COUGS CLOSE AUGUST WITH UC IRVINE
The Washington State women’s soccer team concludes the August calendar with a Thursday evening match against UC Irvine. The Cougars will host the Anteaters at Lower Soccer Field in Pullman with a 6 p.m. kickoff on the Pac-12 YouTube channel. Fans are encouraged to come out for ‘Fill the Hill’ and snag a limited edition Cougar soccer scarf.
WSU HISTORY VS ANTEATERS
The Cougars will host the UCI Anteaters for the eighth all-time meeting and third game in Pullman. Last season, WSU lost to UCI in Irvine, snapping a five-game unbeaten streak against the Anteaters. The programs are meeting for a third-consecutive season with a 4-2-1 all-time record in favor of the Cougs, including 1-0-1 in Pullman - an overtime win in 1992 and a draw in 2024. Keara Fitzgerald, current out injured, is the only returning Coug to feature in last year’s match.
LAST TIME ON THE PITCH
WSU earned its first road result of the season and first shutout in a scoreless draw at North Dakota State Sunday afternoon. The Cougars held the Bison scoreless for a third-straight match and first all-time meeting in Fargo. WSU GK Sidney Venier earned her first cleansheet.
ABOUT THE UCI ANTEATERS
Leading the Anteaters into 2026 are three All-Big West returners with honorable mention honorees junior forward Clara Samson and junior defender Hailey Clingan joined by All-Freshman Team forward a year ago, Fiona Shin. Returning ‘Eaters produced four goals and 17 points last season of the team’s total of 24 goals and 70 points. UCI’s roster of 32 players has produced a total of 21 points while in an Anteater uniform led by Chifumi Sasaki’s six points. Fifth-year captain Savanna Arruda is the only keeper with collegiate experience.
LOOKING AHEAD
Washington State will begin September in tropical Oahu, Hawai’i. The Cougs will participate in the OUTRIGGER No Ka Oi multi-team event at the Manoa campus on the new field. Thursday, September 3 WSU faces Utah Valley at 4 p.m. PT (1 p.m. HT) before facing the hosting Rainbow Wahine Sunday, September 6 at 7 p.m. PT (4 p.m. HT). Sunday’s match against Hawai’i will be streamed on MW+.
CITOWICKI ERA BEGINS
Chris Citowicki was named the eighth head coach in WSU soccer program history, December 12, 2025, after eight seasons as the head coach at Montana. Citowicki led the Griz to nine Big Sky Championships, including three-consecutive regular-season titles. The 2023 Big Sky Coach of the Year, Citowicki finished at Montana with a 79-39-32 record and four NCAA postseason appearances.
2026 ROSTER RELOAD
The Cougars welcomed 23 new faces with the coaching change, including 13 transfers and 10 true freshmen. WSU retained eight returnees, including five with field experience and three redshirts. This season, the Cougs have had five freshmen make their college debuts and 17 student-athletes make their first appearance at WSU. In the season opener against Idaho, 17 Cougs made their WSU debuts, including nine in the starting lineup. Five freshmen played their first college match.
OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS
WSU’s senior defensive quartet of Riley Carolan, Ashlyn Dvorak, Keara Fitzgerald, and Makena Smith make up the captain’s room for the Cougs.
IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY
Sophomore Aaya McLyn changed her jersey number to 20 this season, becoming the second McLyn to don the number after her sister Aaqila McLyn wore #20 for five seasons with the Cougs, including a run to the College Cup semifinals in 2019.
INVEST IN VENIER
WSU’s sophomore goalkeeper Sidney Venier stepped into the starting role in the Cougs’ win over South Florida, replacing starting ‘keeper Ashlyn Dvorak, who is out with a cracked rib. Venier delivered four saves in the win over the Bulls, only conceding on a penalty kick, to earn her first-career goalkeeping win. Venier played both road matches last weekend, earning her first-career shutout in a scoreless draw at North Dakota State, Sunday, August 23 in Fargo, N.D.
HAWKINS HANDLES PRESSURE
True freshman Delaney Hawkins delivered her first-career goal in her first-career start Saturday in the win over USF. She also drew the challenge which earned the Cougs’ the first-half penalty and the early lead. Hawkins, a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, is a legacy Coug and the son of Adam Hawkins, a former WSU football team captain and teammate of NFL legend Steve Gleason. Delaney is the god-daughter of Gleason.
IF THE GLOVE FITZ
Sixth-year senior goalkeeper Keara Fitzgerald, returned for the Cougs after holding down the starting job last season until suffering a season-ending injury against North Dakota State, September 18. Fitzgerald’s top performances included a career-high 11 saves in a shutout at California, September 4, the most by a Coug ‘keeper in five seasons. The performance earned her WCC Defensive Player of the Week, her second-career conference weekly honor. The California senior tallied an assist in the Cougars’ draw with No. 13 Georgia, August 31, delivering her second-career assist and the first by a Cougar goalkeeper since Nadia Cooper notched an assist against Colorado in Boulder in 2021. Fitzgerald has made 296 career saves in 58 matches played over 5,000 minutes and is slated to return to the field near the end of nonconference play.
DEVALL’S DELAYED GRATIFICATION
Redshirt-junior Meg Devall waited patiently for her chance to represent WSU, sitting through the 2025 season, before earning a starting spot in the back line for the 2026 season. A native of West Linn, Oregon, Devall started both matches opening weekend, and scored her first-career goal in WSU’s win over USF. Meg collected an errant clearance from the Bulls and floated a curling left-footed shot into the upper left corner from the top of the area, giving WSU a 3-1 lead, fewer than six minutes after the Cougs regained the lead.
COUGAR CONNECTIONS
Two current Cougar soccer student-athletes represent second-generation Cougs. Riley Carolan and Delaney Hawkins both have fathers who played football at Washington State. Brett Carolan was a tight end for WSU alongside Drew Bledsoe and went on to have a 3-year NFL career. Adam Hawkins was a team captain for the Cougs just a few years after Carolan graduated. Hawkins played running back alongside NFL legend Steve Gleason. Delaney is the god-daughter of Gleason.