UW Women’s Soccer Strikes First, Settles For Draw In Season Opener Versus Oregon State
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Coming off an impressive 2024 campaign that saw them use a strong defensive presence to come within minutes of advancing past the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32, the Washington Husky women’s soccer team played to a 1-1 draw against a familiar foe in the Oregon State Beavers on a rainy August night. The Huskies dealt the first blow of the match to their former PAC-12 opponents on a header from senior Kelsey Branson off a corner kick, but couldn’t find a winner after the Beavers equalized in the 68th minute thanks to a Nathalie Lewis shot. Washington battled hard to find that go-ahead goal and dominated most of the second half in doing so, but the woodwork of the Oregon State goal was cruel to the hosts as the Huskies hit the goal frame at least three times in the latter 45 and had a slew of attempts careen just wide. It’s a disappointing result for the Huskies given the belief, backed up by statistics, that they should’ve kicked off their 2025 campaign with a victory, but it provides a base for this years squad to build off and learn from as the team starts the season off with a three-match homestand.
“Had some great looks. It’s like, you just gotta hope that in game two, those go in, we hit the cross bar. We obviously scored a great corner, dad a couple chances on the box. I think the game got a little bit transitional, so we started pressing them, and then we did create a lot of chances. Just didn’t go in. Great goalkeeping, I mean she was unbelievable, she tipped at least two or three, she was the MVP today. Little disappointed, I think we felt like we should have got a result there.”
Pregame frames from before the Oregon State vs Washington women’s soccer match at Husky Soccer Stadium on Thursday, August 14th, 2025. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Branson’s header gives the Huskies a first half lead
To be expected, the first chunk of the opening half was back and forth with no clear indication of control from either of these former PAC-12 foes. The Beavers controlled the possession through the first 16 minutes of the contest, with a few opportunities that could’ve presented danger but none of them presented any real issues for Washington starting goalkeeper Tanner Ijams. A few corners, a failed cross, and a few through balls presented avenues for Oregon State to strike first to the dismay of the home crowd in attendance, but those avenues quickly became detours as Ijams was able to jump on or safely catch anything that came her way. A fun runs from junior Beavers forward Nathalie Lewis presented the most danger, but strong defending from junior Husky defender Maya Loudd helped provide some necessary pressure so that the shots Ijams saw weren’t as threatening as they initially looked.
The Washington Husky women’s soccer team celebrates Kelsey Branson’s 31st minute goal against Oregon State at Husky Soccer Stadium on Thursday, August 14th, 2025. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
The tide really turned for Washington around the 20th minute, when the home side got two corner kicks in quick succession to start applying the pressure in their favor after the Beavers had been trying to get a through ball into Lewis on a few occasions. The Huskies pressed on for the next eleven minutes before they were finally able to break through for their first goal of 2025, after a free kick by Anna Menti and an easily caught shot from Kelsey Branson couldn’t sneak past Oregon State goalkeeper Mya Sanchez. In the 31st minute, junior midfielder Samiah Shell launched a left footed ball directly into the center of the 18-yard box from a corner kick nearest to the teams sideline of the pitch, and a rising Branson headed the ball into the top left corner to give the purple and gold a lead in the first half.
“I think it’s just a good way to build the belief, I feel like. Not only confidence for myself, but for my teammates, just a way to start out strong and get one on the board. It’s always good looking up there, seeing that you’re out on top. Obviously, not the result we wanted, but that’s just how we are as a team. We want better for ourselves.”
The Huskies only scored two goals from corner kicks/throw-ins last season, so they’re already well on their way to beating that mark this season. It appeared as though Washington was going to have a golden opportunity to add a second goal in the first 45 minutes or at least greatly hinder their opponents for the rest of the match, as Beavers defender Abbi Leonard was initially shown a red card for a denied goal scoring chance, but a request for a review ruled that it was just a yellow card, and the ensuing free kick by Jadyn Holdenried was denied before her second attempt rolled harmlessly off target.
It appeared as though Oregon State Beavers defender Abbi Leonard was being sent off with a red for a denied goal scoring chance in the first half, but the play was reviewed and overturned in the match against the Washington Huskies at Husky Soccer Stadium on Thursday, August 14th, 2025. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Oregon State sneaks one through to force the draw
The theme of the second half of this match was the pressure that the Huskies applied in search of a second goal, and that looked like it was going to come to fruition on numerous occasions throughout the course of the latter 45 minutes. Those different dangerous opportunities include a look a minute out of the halftime break, as sophomore Alex Buck had her shot clang squarely off the post fresh from a pass by freshman Mary Camp Newton. Branson looked primed to secure a brace just five minutes later when her attempt was just barely pushed off and over the crossbar by the Beavers goalkeeper for a corner kick. The last quality look for Washington came from sophomore Andrea Leyva, as a wicked curling shot clanged off the post and out that represented the second of a handful of balls that hit the woodwork from the Huskies. Despite all of the heat applied by the home team to begin the second half, it was the visiting Oregon State side that scored the next goal of this contest.
In the 68th minute, the Beavers had calm possession of the ball from their back line before a pass up and over the midfield found Nathalie Lewis right in front of the Washington backline. Lewis dropped the ball off to graduate forward Carly Carraher before making a run through the Husky line, and Carraher fed her a smooth through ball that Lewis quickly tapped home to equalize before bowing down in celebration. Lewis had slipped past Husky defender Maya Loudd and quickly slotted home a ball in the bottom right corner as Ijams had come out to try and contest the attempt. Washington made an appeal to the officials that Lewis was offside, with Maylen Montoya signaling it to an official during the play as seen on replay, but the review ultimately ruled in favor of the Beavers and we were all level.
Oregon State Beavers forward Nathalie Lewis scored the equalizing goal of the match against the Washington Huskies in the 68th minute at Husky Soccer Stadium on Thursday, August 14th, 2025. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Less than a minute later, the Huskies were marching right down to the Oregon State box and their urgency seemed to have net them a golden opportunity in the form of a penalty kick as Alex Buck went down just within the Beavers 18-yard box, but this obviously went to review almost immediately at request of the visiting coaching staff. Upon replay, it was somewhat clear that Oregon State’s Paola Figueroa didn’t make enough contact on Buck for it to be declared a penalty, and it instead turned into a drop ball after the lengthy look over. The video review screen got plenty of attention throughout the night, as what looked like a brutal tackle on Branson got checked shortly after the run of play sent the ball out of the playing area, but a much quicker look at the screen denied the purple and gold of a penalty. Washington was doing everything right to try and get the go-ahead goal, driving relentlessly to the box, putting good attempts on goal, even sending a few wild attempts on goal, but nothing was getting past Sanchez in this second half. A long range effort from Holdenried in the 78th forced a leaping fingertip deflection from Sanchez, which ultimately became the last real chance the Huskies had on goal. Washington pushed and pushed, but their efforts resulted in just split points to begin the 2025 campaign.
“I think we probably took too much time off the clock trying to figure out how to break the initial pressure. It took too long for us to figure out we had to break that first line. Once we broke the first line, I think we were doing some really great stuff in the front five. Defensively, we’ve got to tighten things up. We got to be able to deal with one player who’s extremely fast, and so I think we’ve gotta do a better job defensively with our back four. We’ll look at some things there, we can only go up. At the same time, I think people stepped up in different positions to play for Kolo [Suliafu].”
The rest of the game gallery between the regular season match between the visiting Oregon State Beavers and our Washington Huskies at Husky Soccer Stadium on Thursday, August 14th, 2025. (Photos by Eric Hiller for Circling Seattle Sports)
Quick Husky women’s soccer notes
1,022 was the announced attendance at Husky Soccer Stadium for this match between the visiting Oregon State Beavers and our Washington Husky women’s soccer team.
With the draw, the programs record at Husky Soccer Stadium pushes to 152-89-32 (Win-loss-draw) all-time.
In the 34th all-time meeting between the two programs, the Huskies saw their head-to-head record against the Beavers move to 20-7-7 (Win-loss-draw) with this result, and now a 8-4-4 mark in Seattle.
The last three matches in the head-to-head history between these programs have ended in draws, with the most recent meeting coming back in October of 2023.
Senior Washington defender Kolo Suliafu was unavailable in this match due to a one-match suspension dating back to last years NCAA Tournament match against Mississippi State, where she received two yellow cards.
Suliafu will be back for the Huskies on Sunday in their next match of the season.
Senior Washington midfielder Kelsey Branson recorded her 48th consecutive start in this match for the program, dating back to her freshman season.
Branson also tallied her 12th overall goal of her career, the lone goal for the Huskies scored in this match. Her career goal contribution total is now at 22 (12 goals, 10 assists for her career).
Junior Washington midfielder Samiah Shell notched the assist on Branson’s goal, her fourth assist and 14th goal contribution of her career.
Branson and Shell were tied for team lead in assists amongst returning players from last season, as they both tallied three assists in the 2024 campaign.
Side note: In case you weren’t aware, Husky Soccer Stadium has been renovated to accommodate the FIFA Men’s World Cup next year, as it’ll serve as a practice training ground for the teams that will be in the area. Below is what Branson said about the teams first real match on the new grass and how it felt.
“It was great, especially to start out. I also love playing on a rainy field. I love when the ball, I know many people don’t, but I like when the ball is just slick, and it can move fast so you can anticipate, just keep keep on going. Defenders might not anticipate that, so just kind of going for it whenever you can. I really enjoyed it. I like this new field a lot, it’s great.”
What’s next?
Following tonight’s draw with the Oregon State Beavers, the Washington Husky women’s soccer team remains at home for the next two contests to continue a three-match homestand. The second contest of the current homestand comes on Sunday, August 17th against the Idaho Vandals with a kickoff time of 1PM PDT at Husky Soccer Stadium, being broadcast live on Big Ten Plus. This match, which is UW’s “Camper Reunion Match,” will be the third meeting all-time between the two programs according to the UW Athletics website, with the last contest coming on August 20th, 2023 in Moscow Idaho as a 3-1 victory for Washington. The Huskies have won both of the two previous contests against the Vandals, with the first meeting coming way back on September 9th, 2001 which ended in a 4-0 win for Washington. The purple and gold seek to keep their streak against Idaho alive when the meet on Sunday, trying to halt a Vandals team that won their first match of the year against UC Riverside tonight by a final score of 2-0.
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