The No. 14/15 WSU Women’s soccer team (5-0) hosts Saint Mary’s (3-2-1) Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Lower Soccer Field in Pullman. The game will be live on Pac-12 Washington.
In WSU’s last game, they defeated San Diego State 2-1, with two early goals from fifth-year senior Bridget Rieken and freshman Megan Santa Cruz. The Cougs managed to get a tough-fought win and continue their perfect start to the season at 5-0. This is the first 5-0 start to a season since 2018 for the team, the third time under head coach Todd Shulenberger.
“Cougars had a good game last Thursday against San Diego State,” said Shulenberger during a press conference Tuesday. “I thought we were in control of that game for the most part, I wish we put some more on the board but that’s okay. A win is a win and we move on to two great teams coming up this week.”
As WSU continues to win, each week they climb higher and higher up the different national rankings. The Cougs moved up to No. 14 in this week’s College News rankings, up to No. 15 in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll and broke into the top 25 at No. 25 in the latest TopDrawerSoccer rankings.
While it’s nice for WSU to continue to get national recognition, Shulenberger says the team continues to stay motivated ahead of early success in the season.
“We got a chip on our shoulder, it’s just another game, another team that’s coming to Pullman and we want to take care of business,” said Shulenberger. “We’re not listening to noise. Last year we didn’t do what we wanted to do, so we’re hungry.”
The Cougars completed August with a perfect record, the 11th time in program history with nothing but wins in the calendar month and the fourth time with a perfect August schedule under Coach Shulenberger.
WSU and Saint Mary’s have met twice since Shulenberger arrived in Pullman, with Wazzu winning both to improve the all-time record against the Gaels to 2-2-2.
After Saint Mary’s Thursday, the Kansas Jayhawks come to Pullman Sunday to wrap up another week at home for the Cougars.
