Washington State Soccer: West Coast Conference Preview

Yesterday we covered Washington State's non conference soccer schedule, so today we'll take a look at the rest of the West Coast Conference. The Cougars put together a fourth place finish in 2024, but with all their losses it may be hard to repeat that in 2025. Here's how the rest of the conference is shaping up.

Washington State starts their WCC schedule off with a visit from the conference's newest member, the Seattle Redhawks, on September 24th.. Seattle finished in third in the WAC last season, and could be looking to compete in the WCC right away. The Redhawks two top scorers, Caroline Penner and Kailee Wilson, are both back this season, which should set them up for success.

The Cougars then host Santa Clara on September 27th. After winning the WCC last season, the Broncos lost a lot of their top players, including for All-WCC First Teamers. The cupboard isn't completely bare, however, with forward Kennedy Schoennauer, another All-WCC First Teamer, and midfielder Kennedy Schoennauer, last year's WCC Midfielder of the year, returning. This is still a very good team.

After Santa Clara the Cougars hit the road to visit San Diego on October 4th. The Toreros were one of the worst teams in the conference last season, posting a 1-7-2 conference record and finishing second from the bottom in the standings. San Diego does return of several starters from last year's team, and continuity does help, but there is a ceiling to how much better this team can be.

Washington State then visits Saint Mary's on October 8th. Saint Mary's finished in the middle of the pack in the WCC last season. Returning forwards Sydney Middaugh and Briana Salvetti could give the Gaels an extremely effective scoring pair, and should be a good test of Washington State's defense.

The Cougars then return to Pullman for an October11th meeting with Loyola Marymount. The Lions were right behind the Cougars in the WCC standings last season, and bring back All Conference forward Kylie Dobbs and standout freshman Maci Land.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs come to Pullman on October 18th. Gonzaga is in a very similar situation to WSU, they had a strong 2024 season but have lost a lot of their top talent. Midfielder Amelia Severn was one of the conference's best freshmen last season, and could be pressed into a leadership role in her sophomore season.

The Cougars will be back on the road October 22nd to take on Pac-12 rival Oregon State. Other than forward Carly Carraher, the Beavers have lost much of their goal scoring, though they've done well at picking up talent through the transfer portal.

Portland is next on October 25th to finish up the Oregon trip. After Washington State, the Pilots might have the biggest roster shift in 2025, having lost the conference's Goalkeeper of the Year, Bre Norris along with First Team defender Katana Norman. It'll be the Cougs new offense versus Portland's new defense this year.

Washington State's final home stand of the season starts on November 1st against Pepperdine. While the Waves have lost last year's WCC Offensive Player of the Year, Tori Waldeck, they have a lot of returning talent, including a very strong freshmen corps, highlighted by forward Ariana Salvador and midfielder Elle Quinn. These are your WCC favorites.

The Cougars' last home game is November 5th against San Francisco. Last year's Dons were very similar to last year's Toreros. They only managed one win in the West Coast Conference, and while they have plenty of returning talent that can only take them so far.

The Cougars finish up the season in Stockton to take on the Pacific Tigers on November 8th. The Tigers posted a clean 0-10 record in 2024. With some good breaks Pacific could pick up a win or two in 2025, but it's hard to see that much more improvement from the team.

The Cougars could finish the season with a strong pair of wins, and if they can pull off an upset against Pepperdine they could be on quite the winning streak at the end of the season. The start of the conference schedule is going to be tough. The team really needs to figure out its identity by the time the non conference schedule ends if they want to make a strong run at a WCC title.

That's all for our Washington State soccer previews. The Cougars have an exhibition match against Eastern Washington on August 8th, and the season gets started against Utah State on August 14th.