Washington State (0-0-0, 0-0-0)
vs Eastern Washington (0-0-0, 0-0-0)
Thursday, August 17 // 7:05 p.m. // Pullman, Wash. // Lower Soccer Field
Television » Pac-12 Washington // Play-by-Play // Greg Heister
Live Stats » wsu.statbroadcast.com

STARTING ELEVEN
    I.    The Cougars begin the 2023 season Thursday, Aug. 17, playing host to Eastern Washington at Lower Soccer Field with kickoff scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on Pac-12 Washington
    II.    WSU has never dropped a result against EWU, having won all eight meetings in program history
    III.    2022 All-Pac-12 Second Team selection Margie Detrizio returns as the League's top returning goal scorer, finishing last season with a team-high 11 goals and six assists
    IV.    Detrizio was named to the 2023 Preseason All-Pac-12 Team, the only player outside of the four California schools to be recognized on the 11-athlete team, selected by coaches
    V.    SoccerWire named WSU the 20th-best program in the country over the past five seasons
    VI.    Head Coach Todd Shulenberger returns for his ninth season at the helm of the Cougar program, holding the school's all-time wins record (89) and 11 victories shy of 100 wins
    VII.     The Cougars welcomed 13 newcomers to the 2023 roster, including eight freshmen and five transfers
   VIII.    Nadia Cooper enters her junior season with 110 career saves, eighth all time at WSU and needs 39 saves to pass Brynn Bemis (2004-07) at seventh all-time
    IX.    The Cougs finished fourth in the country with 20.16 shots per game and finished the year outshooting opponents 383-196, just behind Stanford atop the Pac-12
    X.    WSU's 2022 average home attendance of 1,075 fans per game ranked 21st nationally
    XI.    Wazzu's first home match kicks off the 2023-24 athletic year with a white out event

COUGARS VS EAGLES
Washington State opens the 2023 soccer season Thursday, Aug. 17 against Eastern Washington. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. with television coverage on Pac-12 Washington and commentary from Greg Heister. The Cougs and Eags have met eight times in program history, with WSU earning eight-consecutive victories and allowing just five total goals. Last season, then-junior Margie Detrizio netted a brace to power the Cougs to a 3-1 victory, Aug. 28, in front of 1,236 fans at Lower Soccer Field. The Eagles' goal came from the penalty spot and was Nadia Cooper's first career penalty faced.

CONTROLLING THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
Facing off against teams in their home state, the Cougs have shown they control Washington as WSU holds an impressive 72-16-9 all-time record against teams from the Evergreen State. Among those teams, the Cougs have dominated their biggest rivals, including Gonzaga (24-1-1), Seattle U (16-2-0), Eastern Washington (8-0-0) and Pac-12 foe Washington (15-10-8) outscoring those four schools, 220-57.

REGIONAL DOMINANCE
Controlling the region for over three decades, the Cougs have dominated their regional rivals (Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, and Idaho) going a combined 45-2-1 while outscoring the trio 173-to-19 in those 48 games. The majority of those games have come against the Bulldogs where the Cougs are 24-1-1 all-time with a 105-to-9 goal advantage (spurred on by early 1990s offense that included the two highest scoring games in program history 15-0 (Oct. 30, 1991) and 13-0 (Sept. 15, 1990).

DETRIZIO DOMINATION
Margie Detrizio returns for her senior season, as the Pac-12 top returning goal scorer. The Chandler, Ariz., native netted a team-high 11 goals last season, finishing tied for third in the Conference. Detrizio also added six assists to lead the Cougs with 28 points. She became the first Coug with a 6-game point streak since WSU Hall of Famer Kiersten Dallstream tallied points in 6-straight games in fall 2009. Three times last year, Detrizio scored multi-goal games, becoming just the seventh Cougar in program history with four multi-goal matches in their career, and the first since Morgan Weaver from 2016-19.

COOPER RE-WRITING WSU RECORD BOOK
Junior goalkeeper Nadia Cooper is no stranger to re-writing the WSU record book, this season setting her sights on the career goalkeeping lists. Entering the season, Cooper holds 12 career shutouts, 6th-most in Cougar history. The Cypress, Texas native has made 110 career saves and vaulted up to seventh on the top-10 career saves list. With WSU's win versus Utah, Oct. 2, Cooper earned her 18th career win, moving into a tie for 6th all-time in WSU career wins. Cooper spent all but 15 minutes of the 2022 season in goal, bringing her career total to 3,153 minutes in goal, 8th-most in program history.

SHULENBERGER BREAKS WSU ALL-TIME WINS RECORD
With the Cougars' win over Utah last October, WSU Head Coach Todd Shulenberger earned his 89th career victory to become the all-time wins leader in Cougar coaching history. Shulenberger surpassed former coach Matt Potter, who put together 88 wins over nine seasons in Pullman. Shulenberger holds the third-best win percentage in program history. In his career, he has a .627 win percentage.

HOME SWEET HOME
Lower Soccer Field has become something of a fan-fortress for the Cougs. In 2021, the team drew an average of 1,238 fans per match, the highest season average in program history. Last season's home opener against Portland drew the fourth-largest crowd in program history with 2,408 fans in attendance. In 2022, Wazzu averaged 1,057 fans per game, good for 21st in the country. WSU has lost twice at home in the last calendar year, against Arizona State, Oct. 20, 2022 and against Washington, Nov. 5, 2022.

COUGS NAMED TOP-20 PROGRAM OVER LAST FIVE YEARS
The Cougars were tabbed as the 20th best team in the country over the last five seasons, SoccerWire.com announced. The organization generates the standings based on each program's average position in the end-of-season rankings. Rankings are based on a combination of final United Soccer Coaches Polls and Rating Percentage Index (RPI) from each season, with bonuses awarded for NCAA Tournament qualification and College Cup victories. Stanford was the only Pac-12 ranked higher than WSU, named fifth on the list.

FEARSOME FOURSOME OF FIFTH-YEARS FOCUSED
WSU returns four student-athletes for a fifth season, including Grayson Lynch, Brianna McReynolds, Bridget Rieken, and Isabella Weaver. The quartet are utilizing NCAA COVID Eligibility Relief, which was granted to student-athletes competing during the rescheduled 2020 season in spring of 2021. Lynch and Rieken are the sole student-athletes remaining from WSU's historic run to the 2019 College Cup in San Jose and have combined for over 9,000 minutes played in a Cougar uniform.

RIEKEN'S RETURN
Fifth-year senior defender Bridget Rieken was welcomed back to Lower Soccer Field for another season, seeking redemption for a 2022 senior season which ended in injury and the Cougs outside of the postseason conversation. The Couer d'Alene native has played over 6,000 minutes for Wazzu, including at the 2019 College Cup as a freshman, and centered a backline which has allowed less than a goal per game.

LYNCH BACK WITH A BANG
Fifth-year senior forward Grayson Lynch hopes to return to a strong run of form in her junior season. Lynch completed the 2022 campaign with four goals and three assists, bringing her career scoring total to 15 goals. During the 2021 season she registered a career-best eight goals. When she scored against Cal Poly last fall, Lynch became the 22nd Cougar in program history with a 3-game goal streak.

COUGS TABBED FIFTH BY PAC-12 COACHES
Washington State was selected in the top half of the conference for the fifth-straight season, falling behind the four California schools in the preseason ranking at No. 5.

TRANSFERS ARRIVE IN PULLMAN
The Cougars welcomed five incoming transfers this offseason, including Keeley Copper, Shevaun Judon, Taylor McMahon, Bryana Pizarro, and Rajanah Reed.

INCOMING FRESHMEN READY TO MAKE A MARK
WSU signed eight freshmen as part of its 2023 recruiting class last November. The eight incoming Cougs are: Liya Brooks (Eugene, Ore.), Naomi Clark (Parker, Colo.), Elliotte Kortus (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho), Reagan Kotschau (Thornton, Colo.), Nat Lewis (Queen Creek, Ariz.), Megan Santa Cruz (Burbank, Calif.), Alena Watts (Marietta, Ga.), and Georgia Whitehead (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho).

BROOKS BACK FROM WORLD CUP EXPERIENCE
Incoming freshman goalkeeper Liya Brooks had a short preseason with the Cougs. The Jamaican-American recently returned from a call-up with the Jamaican Senior Women's National Team to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. While Brooks didn't see action on the field, the opportunity provided an experience to work with the veterans of the Reggae Girlz' roster and be with the team as they advanced to their first every Round of 16 match.

MARGIE ASSIST STREAK
Margie Detrizio put together a 3-game assist streak last season. Detrizio went on her own 3-game assist streak, between the Sept. 1 game at Seattle and the Sept. 11 victory versus Cal Poly to become just the 12th student-athlete in program history with a 3-game assist streak. Beth Childs is the only player in WSU history to record a 4-game assist streak (10-21-01 to 11-9-01).

FINDING THE FRAME
Last season, WSU created more chances than almost every single team in the country, but failed to convert the opportunities into goals down the stretch with a 8% shot conversion. Wazzu scored 31 goals (1.63 per game) from 11 different Cougars. The Cougs outshot opponents 383-196 and the average of 20.2 shots per game ranked fourth nationally and second only to Stanford in the Pac-12. WSU put shots on frame at a 35% clip (134-of-383) and limited opponents to just 79 total shots on target (4.2 per game).

MARGIE RETURNS WITH ALL-REGION HONORS
Margie Detrizio, who earned postseason accolades from the Pac-12 and United Soccer Coaches organization last year, returns as a reigning All-Regional Third Team honoree and All-Pac-12 Second Team recognition.

BOYDEN BACK FOR MORE
Rising sophomore Lily Boyden returns for her second season, after earning Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honors one season ago. In her first year on the Palouse, the Salt Lake City native became the ninth WSU freshman in the last 10 seasons to earn all-freshman team honors. Boyden found her groove in nonconference play, netting her first-career goal against Cal Poly, one game after tallying her first-career assist versus Denver. Boyden netted her first goal of conference play in the final game of the season against Washington.

STOUT DEFENSIVE LINE RELOADED
Defensively, the Cougars return three starters to their defensive core. Fifth-year senior Bridget Rieken anchors the backline alongside senior Jenna Studer, who is likely to move into the backline after a holding midfield role last year. WSU must replace veteran leadership in Mykiaa Minniss, who completed her collegiate career with 92 career starts and over 8,300 minutes played. Coach Shulenberger reloaded with incoming redshirt-senior transfer Keeley Copper from Davidson College. In addition, rising junior Reese Tappan will reprise her role at right back for the 2022 campaign.

PRO COUGS
Establishing themselves among the elite teams in the nation has its perks, as the Cougs  have pushed their best into the pro ranks of the NWSL with nine recent draft picks. In two of the last three drafts the Cougs have seen their players go No. 2 overall with Morgan Weaver (2020 - Portland Thorns) and Trinity Rodman (2021 - Washington Spirit). In addition Averie Collins (2020 - Washington Spirit) and Makamae Gomera-Stevens (2021 - Houston Dash) have established themselves in the league while Ella Dederick was signed two a two-year deal by Houston. Outside of the five in the league, Brianna Alger who was selected by the Chicago Red Stars in 2021 heads to the league after completing her fifth season at WSU. In 2021, Elyse Bennett would go No. 7 to Kansas City while Sydney Pulver went No. 25 to new franchise San Diego Wave. Most recently, Mykiaa Minniss was drafted by Kansas City Current in the 2023 NWSL Draft as the 39th overall pick.

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