Northwestern Women's Soccer Opens Season in Kansas

Thursday, August 18

Manhattan, Kan.

7 p.m. CT

Northwestern

Kansas State

Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera

Northwestern Women's Soccer Opens Season in Kansas

8/17/2022 2:45:00 PM | Women's Soccer

NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S SOCCER: GAME INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Thursday, August 18	Kansas State	7 p.m. CT	Buser Family Park Manhattan, Kan.	ESPN+	Live Stats
Sunday, August 21	Kansas	1 p.m. CT	Rock Chalk Park Lawrence, Kan.	ESPN+	Live Stats

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern women's soccer kicks off the 2022 season with a weekend road trip to The Sunflower State. The Wildcats take on Kansas State at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday, Aug. 19, before heading 90 minutes east on Sunday, Aug. 21, to face Kansas at 1 p.m. CT. Both matches will be televised on ESPN+. Northwestern is 6-4 in season openers under head coach Michael Moynihan, and 3-1 when beginning the season away from Martin Stadium.

Kansas State shares both the 'Wildcats' nickname and a purple and white colorway with Northwestern, but one thing they've never shared is the soccer field. Thursday will be the first meeting between the two programs, as well as the first Big 12 opponent NU will have played against since 2019.

Meanwhile, Northwestern is no stranger to KU. The Jayhawks have matched up against the Wildcats five times, holding a 4-1 advantage. Northwestern last played Kansas in 2019, when it hosted the then-No. 18 Jayhawks in a 1-0 loss. In Lawrence, Kan., each team has won one of the two matches. The Wildcats' last victory over Kansas came in a 2-1 overtime win in 2012.

Northwestern begins 2022 on the heels of a 7-9-1 season, in which the Wildcats started out 7-4-1 before dropping their last five contests. NU will look to reach the NCAA Tournament this year for the first time since the 2018 season.

The Wildcats return five of their top six points-scorers, including leading goal scorer and assist maestro, midfielder Josie Aulicino. Four of the junior's six goals in 2021 were game-winning goals, and the third team All-Big Ten nominee has climbed to eighth all-time in program history in career assists (11) following her breakout season. Aulicino was named to the Big Ten Players to Watch List, alongside forward Meg Boade and midfielder Aurea del Carmen.

Overall, Northwestern returns a large majority of its production from 2021. The Wildcats will have 70% of their goal-scoring production coming back from last season, with the main loss being the graduation of Regan Steigleder, who scored four times. Aulicino, del Carmen, Boade and Ella Hase maintain a strong front line, while Rowan Lapi and Lily Gilbertson now have the tall task of replacing the output of Steigleder in the midfield.

The 2022 season is Moynihan's 11th in Evanston, where he holds an all-time record of 89-80-27. Moynihan is responsible for four of Northwestern's six NCAA Tournament appearances, making the tournament every year from 2015-2018, and is the winningest coach in program history.