University of Washington - Home

Aug. 23, 2011

Weekly Release

SEATTLE - After a tough 2-2 draw with BYU to open the season last Friday, the UW women's soccer team will head to Wisconsin for two tough games on the road. The Huskies are ranked No. 23 by the NSCAA and No. 24 by Soccer America this week. UW will open the Wisconsin tournament taking on the Badgers at 5 p.m. PT on Friday and will then face Iowa State on Sunday at 9 a.m.

Washington is coming off of one of its best seasons in school history which saw the Dawgs make their second-ever run to the Elite 8, narrowly missing out on a trip to the College Cup, with a 1-0 loss at Boston College in overtime. Along that magical run, UW defeated UCLA in Los Angeles for the first time since 2000, and on national television. The Huskies in the post-season defeated Oklahoma in the first round, 4-0, before taking down No. 2 Portland on its home field in the second round in 11 penalty kicks. Washington upset another higher-seed in UC Irvine on it field, earning the trip to meet BC in the Elite 8.

For the third-straight season UW was one of 34 teams to receive an at-large bid. The Huskies finished the season with a 13-9-2 record and a 4-5-0 record in Pac-10 play, which put them in sixth place.

While the Huskies lost five important seniors from 2010, five seniors return, including senior captains Kate Deines and Sarah Martinez, Jorde LaFontaine-Kussmann, Kelli Stewart and Alex Webber, along with redshirt-junior Kari Davidson, who despite has one more year of eligibility, will play her last with the Huskies this season.

UW welcomes five true freshman, a sophomore transfer and two "returning" players who have yet to play a game for UW because of injuries.

Scouting Wisconsin
Wisconsin opened the season with a 2-0 loss to defending champion Notre Dame. They are coached by Paula Wilkins in her fifth season after going 11-4-5 last season and 7-1-2 in the Big Ten. Key returners for the team include Meghan Flannery, Erin Jacobsen, Alev Kelter, Catie Sessions, Kodee Williams and Laurie Nosbusch who scored 10 goals last season. Wisconsin leads the overall series 0-1-1. The two teams tied in 2010 in Seattle, 1-1. Wisconsin won the first-ever meeting in the postseason 2-1 in 2005.

Scouting Iowa State
Iowa State began the season 2-0 with 2-0 wins over Drake and Northern Illinois. They play Green Bay on Friday before facing the Huskies. Four different players have scored their goals this season as Hayley Womack leads the team in shots and shots on goal. Maddie Jobe has played all 180 minutes in goal, making eight saves. The Huskies and Iowa State have never met in women's soccer.

Deines Name Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Candidate
Two University of Washington student-athletes were named candidates for a national award. Seniors Kate Deines (women's soccer) and Brent Richards (men's soccer) are each part of a 30 person group honored by Lowe's.

The Lowe's Senior CLASS award is given out each year to an outstanding senior student and one Division I senior is given the award in 10 different sports. The acronym CLASS stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. The award honors those seniors that excel in four different aspects: community, classroom, character, and competition.

Deines has produced on the field from the start of her career at UW. As a freshman she finished second on the team with seven goals, and was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman First-Team. In her last two seasons, she played and started in every game the Huskies played.

As a sophomore Deines was named to Second-Team All-Pacific Region Second-Team All-Pac-10. Last year, Deines had her best season yet as one of the Husky team captains. She earned both First-Team All-Pacific Region and First-Team All-Pac-10 honors while leading the Huskies in goals and points and to the NCAA Elite 8. Her achievements allowed her to play for U-23 National Team this summer.

Additionally, she was acknowledged with the Provost Academic Excellence Award at the WESPYs (Washington's version of the ESPY awards). Her studying was also awarded by making Second-Team Pac-10 All-Academic and NSCAA Scholar All-West Region. She was also recently named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch list for top player of the year.

Sweeney Named Gohuskies.com Student-Athlete of the Week
Husky women's soccer sophomore Brianna Sweeney was named the Gohuskies.com Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Aug. 15-21. She is the first honoree of the 2011-12 season and this is the first such honor of her career.

Sweeney, a defender from Woodinville, Wash., scored her first career goal in the season-opener vs. BYU on Aug. 19. She scored off of a rebound shot in the 19th minute to tie the game at 1-1. The Huskies and Cougars eventually went on to tie, 2-2.

Huskies Picked Fifth By Pac-12 Coaches
The Huskies were the underdog going into the NCAA Second Round vs. No. 2 Portland, trailing the all-time series 23-2-2. But, having lost to the Pilots in overtime during the regular season and in the NCAA Second Round a year ago, the Huskies knew what they were up against at Merlo Field. The first half was even in shots, 6-4 Portland and the Huskies took the lead in the 28th minute with a goal by senior McKenna Waitley on an assist from Jane Mitchell. Portland responded though just 10 seconds later, as Sophie Schmidt scored to tie. Although Portland outshot UW 21-0 the second half and both overtime periods, junior goalie Jorde LaFontaine-Kussmann made 13 saves as the game ended in a tie. Penalty kicks would then decide the game. The Huskies won the coin clip and elected to kick first. Kate Deines, Sarah Martinez and Lindsay Elston made theirs before Mitchell misses. Waitley then made hers as the fifth kicker in the first round. Portland made four out of its five as well as LaFontaine-Kussmann stopped Keelin Winters shot. In sudden death PK's, Hannah Greig, Lindsey Bos, Kelli Stewart, LaFontaine-Kussmann and Hillary Zevenbergen all made theirs as Portland's next five did as well. Deines was up again for the Huskies, making her second kick. LaFontaine-Kussmann then blocked Jessica Tsao's kick to win the shootout.

20 Years Of Women's Soccer At UW
20 years ago, women's soccer at UW began. In 1991, Dang Pibulvech became the first coach and led the team for three years before Gallimore took over in 1994. All season, UW invites fans to help celebrate and honor all of those who have passed through the program and helped in its success over the years.

Live Online Coverage
Live scoring and chat along with audio and video will be available for free for all Husky home soccer matches on www.gohuskies.com.

Follow The Huskies Via Social Media
Become a fan of the Washington men's soccer team on Facebook by going to www.facebook.com/UWWomensSoccer. The fan page includes exclusive updates, video content and photos updated weekly.

Fans can also follow the UW women's soccer team through the Huskies' all-sports Twitter page, www.twitter.com/UWSportsNews.

UW is also on www.youtube.com/UWAthletics. Fans there can find new video context from all of the Husky sports teams.

Ticket Information
Tickets for all Husky home matches are on sale now either online at GoHuskies.com or by calling the Husky Ticket Office at 206-543-2200. Tickets may also be purchased at the field on game day.

Fans looking for season tickets can purchase the Husky Gold Card which grants general admission access to all men's and women's soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, baseball and softball games.