SEATTLE – Suffering its first loss of the season at No. 10 Santa Clara on Thursday, Washington returns to the comfy confines of Husky Soccer Stadium on Sunday, hosting unbeaten New Mexico State for a 1 p.m. PT kickoff.
Sunday’s match will be available for streaming through B1G+, with live stats available at HuskyStats.com.
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO STATE
New Mexico State is in its seventh season under the direction of head coach Rob Baarts, who was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year after guiding the Aggies to the regular season championship in their first season in the conference.
A year after claiming the C-USA crown, the Aggies were picked to finish second in the preseason poll behind Liberty, receiving a pair of first place votes.
Three Aggies were named Preseason All-C-USA, led by reigning league player of the year Loma McNeese. McNeese was joined by senior defender Ariana Leamons and graduate student midfielder Xitlaly Hernandez.
Junior midfielder Meredith Scott paces New Mexico State with three goals on the year, while McNeese, Leamons and senior midfielder Brooke Schultz have all scored twice. Schultz is the only Aggie with multiple assists in 2024, posting three through five matches.
Redshirt sophomore Valerie Guha has played every second in goal for NMSU, garnering a 1.20 goals against average and a .571 save percentage on eight stops. Guha has allowed at least one goal in every match this season.
SERIES HISTORY
Washington and New Mexico State have never faced off previously. The Cowgirls will be one of four brand new opponents for the Huskies this season, joining Wyoming, Indiana and Iowa.
STREAK SNAPPED
Giving up a late decisive goal at No. 10 Santa Clara, Washington saw it’s 10-match unbeaten streak come to an end in Northern California on Thursday. SCU’s winner came with 86:11 on the clock, the latest goal conceded by UW since allowing an 88th minute goal at UCLA in 2022. The Dawgs’ 10-match unbeaten streak was the longest for the program since 2000.
STARTING XI FIXTURE
Since making seven-straight starts to end her freshman campaign, junior Kelsey Branson has not failed to crack the Huskies’ starting XI a single time, a streak spanning 30 consecutive matches. Branson is the only Husky to start all 19 matches in 2023 and start the first four fixtures of 2024.
INSTANT…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Washington Athletics…