#14/15 Washington State (5-0-0)
vs Saint Mary's (3-2-1)
Thursday, Sept. 7 // 7 p.m. PT // Pullman, Wash. // Lower Soccer Field
Television » Pac-12 Washington // Play-by-Play » Greg Heister
Live Stats » wsu.statbroadcast.com

STARTING ELEVEN
I.    Washington State hosts Saint Mary's, Thursday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. at Lower Soccer Field, the Cougars' third-straight home match in a string of eight consecutive, with TV coverage on Pac-12 Washington from Greg Heister
II.    Last time out, the Cougars defeated San Diego State 2-1 behind two early goals from Bridget Rieken and Megan Santa Cruz, as WSU continued a perfect 5-0 start to the season for the first time since 2018 and third time under Coach Todd
III.   WSU moved up to No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, up to No. 14 in the College News rankings, and entered the TopDrawerSoccer rankings at No. 25
IV.   Megan Santa Cruz netted her first career goal in the fifth minute, last Thursday against San Diego State, while fellow freshmen Reagan Kotschau and Georgia Whitehead each picked up their first career assist in the victory
V.    WSU and Saint Mary's have met twice since Coach Todd arrived in Pullman, with Wazzu winning both to improve the all-time record against the Gaels to 2-2-2
VI.   Head Coach Todd Shulenberger returned for his ninth season at the helm of the Cougar program, holding the school's all-time wins record (94) and six victories shy of 100 wins with a .639 winning percentage
VII.  The Cougars completed August with an unblemished 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
VIII.  Nadia Cooper earned her 23rd career win Aug. 31, moving into a tie for fifth-most wins in school history and currently holds the top spot in career GK winning percentage
IX.   WSU creates over eight corner kick opportunities per game, ranking 10th nationally with 8.40 corner kicks per match
X.    Naomi Clark leads WSU with three goals, tied for fourth in the Pac-12
XI.    Through five matches, seven different Cougs have scored with an average of 2.40 goals per game

COUGARS VS GAELS
No. 14 Washington State plays host to Sain Mary's College, Thursday night with a 7 p.m. kickoff from Lower Soccer Field and live on Pac-12 Washington. The Cougars and Gaels hold a balanced 2-2-2 record in the all-time series. Under Coach Todd Shulenberger, Wazzu has earned both its wins over Saint Mary's, first beating the Gael 1-0 in 2017, before traveling to Moraga in 2022 for a 2-0 victory. Then-senior Brianna McReynolds netted her first goal as a Coug in the 35th minute of play, with then-junior Margie Detrizio adding the insurance goal in the 87th minute.

COUGS CLIMB NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Cougars moved up the weekly national rankings, voted No. 15 by the United Soccer Coaches and No. 14 in the College Soccer News top-25. WSU entered the Top Drawer Soccer at No. 25 in this weeks rankings. Washington State is one of four nationally-ranked Pac-12 programs, behind No. 2 Stanford, No. 4 UCLA and ahead of No. 19 Southern Cal. In the Coaches' regional rankings, Washington State is third in the Pacific Region, behind Stanford and UCLA, respectively.

UNDEFEATED IN AUGUST
The Cougars completed August with an unblemished record, the 11th time in program history with nothing but wins in the calendar month. Coach Shulenberger has led Wazzu to a perfect August schedule four times. WSU's five wins last month are the most wins in August in program history.

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. Over the weekend, the Houstonian picked up her 23rd career win, moving into a tie for fifth-place in school history. Cooper made a season-high nine saves in WSU's program-first win over Portland, one shy of her single-game career high. The junior netminder has played all 450 minutes this season, eclipsing 3,600 career minutes, for the sixth-most minutes between the pipes in program history. She has also made 128 career saves and vaulted up to seventh on the top-10 career saves list.

NAOMI CLARK LEADS COUGARS EARLY
True freshman Naomi Clark has emerged as WSU's early leading goalscorer. The Colorado native has scored three times, most recently in an August 27th win over Weber State. The curling, left-footed golazo from outside the area earned SportsCenter's No. 7 play on the daily SC Top 10 segment. Clark began the season with goals in the first two games, becoming the first WSU freshman since Kailiana Johnson in 2013 to score goals in the first two games of the season. Clark is currently tied for fourth in the Pac-12 golden boot race, two goals behind Arizona's Nicole Dallin with five goals.

DETRIZIO DOMINATION
Margie Detrizio entered her senior season as a Preseason All-Pac-12 selection, the only student-athlete outside of the four California schools to be recognized on the 11-member team, and the Conference's top returning goalscorer. Against Weber State, Detrizio scored her 20th career goal and moved into WSU's career top-10 scoring list. Most recently, the Arizona native added an assist in the win over San Diego State, bringing her career total to 14 assists and into WSU's top-10 record book.

SHULENBERGER APPROACHES 100 CAREER WINS
WSU Head Coach Todd Shulenberger earned his 94th career victory last Thursday against San Diego State. Shulenberger holds a .639 winning percentage, which ranks 43rd 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.

RIEKEN NAMED PAC-12 DEFENSIVE POTW
Fifth-year senior Bridget Rieken was named the Aug. 28 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, after heading home the game-winning goal at Portland, Aug. 24. The goal was Rieken's first of the season and the second game-winning goal of her career as WSU earned the program's first win over the Pilots.  

REED EARNS FIRST CAREER POINTS
Incoming junior Rajanah Reed had an impactful afternoon in August 27th's win over Weber State. Reed earned her first career assist, finding space up the right side before playing an easy square ball to Detrizio for the goal. Reed wasn't done, adding a goal of her own in the second half. The Glendale, Ariz., native recovered a loose ball on the endline, split a pair of defenders, and hammered home her first career goal and the match's game-winning goal.

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 6th-largest crowd in the country over opening weekend. 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.

IT JUST MEANS MORE
With the Cougars' win at College Station, Aug. 20, they become one of only three Pac-12 schools to win against an SEC opponent this year, and one of two to do it on the road. Washington State and Southern Cal are the only Conference schools to travel to a Power 5 opponent and win (2-5-1). Against all Power 5 schools, the Pac-12 holds a 9-7-3 record.

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 in preseason. 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.

RIEKEN SUMMITS 6K IN RETURN
Fifth-year senior defender Bridget Rieken surpassed 6,000 career minutes played in a Cougar uniform Aug. 20 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.

GOING THE FULL 90
Both Nadia Cooper and Keeley Copper have played every minute of the 2023 season, giving a full 90 in every contest for a total 450 minutes of playing time. Last season, Cooper led Wazzu with 1,696 minutes, playing all but 15 minutes the entire season.

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 would get the starting nod Aug. 24 at Portland, making her first career start for the Cougars.

MARATHON MARGIE
With 71 minutes in WSU's win at Portland, Detrizio cruised past 3,000 career minutes at WSU. The senior has tallied 20 goals and 14 assists in her time on the Palouse. For the second time in her career, Margie Detrizio put together a 3-game assist streak. Spanning to last year's regular season finale against Washington, Detrizio built a 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. 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.

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. Aug. 17, 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.

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.

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 won both matches after conceding the opening goal, and picked up the 3-1 win against Eastern Washington after trailing, 1-0, at halftime.

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

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.

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