SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga women's soccer team starts their 2019 season with an exhibition match against Washington at Luger Field Friday.
 
Chris Watkins returns for his third season as the head coach for the Zags. GU returns 11 letterwinners, including seven starters, from last season's 10-win squad.
 
Following the 2018 season, Watkins became the fastest head coach to reach 20 wins in a career in program history. This season he welcomes back several experienced players including India Jencks (Second Team All-WCC in 2018), Sophia Viviano (5th in GU history with 11 career assists and 10th with 33 career points), Samantha Heilman (matched program record with seven assists last season), Isabel Jones (five shutouts last season ranks seventh in program history) and some key pieces from the defense.
 
Last season, the GU defense allowed only 18 goals, which ranked second in the West Coast Conference. Gonzaga was third in the league with seven shutouts in 2018.
 
Washington is also playing in its season-opener, and the game is an exhibition for the Huskies as well. Washington went 8-10-1 last year.
 
The Huskies return 88 percent of their goal-scoring from 2018, including the team's top two scorers in Olivia Van der Jagt and Summer Yates. The Husky defense will feature 157 combined career starts and every single start from 2018.
 
Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday. Admission is free for the match. Live stats will be available on GoZags.com.