No. 20 Huskies Face No. 5 Spartans In Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals

ST. LOUIS – The fifth seeded Washington women's soccer team kick off the 2026 Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, facing No. 4 seed Michigan State at Energizer Park.

Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. PT, with the match available for streaming live on B1G+. Links to live coverage are available at GoHuskies.com.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State is in its sixth season under the direction of head coach Jeff Hosler, who has quickly established the Spartans among the nation's elite. Under Hosler, MSU has won a pair of Big Ten Championships, made back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 trips and in 2025 advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time ever.

The Spartans earned the Big Ten's No. 4 seed with a 9-3-0 league record, finishing the regular season 13-3-2 overall. MSU is ranked No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and sit at No. 13 in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25.

Michigan State garnered six All-Big Ten selections, headlined by First Teamers Kennedy Bell, Kayla Briggs, Emerson Sargeant and Renee Watson. Bell ranked third in the conference with 25 points on eight goals and nine assists, while Briggs garnered seven goals and nine assists for 23 points, ranking sixth.

Spending part of the season in goal for Team Canada at the U20 World Cup, Noelle Henning started 11 matches for MSU, posting a 0.55 GAA with a .824 save percentage on 28 stops.

SERIES HISTORY
The quarterfinal matchup will be the eighth all-time between Washington and Michigan State. The Spartans snapped a six-match undefeated start to the series for UW earlier this season in East Lansing. Washington leads the series 4-1-2.

LAST MEETING (Sept. 27, 2026)
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Washington fell behind early and was unable to climb out of the hole on Sunday, having its 10-match unbeaten streak snapped at No. 2 Michigan State on a 3-0 scoreline at DeMartin Stadium.

The Huskies were forced to play from behind for nearly the entirety of the match after Ella Janz slotted home Faith George's cutback to put the Spartans up 1-0.

UW keeper Tanner Ijams continued to be tested early in the half, keeping the deficit at one with multiple saves inside the first 15 minutes.

After the early offensive barrage from MSU, the UW offense began to grow into the match, creating chances of their own to threaten the Spartan goal.

Washington's best look at the equalizer came in the 26th minute. Angelica Chou used her strength to win a loose ball at midfield, dishing off to a streaking Alex Buck down the wing. Buck laid off the Jadyn Holdenried, who's bullet strike from the top of the 18 was tipped over the net by Spartan keeper Noelle Henning.

Possession evened out through the remainder of the opening 45, with both sides creating a handful of half chances, but the score remained at 1-0 heading into the break.

Looking to draw level after the restart, instead the Spartans doubled their lead in the 61st minute as Lacey Kindel corralled a loose ball in the box and buried her shot in the corner.

12 minutes later, Michigan State added a third when Grace Jackson was able to just slip a shot past a charging Ijams, scoring on the vacant net to make it 3-0, the eventual final score.

BUILT FOR THE B1G STAGE
Since joining the conference in 2024, Washington has never failed to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament or reach the semifinal round, capturing the 2025 Championship on penalties over Michigan State.

BEST ON BEST
Washington owns a 7-2-3 record in 12 matches against ranked opponents over the last two seasons, including 1-1-1 in 2026.

B1G DAWGS
Washington had three players receive All-Big Ten nods in 2026, with Alex Buck, Maya Loudd and Anna Menti all repeating their 2025 all-conference selections.

Buck earned her second-straight first team honor after leading UW with five goals despite missing time due to USYNT duty at the U20 World Cup. Loudd joined Buck on the first team at outside back, while Menti received second team laurels at center back after the duo teamed up on the Husky back line to help deliver 10 clean sheets during the regular season.

KEEPING IT 100
With five saves at UCLA, Husky keeper Tanner Ijams eclipsed the century mark in career saves at Washington. Ijams stands at 105 stops in just two seasons for UW.

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 for Week Five, 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.

Maya Loudd joined Montoya with her second career DPOTW nod for Week 8, earning the nod after helping the Dawgs hold USC to a single shot on goal. Loudd also contributed offensively with a pair of shots, one on frame.

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 rarefied 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, currently sitting at 20. Part way through her second season of playing time, Ijams is just one shutout shy of Megan Kufeld's school record of 21.

BACK TO FRONT
A key change to UW's attack in 2026 is the goal contributions from the defensive unit. Five of Washington's 22 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 continues to be ranked in the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches Poll, coming in at No. 20. It is the 18th straight week UW has appeared in the poll. UW also slots in at No. 24 in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25.

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 33 clean sheets since the start of the 2024 season are the fourth most in the nation.

Most Shutouts since 2024
UCLA – 36
Saint Louis - 35
Utah State – 35
Washington - 33
Dayton - 33
Mississippi State – 33
North Carolina - 33
Georgetown – 32

TOP DRAWER TALENT
Washington had 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.

JUST WIN, BABY
15 of Washington's last 19 wins have come by a single goal, including 12 1-0 victories. UW has won 18 matches by one goal since the start of the 2025 season.

SAVING HER BEST
Alex Buck has scored 14 of her 15 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 either in the starting XI or off the bench, registering five goals and three assists over the last two seasons.

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.

THE NOTORIOUS NVD
Washington locked up 2025 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 seventh season on Montlake, Van Dyke has guided Washington to 72 wins and has developed 18 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 42 appearances and 25 starts with three goals and two assists. Meanwhile, Anna is in her fourth season at UW, making 79 appearances with 65 starts and collecting three goals and three assists along the way.

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Players Mentioned

Vanessa Aguilar

Ryan Boehm

Alex Buck

Angelica Chou

Grace Duncan

Jadyn Holdenried

Tanner Ijams

Maya Loudd

Anna Menti

Maylen Montoya

Lucy Newlin

Mary Camp Newton

Avery Nguyen

Kolo Suliafu

Taylor Thomas

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