WAIPAHU, Hawaii – The 2023 season kicks off on island time for the HCU women's soccer team as they take part in the 2023 Hawaii Outrigger Soccer Kickoff with matches vs. Gonzaga and Utah Valley on Thursday and Sunday, respectively, at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
The Huskies return 10 starters and 19 letterwinners from last season's team that placed fourth in the league standings and reached the Southland Conference tournament semifinals. After opening the season with a 0-6-2 record, HCU closed out the regular season with a 5-3-1 record before earning a 1-0 win over Southeastern at the conference tournament and ultimately falling, 1-0, to conference champion Lamar.
HCU saw three players recognized on the SLC preseason all-conference teams with
Kat Lazor earning first team honors while
Chloe Bagshaw and
Mia Salas were second team selections.
Lazor, a senior defender, was a second team all-SLC selection last season and finished the year with three assists. Two of those assists came on game-winning goals. A consistent leader on the HCU back line, Lazor helped lead a defense that allowed 1.17 goals per game in conference play and recorded five clean sheets.
Bagshaw, meanwhile, started all but one game for the Huskies as a redshirt freshman and tied the program record for shutouts in a single season, with seven. She finished the season with a .768 save percentage, good for third in the league.
Salas, also a senior defender, was a second team all-conference honoree least year and finished second on the team with eight points on three goals and two assists. A starter in 19 of the team's 20 games, Salas scored game-winning goals in a pair SLC games.
Other returners for the Huskies include senior
Katie Marker, who has racked up eight goals and seven assists in her first three seasons, as well as
Ryan Ford,
Emily Jaimes,
Evelyn Slaughter,
Alexa Huerta and
Xya Balderas, who all scored at least two goals last season.
The season opener, on Thursday, Aug. 17, is set for a 9:30 p.m. CT kickoff against a Gonzaga team that finished 2022 with a 10-3-5 overall record and placed third in the West Coast Conference. The Bulldogs are led by a pair of preseason all-WCC defenders in Willow Collins and Kelsey Oyler and were predicted to finish fourth in the WCC in the league's preseason coaches poll.
On Sunday, Aug. 20, at 6:30 p.m. CT, HCU will take on former Great West rival Utah Valley. The Wolverines were voted the preseason favorites to win the WAC after winning the regular season title last season and earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Senior defender Jenna Shepherd Gremillon was named the WAC Preseason Player of the Year while senior midfielder Heather Stainbrook was named Preseason Co-Offensive Player of the Year.
Thursday will mark the first-ever meeting between the Huskies and Bulldogs while Sunday's matchup will be meeting number 12 between HCU and UVU. The Wolverines lead the all-time series 7-3-1. The last time the two teams played came in 2017, also in Hawaii, with UVU earning a 2-1 win over the Huskies.
Following the opening games in Hawaii, HCU will return to the Lone Star State for a matchup with SMU in Dallas, Texas on Thursday, Aug. 24.
