faced Gonzaga, while Newton's sister Ridley plays for defending NCAA Division III National Champion Washington University in St. Louis.
Twin/Triplet Connections on UW's Roster
Vanessa & Michelle Aguilar
Ryan & Myra Boehm
Angelica & Colin Chou
Grace & Maddy Duncan
Mary Camp, Ridley & Sutherland Newton
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.
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 40 appearances and 25 starts with three goals and two assists. Meanwhile, Anna is in her fourth season at UW, making 74 appearances with 60 starts and collecting three 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 news, scores, highlights and more, download the Go Huskies app on your mobile device. Follow @UW_WSoccer on Instagram, X, Threads, Facebook and TikTok and subscribe to UW Athletics on YouTube for the latest on the Dawgs.
Sunday's tilt is UW's annual Down Syndrome Acceptance Match as well as Dubs Club Day at Husky Soccer Stadium.
Washington's matchup with Penn State will be available for streaming live via Big Ten Plus. Links to live coverage are available at GoHuskies.com.
SCOUTING IOWA
Penn State is in its 20th season under the direction of Erica Dambach, having guided the Nittany Lions to 19 consecutive NCAA Tournament bids, 11 Big Ten regular season championships and the 2015 National Championship.
Penn State enters Sunday's match two points behind the Huskies in the Big Ten table with a 4-1-2 record in league play. PSU defeated Oregon 1-0 in Eugene on Thursday.
Forwards Aubrey Kulpa and Paige Kalal lead the PSU offense with 10 of the Nittany Lions' 23 goals. Kulpa has registered six goals and three assists to lead the team with 15 points, while Kalal boasts four goals and a team-high four assists.
Veteran keeper Mackenzie Gress is in her third season between the posts for Penn State. Gress owns a 0.77 goals against average with a .816 save percentage on 40 stops.
SERIES HISTORY
While the two sides have met just once since 2010, Washington owns a healthy 4-1-0 advantage in the all-time series with Penn State, defeating PSU in the only two previous meetings in Seattle in 1995 and 2004. UW won on the road in State College last season, 1-0.
LAST MEETING (Oct. 9, 2025)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - As it has done so many times this season, the Washington women's soccer team took an early lead on Thursday and made it stick, earning a 1-0 victory at Penn State to remain atop the Big Ten table.
Mirroring last week's victory over then-No. 4 UCLA, Jadyn Holdenried provided the winning punch for the Huskies in the 18th minute, converting UW's first penalty kick of the season for the night's lone tally.
With the lead in hand, the Husky defense went to work and did its thing, securing Washington's seventh clean sheet of the season, fourth in Big Ten play.
The Dawgs fended off 12 Penn State shots in the match, with Tanner Ijams making two saves to earn the shutout.
The Nittany Lions came mere inches from the opening goal less than eight minutes in, with Aubrey Kulpa pouncing on a loose ball in the middle of the box. With the ball headed for the goal line, Kolo Suliafu was able to clear the line with an outstretched boot to end the threat.
10 minutes later, Kelsey Branson was taken down at the very top of the 18-yard box. The referee pointed to the spot immediately and the call was confirmed by VAR, awarding UW its first penalty of 2025.
The Huskies turned to leading scorer Holdenried, who calmly sent keeper McKenzie Gress the wrong way and slotted a shot into the right corner for her seventh goal of the season.
For the next 72 minutes, Penn State did everything it could to find an equalizer. Instead, time and time again the Nittany Lions ran into a resolute and organized Husky defense, keeping the box clean and thwarting any offensive threat the PSU attack could muster.
LOCK DOWN DEFENDERS
Contributing on both ends of the pitch in UW's 2-0-0 opening week of conference play, second year Maylen Montoya was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, her second weekly award. The outside back was also selected to TopDrawerSoccer's Team of the Week after holding Maryland and Rutgers to nine total shots across a pair of clean sheets, also scoring the match-winner against the Terrapins.
FAR FROM MID
Earlier in the week, third year attacker Alex Buck was named to the Mid-Season Watch List for the 2026 MAC Hermann Trophy, the highest individual honor in college soccer. Despite missing significant time through national team duty, Buck is among 30 of the nation's elite players in consideration for the prestigious award.
CLEAN SHEET COLLECTOR
In less than two seasons' time, Tanner Ijams has placed herself in rarified air. With the shutout win over USC, the Californian passed legendary keeper Hope Solo for sole possession of third place all-time at Washington in career clean sheets with 18. Midway through her second season of playing time, Ijams is just three shutouts shy of Megan Kufeld's record of 21. Ijams is two saves away from reaching 100 for her career.
BACK TO FRONT
A key change to UW's attack in 2026 is the goal contributions from the defensive unit. Five of Washington's goals this season have been scored by players on the back line, with Maylen Montoya and Anna Menti each bagging a pair of goals apiece in addition to Maya Loudd's lone goal. In comparison, Montoya's goal versus Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament was UW's loan goal contribution from the defensive unit in 2025.
POLL POSITION
Washington moved up a couple of spots to No. 13 in the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches Poll. It is the 14th straight week UW has appeared in the poll. UW also continues to be ranked in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25, slotting in at No. 16.
JUST WIN, BABY
15 of Washington's last 19 wins have come by a single goal, including 11 1-0 victories. UW has won 18 matches by one goal since the start of the 2025 season, including each of its last four wins.
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. UW's 31 clean sheets since the start of the 2024 season are tied for the fourth most in the nation.
Most Shutouts since 2024
UCLA – 35
Saint Louis - 32
Utah State – 32
Washington - 31
Georgetown – 31
Mississippi State – 30
North Carolina - 30
Stanford - 30
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.
WINNER'S MENTALITY
Of the 11 goals scored by Jadyn Holdenried since the start of 2025, eight 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 11 times since. UW is 14-0-1 all-time when Holdenried scores.
SAVING HER BEST
Alex Buck has scored 12 of her 13 career goals after the start of conference play, including nine such goals in 2025, tied for the most in the Big Ten.
ON THE WORLD STAGE
Alex Buck and Grace Duncan recently experienced the great honor of representing their home nations at the U20 World Cup in Poland, suiting up for the USWNT and the Football Ferns of New Zealand, respectively. The two sides met up during the group stage, a win for the USA in which Buck scored twice. Buck finished the tournament with three goals, tying for the US lead.
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.
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.
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.
IN IT TO TWIN IT
Five different Husky players are a part of a twin or triplet pairing in Vanessa Aguilar, Ryan Boehm, Angelica Chou, Grace Duncan and Mary Camp Newton. In fact, Boehm faced off against twin sister Myra earlier in the season when UW faced Gonzaga, while Newton's sister Ridley plays for defending NCAA Division III National Champion Washington University in St. Louis.
Twin/Triplet Connections on UW's Roster
Vanessa & Michelle Aguilar
Ryan & Myra Boehm
Angelica & Colin Chou
Grace & Maddy Duncan
Mary Camp, Ridley & Sutherland Newton
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.
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 40 appearances and 25 starts with three goals and two assists. Meanwhile, Anna is in her fourth season at UW, making 74 appearances with 60 starts and collecting three 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 news, scores, highlights and more, download the Go Huskies app on your mobile device. Follow @UW_WSoccer on Instagram, X, Threads, Facebook and TikTok and subscribe to UW Athletics on YouTube for the latest on the Dawgs.
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/ Women's SoccerSunday, October 11
Sunday, October 11
Sunday, October 11
Friday, October 09
