Washington State came away from Fargo with a scoreless draw Sunday, and the story of the afternoon was defense. Sidney Venier picked up her first career shutout as the Cougars and North Dakota State played to a 0-0 result at Dacotah Field. WSU has now kept the Bison off the board in three straight meetings, though the Cougars couldn’t cash in on 12 shot attempts.
Coach Chris Citowicki shuffled the lineup, giving true freshmen Isabella Amado, Calli Holje, Kate Spangler, and Raina Tifft their first starts. The move brought early energy. Washington State put seven shots up in the first half and put three of them on target before the break.
The Cougars threatened right away. Just over six minutes into the match, Maddie Martin sent a skipping effort from 25 yards out that forced one of North Dakota State’s three saves.
Holje came even closer in the 25th minute, ripping a shot toward the upper right corner before the Bison keeper got a diving hand to it. WSU also created danger from dead balls, including a Makena Smith header that went wide of the far post on a free kick four minutes before halftime.
Venier didn’t have a busy day, but she made her moments count. She hauled in a set piece in the 19th minute and then opened the second half with a diving save to her upper left just two minutes after the restart. That stop preserved the clean sheet, which was WSU’s first of the season.
“Good response from the game against SDSU,” Coach Citowicki said after the match. “This was always going to be a physical match up and we did a great job in our 50-50s.
From a defensive standpoint I couldn’t be any happier, you need to get shutouts and defend like your life depends on it. That’s what we did today.”
Washington State’s best looks after halftime were repeatedly swallowed up before they could turn into shots on frame. Riley Carolan had a header on a corner kick blocked inside the 6-yard box in the 56th minute, and the Cougars kept trying to spring counters through freshmen Delaney Hawkins and Tifft down the right side.
North Dakota State answered with several tactical fouls, including a takedown of Tifft near the top of the area with 30 minutes left. Maycen Slater’s free kick ran straight into the wall, and Carolan later had another counter chance blocked 10 minutes after that.
“There are a few things we need to clean up in the attack and we’ll work on that this week,” Citowicki said. “Finally, we had six players make their debut today and they did so well.
The future is bright in that regard. I can’t wait to get back to Pullman and play again this week.”
The closing stretch still had a few tense moments. In the final 10 minutes, Venier had to come well off her line after a Carolan clearance deflected off a Bison attacker and rolled toward goal.
She smothered the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and took a knock to the head in the process. At the other end, Aaya McLyn got a touch on a corner in the 83rd minute, but the attempt was blocked out.
Then, with a little more than five minutes left, Amado tracked across the field to challenge a dangerous through ball and stop one last North Dakota State push.
WSU now heads home to open the 2026-27 academic school year this week. The Cougars host UC Irvine on Thursday, August 27, at 6 p.m. PT at Lower Soccer Field to finish the August schedule.
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