WSU women’s soccer is set to kick off their 2023 regular season Thursday, with a match at home against Eastern Washington University.
WSU is coming off a 8-7-4 2022 season, and despite being picked third in the Pac-12 preseason coaches poll last season, the Cougars finished in the bottom half of the conference and missed the NCAA Tournament.
Under head coach Todd Schulenberger, WSU has made the postseason in five of eight seasons, including four years in a row before an underwhelming 2022 season.
WSU faced three ranked opponents last season, they lost 1-0 to No. 1 UCLA, lost 3-2 to No. 18 USC and lost 2-1 to No. 14 Stanford.
In a recent Pac-12 women’s pre-season coaches poll, WSU is picked to finish fifth in the conference with 76 total points. Predicted to finish ahead of the Cougs are reigning NCAA champion UCLA, along with the reigning Pac-12 Champion, Stanford. USC and California are also predicted to finish ahead of WSU this year.
WSU has nine non-conference games before their first conference game of the 2023 season. Seven of those nine non-conference games will be played in Pullman, including eight consecutive home matches between August and October.
After Eastern Washington on Thursday, the Cougs travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M, followed by a road trip to the University of Portland to take on the Pilots.
After returning from Portland, the Cougs begin their eight-game home stand, hosting Weber State, San Diego State, Saint Mary’s (California), Kansas and Seattle University to finish up non-conference play.
WSU’s first conference game of the season is set for Sept. 22, when No. 11 Stanford travels to Pullman. The Cougs next two conference games are at home against No. 1 UCLA and No. 22 USC.
The first road conference games of the season for WSU are on October 5 and 8, when they travel to Tucson and Tempe, to play both Arizona and Arizona State.
The Cougs play at home against Colorado on October 19, before the final home game of the season, senior night against Utah on October 22.
To finish the year, WSU is on the road in Corvallis to play Oregon State, riding a five-game winning streak against the Beavers. That same weekend, the Cougs travel to Eugene for a match against Oregon, where since arriving at WSU, coach Schulenberger has not lost to the Ducks.
The sole matchup between the Cougs and the Huskies will be on the road in Seattle on Friday, November 3. WSU is 1-3-1 against the Huskies since 2019, losing 3-2 to UW last season in Pullman.
On WSU’s roster they have seven seniors and four fifth-years. The seniors are Aniah Cutler, Margie Detrizio, Marin Whieldon, Bryana Pizarro, Shevaun Judon, Jenna Studer and Keeley Copper. The fifth-years are Bridget Rieken, Isabella Weaver, Grayson Lynch and Brianna McReynolds.
There is a good amount of fresh blood on the WSU roster as they have 10 freshmen. The freshmen are Liya Brooks, Megan Santa Cruz, Reagan Kotschau, Naomi Clark, Nat Lewis, Elliotte Kortus, Georgia Whitehead, Alena Watts, Jensyn Lins and Kiki Smith.
There are eight juniors on the team. They are Nadia Cooper, Reese Tappan, Lindsay Turner, Khalia Gathright, Rajanah Reed, Jaiden McClellan, Taylor McMahon and Musai Isaia.
Three sophomores finish up the rest of the roster. They are Lily Boyden, Peyton Price and Lexi Lerwick.
Freshman goalkeeper Liya Brooks received a call up from the Jamaican National Team and competed at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer.
Senior Maggie Detrizio’s 11 goals last season were tied for the third most in the conference, landing her on the All-Pac-12 second team. Rising sophomore Lily Boyden made the Pac-12 All-Freshman team last year after a promising first season with the Cougs.
Interesting conference matches for the Cougs this season include home dates with defending NCAA champions UCLA, Pac-12 champions Stanford, and No. 22 USC, who all come to Pullman in a row to start off conference play for the Cougs in September.
