The Washington State women’s soccer team kept its clean sheet streak rolling Thursday night, shutting out UC Irvine 2-0 at Lower Soccer Field in Pullman.
It took nearly the full 90 to crack open a game that had been tight from the start. Senior forward Lexi Lee broke the deadlock with less than seven minutes left, and freshman forward Delaney Hawkins added the final blow in the closing minute to seal the Cougars’ second straight shutout.
For most of the night, neither side gave much away. Washington State put up nine shot attempts in the opening half, but more than half were blocked before reaching the goal.
UC Irvine answered with nine shots of its own and came out firing early, putting together three attempts in the first two minutes. One was kept out by senior defender Makena Smith on the line, and another was pushed away by senior goalkeeper Ashlyn Dvorak.
Dvorak was back in goal after missing a week with an injury, and the senior captain made the kind of return that steadies a team. She finished with four saves and earned her first-career shutout for the Cougs. She also made a key stop in the eighth minute to keep the match level.
“Most importantly, two games and two shutouts. You can’t win championships if you are leaking goals,” Coach Chris Citowicki said after the match.
“We’ve talked about having consistency over 90 minutes. I told our team, [Irvine] defends desperately and they did a very good job blocking our shots in the first half.
I told them at halftime that if they are going to play that desperate, then we are going to have to be more desperate to score.”
That urgency finally showed up late. Hawkins sent a right-footed cross from near the corner flag into the goal mouth, the ball took an initial deflection, and Lee was first to react. She beat the goalkeeper to it and finished into the far side netting.
Once Washington State had the lead and under six minutes left, the Cougars settled into a more defensive posture. UC Irvine managed a pair of shots in the final five minutes, but Hawkins put the game away with 52 seconds remaining. The Scottsdale, Arizona freshman ran onto a long clearance from senior forward Reagan Brisendine, worked around a defender, cut inside for space at the top of the area and drove a left-footed shot across her body and past a diving UCI goalkeeper.
The night also brought a pair of debuts for Washington State. True freshman Kingston Worke appeared as a first-half substitute, and redshirt-freshman transfer Camille Brophy played her first collegiate minutes.
In Other News...
Washington State's Apple Cup Hopes May Hinge On One Transfer Defender
Washington State has spent fall camp leaning hard into defense under new coordinator Trent Bray, and the early focus has landed on a transfer who could end up shaping the Cougars biggest game of the season. Jeremiah Bernard, the Cal Poly transfer expected to start at strong safety, has been a prominent figure in practice as the staff looks for steadiness and playmaking on the back end.
Bernards development in coverage has stood out during camp, a sign the Cougars may have found an immediate contributor in a spot that will be tested quickly. With the Apple Cup looming against rival Washington, Washington State will be counting on that safety play to help set the tone for a defense Bray wants to define the team. [Read more 🡒]
WSU Just Delivered A Cougs Football Moment Fans Will Love
Washington State football gave its fans one of those feel-good roster moments that never gets old, with coach Kirby Moore announcing that four walk-ons have earned scholarships. Sean Bures, Jack Ellison, Gavin Fugate and Jack Procter all stuck with the program through multiple seasons, putting in the kind of daily work that usually happens far from the spotlight.
The news came in a team video posted on Twitter, and it landed the way these announcements always do in Pullman: as a reminder of how much the program values perseverance and buy-in. For a roster that leans on depth and continuity, rewarding players who have spent years earning trust is the kind of move that resonates beyond the locker room, even if the full impact of the scholarship haul will be felt over time. [Read more 🡒]
Cougs Fans Just Lost A Coach Tied To A Special Era
Bill Doba, the longtime Washington State football coach whose career on the Palouse stretched across nearly two decades, has died at 85. Before taking over as head coach in 2003, he had already become a familiar figure in the program through 19 seasons in a variety of roles, and his rise to the top job came during one of the most memorable stretches in recent Cougars history.
Dobas early success as head coach helped define that era, and he was recognized as Pac-10 Coach of the Year in his first season at the helm. His tenure later settled into the fuller, more complicated reality of building and sustaining a program, but for Washington State fans, his name remains tied to a special moment when the Cougs were very much part of the national conversation. [Read more 🡒]