Thursday, September 24
Ann Arbor, Mich.
4:00 p.m. PT
University of Washington
at
Michigan
Top-20 Battle Brewing As Washington Visits Michigan Thursday
September 23, 2026 | Women's Soccer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Running its unbeaten streak to open the season to nine matches with a last-minute equalizer last week, the No. 18 Washington women's soccer team remains on the road to face a pair of ranked opponents, beginning with a Thursday night matchup with No. 20 Michigan.
Kickoff from Ann Arbor is set for 4:00 p.m. PT, streaming live through Big Ten Plus. Links to live coverage are available at GoHuskies.com.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
After 12 seasons leading the Iowa Hawkeyes, Dave Dilanni is in his first season as head coach at Michigan. Dilanni led Iowa to five NCAA Tournament appearances and two Big Ten Tournament titles.
Michigan sits at 4-1-3 entering Thursday's tilt, ranked No. 19 in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25. The Wolverines are 2-1-0 in Big Ten play after defeating then-No. 1 Michigan State in East Lansing on Sunday, the program's first-ever win over the nation's No. 1 ranked team.
The Wolverines are led in scoring by forward Ella Jablinsky, who found the back of the net twice against the Spartans to double her goal total for the season to four. Midfielder Lilley Bosley has dished out four of Michigan's nine assists in 2026.
Malia Zillman has started seven of eight matches in goal, garnering a 0.86 goals against average with a .838 save percentage, totaling 31 saves. Zillman owns two clean sheets this season.
SERIES HISTORY
Washington and Michigan have met five times previously, with the Huskies owning a 4-1-0 record against the Wolverines. Most recently, UW defeated Michigan 3-1 at Husky Soccer Stadium in 2024. UW is 1-1-0 all-time in Ann Arbor, falling 2-0 in 2017.
LAST MEETING (Oct. 10, 2024)
SEATTLE - Washington fell behind briefly but rebounded with three second half goals to secure a 3-1 comeback victory over Michigan Thursday night at Husky Soccer Stadium.
Ioanna Papatheodorou scored both the equalizer and the match-winner for her fifth career brace, her second in a Husky kit.
The Huskies piled up chance after chance in the first half, peppering the Michigan goal with seven shots, but thanks in part to some excellent play in goal from UM's Stephanie Sparkowski, the Dawgs were forced to go into the halftime break scoreless.
Washington came out for the second half remaining on the front foot. However, a free kick service from the Wolverines' Kali Burrell sailed over everyone's head and into the back of the net to put Michigan ahead in the 49th minute.
Just under two minutes later, the match was level again as Papatheodorou took Shell's cross off her chest and hit it on the volley, beating Sparkowski to make it 1-1 in the 50th minute.
The score remained tied until the 63rd minute, when Papatheodorou was fouled inside the 18. The senior took the ball herself and buried her second penalty of the season, pushing UW ahead 2-1.
The Wolverines mounted a comeback, throwing further numbers forward, but Shell pounced on a loose pass in the 88th minute to seal the victory for Washington, slotting a shot into the vacant to lock up three points for the Huskies.
BACK TO FRONT
A key change to UW's attack in 2026 is the goal contributions from the defensive unit. Five of Washington's 15 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 sits at No. 18 in the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches Poll. It is the 12th straight week UW has appeared in the poll. In the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25, the Huskies slide from No. 5 to No. 17 despite remaining undefeated through nine matches.
LOCK DOWN DEFENSE
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.
JUST WIN, BABY
12 of Washington's last 16 wins have come by a single goal, including nine 1-0 victories. UW has won 15 matches by one goal since the start of the 2025 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. UW's 29 clean sheets since the start of the 2024 season are tied for the fourth-most in the nation.
Most Shutouts since 2024
Georgetown – 30
North Carolina - 30
Utah State – 30
Washington - 29
Mississippi State – 28
Saint Louis - 28
Stanford - 28
UCLA – 28
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 12 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 10 goals scored by Jadyn Holdenried since the start of 2025, seven 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 10 times since. UW is 13-0-1 all-time when Holdenried scores.
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.
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.
IN IT TO TWIN IT
Four different Husky players are a part of a twin or triplet pairing in Vanessa Aguilar, Ryan Boehm, Angelica Chou and Mary Camp Newton. In fact, Boehm faced off against twin sister Myra Thursday versus 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
Mary Camp, Ridley & Sutherland Newton
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 38 appearances and 25 starts with three goals and two assists. Meanwhile, Anna is in her fourth season at UW, making 69 appearances with 55 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.
Kickoff from Ann Arbor is set for 4:00 p.m. PT, streaming live through Big Ten Plus. Links to live coverage are available at GoHuskies.com.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
After 12 seasons leading the Iowa Hawkeyes, Dave Dilanni is in his first season as head coach at Michigan. Dilanni led Iowa to five NCAA Tournament appearances and two Big Ten Tournament titles.
Michigan sits at 4-1-3 entering Thursday's tilt, ranked No. 19 in the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25. The Wolverines are 2-1-0 in Big Ten play after defeating then-No. 1 Michigan State in East Lansing on Sunday, the program's first-ever win over the nation's No. 1 ranked team.
The Wolverines are led in scoring by forward Ella Jablinsky, who found the back of the net twice against the Spartans to double her goal total for the season to four. Midfielder Lilley Bosley has dished out four of Michigan's nine assists in 2026.
Malia Zillman has started seven of eight matches in goal, garnering a 0.86 goals against average with a .838 save percentage, totaling 31 saves. Zillman owns two clean sheets this season.
SERIES HISTORY
Washington and Michigan have met five times previously, with the Huskies owning a 4-1-0 record against the Wolverines. Most recently, UW defeated Michigan 3-1 at Husky Soccer Stadium in 2024. UW is 1-1-0 all-time in Ann Arbor, falling 2-0 in 2017.
LAST MEETING (Oct. 10, 2024)
SEATTLE - Washington fell behind briefly but rebounded with three second half goals to secure a 3-1 comeback victory over Michigan Thursday night at Husky Soccer Stadium.
Ioanna Papatheodorou scored both the equalizer and the match-winner for her fifth career brace, her second in a Husky kit.
The Huskies piled up chance after chance in the first half, peppering the Michigan goal with seven shots, but thanks in part to some excellent play in goal from UM's Stephanie Sparkowski, the Dawgs were forced to go into the halftime break scoreless.
Washington came out for the second half remaining on the front foot. However, a free kick service from the Wolverines' Kali Burrell sailed over everyone's head and into the back of the net to put Michigan ahead in the 49th minute.
Just under two minutes later, the match was level again as Papatheodorou took Shell's cross off her chest and hit it on the volley, beating Sparkowski to make it 1-1 in the 50th minute.
The score remained tied until the 63rd minute, when Papatheodorou was fouled inside the 18. The senior took the ball herself and buried her second penalty of the season, pushing UW ahead 2-1.
The Wolverines mounted a comeback, throwing further numbers forward, but Shell pounced on a loose pass in the 88th minute to seal the victory for Washington, slotting a shot into the vacant to lock up three points for the Huskies.
BACK TO FRONT
A key change to UW's attack in 2026 is the goal contributions from the defensive unit. Five of Washington's 15 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 sits at No. 18 in the IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches Poll. It is the 12th straight week UW has appeared in the poll. In the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25, the Huskies slide from No. 5 to No. 17 despite remaining undefeated through nine matches.
LOCK DOWN DEFENSE
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.
JUST WIN, BABY
12 of Washington's last 16 wins have come by a single goal, including nine 1-0 victories. UW has won 15 matches by one goal since the start of the 2025 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. UW's 29 clean sheets since the start of the 2024 season are tied for the fourth-most in the nation.
Most Shutouts since 2024
Georgetown – 30
North Carolina - 30
Utah State – 30
Washington - 29
Mississippi State – 28
Saint Louis - 28
Stanford - 28
UCLA – 28
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 12 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 10 goals scored by Jadyn Holdenried since the start of 2025, seven 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 10 times since. UW is 13-0-1 all-time when Holdenried scores.
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.
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.
IN IT TO TWIN IT
Four different Husky players are a part of a twin or triplet pairing in Vanessa Aguilar, Ryan Boehm, Angelica Chou and Mary Camp Newton. In fact, Boehm faced off against twin sister Myra Thursday versus 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
Mary Camp, Ridley & Sutherland Newton
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 38 appearances and 25 starts with three goals and two assists. Meanwhile, Anna is in her fourth season at UW, making 69 appearances with 55 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.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's SoccerFriday, September 25
Friday, September 25
Friday, September 25
Thursday, September 24
