#23 Washington State (2-0-0, 0-0-0)
at Portland (1-0-0, 0-0-0)
Thursday, August 24 // 7 p.m. PT // Portland, Ore. // Merlo Field
Television » ESPN+ // Play-by-Play » Chris Clayton
Live Stats » wsu.statbroadcast.com

STARTING ELEVEN
    I.     The Cougars visit Portland to face the Pilots, Thursday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. PT at Merlo Field
    II.     Last time out, WSU came from behind to win 3-2 at Texas A&M, Sunday evening with an equalizer from Naomi Clark and two goals from Grayson Lynch for her third multi-goal match
    III.    Grayson Lynch was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for her game-winning brace in College Station, marking the first conference weekly honor of her career
    III.    Margie Detrizio made the game-winning assist to Lynch, Sunday in Texas, marking the third-straight game with a Detrizio assist and fourth-straight with a point, dating back to last fall
    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-member team, as selected by coaches
    V.    Head Coach Todd Shulenberger returned for his ninth season at the helm of the Cougar program, holding the school's all-time wins record (91) and nine victories shy of 100 wins
    VI.   The Cougars checked in at No. 23 on this week's United Soccer Coaches poll
    VII.   Nadia Cooper earned her 20th career win Sunday, moving within four wins of fifth in school history
    VIII.  Naomi Clark became the first WSU freshman since 2013 to score in the first two games of her career
    IX.    Bridget Rieken eclipsed 6,000 career minutes with a full shift at Texas A&M, Sunday night
    X.    The Cougars have never beaten the historic Portland program, twice earning ties and both in the last three meetings. Shulenberger guided the Cougs to a 0-0 draw with the Pilots in 2022
    XI.    3,013 fans attended the season-opener against EWU, Aug. 17, the second-largest crowd in school history and the third-largest crowd in the country over opening weekend

COUGARS VS PILOTS
Washington State and Portland meet for the 17th time in school history, continuing a series which dates back to 1990. The Pilots hold a 14-0-2 record against the Cougars, as the historic program has never been defeated. However, WSU's two ties have come in the past three meetings, including a scoreless draw in Pullman last August. The last Cougar to score against Portland was Nicole Setterlund, during the First Round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament, an eventual 2-2 tie, before WSU lost a heartbreaking penalty shootout, 6-5, and exit the postseason. This season, the Pilots have only played one match, beating CSUN 1-0 a week ago. Portland's weekend game at No. 1 UCLA was cancelled due to inclement weather.

DETRIZIO DOMINATION
Margie Detrizio entered her senior season as a Preseason All-Pac-12 selection and the Conference's top returning goalscorer. She began the year netting the Cougars' opening goal with the equalizer against Eastern Washington, Aug. 17. The goal brought Detrizio to 19 career goals and just one goal shy of Washington State's all-time top-10 list. The Arizona senior has tallied a point in four-straight matches dating back to last fall at USC, Oct. 30. She began the season, assisting on a goal in each of the last two games, creating a 3-game streak, including last year's season finale. Detrizio sits one career assist shy of the WSU record book with 13 distributions.

LYNCH BACK WITH A BANG
Fifth-year senior Grayson Lynch turned heads with a game-winning brace at Texas A&M, Sunday, Aug. 20. The performance earned Lynch the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, the first weekly conference honor of her career and the first by a Cougar since Sydney Pulver was named Defensive Player of the Week, Nov. 1, 2021. Lynch became the first WSU student-athlete to earn the Pac-12's offensive weekly honors since Morgan Weaver was selected Offensive Player of the Week, Nov. 5, 2019. With two goals at College Station, Lynch increased her career tally to 17 goals, three shy of the top-10 record list. The Castle Rock, Colo. native recorded her third multiple-goal game of her career, ninth in program history. Lynch's game-winning second goal against the Aggies marked the seven game-winner of her career, tied for 8th most in WSU history.

IT JUST MEANS MORE
With the Cougars' win at College Station, Aug. 20, they become one of only two Pac-12 schools to win against an SEC opponent this year, the other being top-ranked UCLA over Georgia at home to open the season. Washington State is the only Conference school to travel to a Power 5 opponent and win. Against all Power 5 schools, WSU is one of only three Pac-12 wins in 10 matches (3-4-3).

NATIONAL RANKING RETURNS
The Cougars returned to the national rankings following a strong opening weekend, voted No. 23 by the United Soccer Coaches weekly poll. Washington State is one of four nationally-ranked Pac-12 programs, behind No. 1 UCLA, No. 6 Stanford, and ahead of No. 24 Southern Cal. In the Coaches' regional rankings, Washington State is third in the Pacific Region, behind UCLA and Stanford.

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. Cooper sits sixth in several of WSU's career goalkeeping records. Most recently, the Houstonian picked up her 20th-career win, securing sixth in all-time top 10. The junior netminder has played all 180 minutes this season, eclipsing 3,300 career minutes, for the sixth-most minutes between the posts in program history. Entering the season, Cooper holds 12 career shutouts, 6th-most in Cougar history. She has also made 116 career saves and vaulted up to seventh on the top-10 career saves list.

CLARK STRIKES TWICE IN OPENING WEEKEND
True freshman Naomi Clark scored the equalizer in the Cougars' 3-2 win at Texas A&M, Aug. 20. After netting a goal in the season opener, Clark became the first WSU freshman since Kailiana Johnson in 2013 to score goals in the first two games of the season.

MARGIE'S ASSIST STREAK
For the second time in her career, Margie Detrizio has put together a 3-game assist streak. Spanning to last year's regular season finale against Washington, Detrizio  is on an active 3-game assist streak. Last season, Detrizio went on her first 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).

RIEKEN SUMMITS 6K IN RETURN
Fifth-year senior defender Bridget Rieken surpassed 6,000 career minutes played in a Cougar uniform Sunday at Texas A&M. The Idaho native 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. In her time at WSU, Rieken has centered a backline to the national semifinals, and limited opponents to less than a goal per game.

SHULENBERGER APPROACHES 100 CAREER WINS
WSU Head Coach Todd Shulenberger earned his 91st career victory Sunday at Texas A&M. Shulenberger holds a .632 winning percentage, which ranks 48th nationally among active coaches. Last season, Shulenberger broke the program's win record with his 89th career victory, defeating Utah, Oct. 2, 2022, surpassing Matt Potter with 88 career wins in Pullman.

SEASON-OPENER DRAWS THREE THOUSAND
When the Cougars took the field against Eastern Washington, Thursday, they did so in front of 3,013 fans, the second-largest crowd in program history and the third-largest crowd in the country this season. 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, Wazzu averaged 1,057 fans per game, good for 21st in the country.

GEORGIA WHITEHEAD DEBUTS IN THE HEAT
Freshman Georgia Whitehead made her collegiate debut in the 38th minute at Texas A&M, Sunday, Aug. 20. Whitehead, the granddaughter of longtime WSU football coach Jim Walden,  played the remainder of the game, handling an aggressive Aggie attack, spearheaded by forward McKhiya McDonald. Whitehead and the Cougar backline allowed a lone goal from the PK spot in the second half, and did not allow the home side to score from run of play in the final 45 minutes.

PICKING THEMSELVES BACK UP
The Cougars completed the 2022 season with only a single victory after conceding the opening goal and never won when trailing at halftime. To start the 2023 season, Washington State has won both matches after conceding the opening goal, and picked up the 3-1 win against Eastern Washington after trailing, 1-0, at halftime.

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.

FRESHMEN SHINE IN CAREER DEBUTS
Five true freshmen earned minutes in the Cougars' season win over Eastern Washington. Reagan Kotschau and Megan Santa Cruz made their collegiate debuts in the starting lineup, while Naomi Clark, Nat Lewis, and Alena Watts all subbed on for their Cougar debuts.

COLORADO FRESHMEN PHENOMS NET DEBUT GOALS
The freshmen duo of Reagan Kotschau and Naomi Clark has a long history, dating back to high school state championships in Colorado. Thursday, Kotschau and Clark joined sides and each scored their first career goal to give WSU the win. It marked the second time under Coach Shulenberger when two true freshmen scored in the season-opener and the fourth time in program history. Kotschau, from Thornton, Colorado, and Clark, from Parker, Colorado, became the 18th and 19th freshmen, respectively, in program history to score in the season-opening match.

TRANSFERS MAKE NATURAL TRANSITION
Redshirt-senior Keeley Copper made her Cougar debut Thursday night, starting in the WSU backline for the first time. Fellow transfer Shevaun Judon came off the bench to earn minutes in her Wazzu debut. Junior Rajanah Reed played 40 minutes in her collegiate debut.

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.

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.

TRANSFERS ARRIVE IN PULLMAN
The Cougars welcomed five incoming transfers this offseason, including Keeley Copper (West End, N.C.), Shevaun Judon (LaGrangeville, N.Y.), Taylor McMahon (Manteca, Calif.), Bryana Pizarro (Valley Stream, N.Y.), and Rajanah Reed (Glendale, Ariz.).

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 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.

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 moved 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 turned to redshirt-senior transfer Keeley Copper to start on the left side. In addition, junior Reese Tappan reprised 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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