Washington State Soccer vs Utah State: Game Preview

Washington State's soccer season starts tomorrow, with the Cougars hosting Utah State to kick off the year. The Aggies are an interesting opponent to start off the season, coming off of a commanding Mountain West championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

While they've lost quite a bit of talent, the Aggies are still a very dangerous team. Mountain West voters have picked them to finish first in the conference, though the poll was close with 5 teams receiving first place votes.

Last year's Aggies finished with five first team All Conference players, and only one of them is back this season, but it's an important one. That would be forward Tess Werts, who led Utah State in scoring with eight goals and nine assists.

Werts and another senior forward, Kaylie Chambers, were both named as players to watch by the Mountain West. Chambers finished 2024 with five goals and eight assists. Between Werts and Chambers the Aggies have an extremely potent scoring threat, so Washington State's defense is going to have to be able to hit the ground running.

Werts and Chambers will be supported by Utah State's third member on the MWC's preseason watch list, midfielder Summer Diamond. Diamond was on the All Mountain West Second Team last season and finished the year with five goals and five assists. While she'll generally be tasked with setting up Werts and Chambers, she's just as capable a scorer if she can't find an open pass.

Defensively, Utah State has more questions. Defenders Kylie Olsen and Kaitlyn Richins were two of the Aggies biggest losses in the off season, and while they've targeted defense in the transfer market those are hard shoes to fill. Grad transfer Carli Conner is the biggest addition. Conner started for Colorado Mesa for four seasons, a span when the team allowed less than a goal per game.

The team also needs a new goalkeeper. Last year Cora Brendle and Shay Kercher-Pratt split starting duties, with 17 starts and 7 starts respectively, but both have departed. Two incoming transfers will vie for the job now, Pepperdine's Taylor Rath and UC Riverside's Allee Grashoff. Both have plenty of starting experience, with how good recent Pepperdine teams have been Rath should be considered the favorite.

The Cougars have a lot of questions on offense and the Aggies have a lot of questions on defense. Thursday's game should be a good test of where both teams are at, and what problems still need to be solved. Kick off is set for 7 PM PT.