This has been a historic season for the USU women’s soccer team. Not only have they had a record-breaking regular season, but they have also secured their second-straight Mountain West Tournament title. Utah State will host an NCAA Tournament match for the first time in program history. After their highs and lows, they have earned themselves an eight-seat and will be hosting Washington in the first round on November 15th at Chuck & Gloria Bell Field. Head Coach Manny Martins’s team has been projected to be the fifth seated by guru Chris Henderson. Only the top eight teams are awarded to be host teams in the first round.
What Happened Before
This isn’t USU’s first time in the NCAA Tournament; they made it and lost in the first round in 2011, 2012, and 2023. Last year’s break is thanks to BYU when the Aggies played them in Provo and lost 2-0. USU beat BYU during their first encounter this season, but the Cougars were the first team to score on the Aggies, 2-1.
USU was one of the final four teams announced during the NCAA Selection Show, adding extra suspense. However, the Aggies already knew they were a lock as they successfully defended their Mountain West Tournament championship crown last Saturday against Boise State, 2-1. USU will head into Friday’s unbeaten match in its previous eight games (6-0-2).
The Competition
This will only be USU’s fourth-ever encounter with Washington (10-6-3) as the Huskies lead the all-lead series 2-0-1. When USU faced off against Washington, neither team scored, and it was their first scoreless game so far. The last meeting was a 1-1 draw in Logan during the 2012 campaign. Martins, however, is familiar with Washington, having been an assistant coach at Oregon from 2014-2020. Current Washington head coach Nicole Van Dyke was in her first season at the helm during Martin’s final season in Eugene.
The Washington Huskies, 50th in the latest RPI, fared well in their inaugural season in the Big 10 Conference, finishing sixth out of 18 teams in the final league standings. Washington upset third-seeded Iowa, ranked 17th nationally, in a shootout after 110 minutes of scoreless action in the conference tourney quarterfinals and then lost to second-seeded UCLA in the semifinals, 2-0.
Washington and USU have only played one common opponent this season: Wyoming. In mid-August, the Huskies and visiting Cowgirls played a scoreless draw, while Wyoming handed USU its only loss of the season, 2-0, on Oct. 10 in Laramie.
Best Aggie Season
The Huskies and Aggies are both very stingy defensively, as Washington is tied for 10th nationally in goals against average (.572), while USU is 12th (.609). The Huskies have posted ten shutouts in 19 matches and have limited seven other opponents to a single goal. The Aggies have secured a single-season program record of 14 clean sheets.
USU scored 62 goals to Washington’s 24 this season. The Aggies rank sixth nationally in points per match (8.22), while the Huskies are 201st (3.42). The Huskies (7-4 conference record) have been shut out seven times this season.
Washington Has Game
Forward Ioanna Papatheodorou is Washington’s leader in points for a second straight season. The senior accounted for four goals and six assists as a junior, and she produced eight goals and two assists in 2024. Papatheodorou was a two-time first-team all-conference selection at UMass Lowell before making her way across the country to Seattle.
Sophomore forward/midfielder Samiah Shell is second on Washington’s team in points this season, having contributed five goals and three assists. This will be the Huskies’ 17th appearance in the Tournament and their first since a Sweet 16 run in the COVID-19-shortened season in the spring of 2021. Should the Aggies prevail, they will play the winner of No. 1 seed Mississippi State (17-2-0) and Southern (8-9-3).
The tournament’s second and third rounds will be played on Nov. 22 and 24, with the quarterfinal round on Nov. 29 or 30. The 2024 Women’s College Cup will take place on Dec. 6 and 9 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. Utah State has won a program-record 18 games this year with just a single loss, going 18-1-4. It is one of just five teams in the country with only two losses, and the Aggies currently rank No. 17 in RPI. USU won the Mountain West Tournament last week, capturing its second Mountain West title and fourth overall conference title in program history.
