It’s the middle of August, meaning that the college soccer season is just about to kickoff. For fans who want to follow the Salmon Bay players all season long, read the following preview to find out where they will be playing their college ball.
Before we take a deep dive into the 2025 college season, let’s take a quick look at the next level. Fans can support the first Salmon Bay player to sign a professional contract, Elena Milam, as she will play for Apollon Ladies FC, the best team in Cyprus.
Similarly to Ballard FC, Salmon Bay FC has built their squad with a large hub of local college players. 10 players from the Salmon Bay roster will play their college soccer in Seattle at either the University of Washington, Seattle University, or Seattle Pacific University.
The five Washington Huskies are Samiah Shell, Anna Menti, Maya Loudd, Alex Buck, and Tanner Ijams. Shell was the leading goal scorer in 2025 for Salmon Bay and is going into the college season with high expectations. Shell was one of three huskies to be named to the Big Ten Players to Watch list. Menti and Loudd will look to both be starters in defense for the huskies as they head into their junior season. Both players started double digit matches in 2024 and will look to anchor the defense this fall. Buck had a promising freshman season in 2024 for the huskies, which is why she was named a Big Ten Breakout Candidate by Top Drawer Soccer ahead of the upcoming season. Ijams took a redshirt in 2024 but will be looking to win the starting job in 2025 after a summer with Salmon Bay.
Heading to Championship Field, we have three redhawks playing for Seattle University: Juju Barker, Ui Kaaihue, and Alana Lamb. After graduating from Oregon State University, Barker is transferring to Seattle University for her final year of eligibility. Barker was All-WCC Honorable Mention in her final year for the Beavers and then spent time with both Salmon Bay FC and the Philippine National Team this summer. Another redhawk going into her final year of eligibility is Ui Kaaihue. Ui has had a great college career, winning All-Freshman, All-Conference, and All-Region honors in 2022 while being named WAC Freshman of the Year. Last year she was named Preseason All-WAC and would go on to make the conference second team alongside Salmon Bay teammates Hallie Bergford and Alana Lamb, and then was also Second Team All-Region. Lastly, Alana Lamb is looking to have another all-conference season for her redshirt junior year in 2025.
There are two players who will continue to play at Interbay Stadium this fall with Seattle Pacific University: Sophie Hanay and Mercedes Cullen. Hanay appeared in all 19 matches for the falcons as a freshman in 2024 and will look to expand her role even more as she will play both left back and right back across the backline. Cullen unfortunately battle injury for most of the summer, but will be looking to cap off her college career with her fourth straight all-conference season. In 2022 and 2024, Cullen was named GNAC Honorable Mention, and in 2023 she was Second Team All-GNAC.
As we expand outside of Seattle, there are five more players who will take the field for Washington and Oregon colleges this fall. In Washington, Amelia Severn is going into her sophomore year at Gonzaga. Severn had a great freshman season in 2024, leading Gonzaga in assists with seven while being named WCC Honorable Mention and making the All-WCC Freshman Team.
Heading south to Oregon, we have three players at the University of Portland: Keeley Dockter, Aliyah Dockter, and Jillian McBride. Keeley is going into her redshirt senior season after three straight years of being a consistent starter for the Pilots. Going into the 2025 season, she has been named to the Preseason All-WCC team. Keeley’s younger sister, Aliyah, is going into her junior year with the Pilots. Aliyah has played in all 37 matches for Portland across her first two seasons as a Pilot, starting roughly half of them. This season, Aliyah will be looking to become an every-match starter alongside her older sister. Jillian McBride is the youngest of the Portland trio as she is going into her sophomore season. in 2024, Jillian played in every match for the Pilots and made the WCC All-Freshman Team. Ahead of the 2025 season, McBride led Salmon Bay FC in assists this summer and was named a WCC Breakout Candidate by Top Drawer Soccer.
The last player in Oregon is Maya Courtenay, who will be suiting up for Western Oregon University this fall. Courtenay played her freshman season at Sonoma State in 2024 but after the school cut its athletic department, she was forced to transfer and will now leading the line for Western Oregon as a sophomore.
As we continue down the west coast we have three more players in the state of California this fall. Campbell Carroll is at the University of California, Berkeley (Cal) this fall while both Milly Bray and Freya Spiekerkoetter will be playing for Stanford. Carroll had a breakout freshman season for the Bears in 2024, playing in 20 matches while being named to the Top Drawer Soccer Midseason Top 100 Freshman List. Ahead of the 2025 season, Carroll has also been named an ACC Breakout Candidate by Top Drawer Soccer.
The Stanford duo of Bray and Spiekerkoetter is relatively inexperienced at the collegiate level, but both will be looking to break through for one of the more historic powerhouses in all of college soccer. Bray is an incoming freshman for the Cardinals, but will bring some invaluable experience after playing with a ton of top college player this summer with Salmon Bay. Spiekerkoetter will be redshirt junior this season. She was part of the 2022 Pac 12 Championship roster as well as the past two College Cup runs in 2023 and 2024. Now, she will be looking to breakout individually this fall with the Cardinals.
Our last player in the southwest region is the University of Arizona’s Ella Hatteberg. Hatteberg was a huge part of Salmon Bay’s success this summer, winning Player of the Match twice and being a constant presence on the right flank. Hatteberg is going into her senior year for the Wildcats after starting double digit matches in each of the past three seasons.
Before we head back north, we have one more player who will be down south this fall with Sadie Sider-Echenberg playing for the University of South Florida. Sider-Echenberg’s collegiate career started in Canada with the University of Ottawa where she was a conference All-Star in 2021. Then after sitting out 2022, she transferred to South Florida ahead of the 2023 season. After a solid sophomore season in 2023, she broke out in 2024 for her junior year. In 2024, Sider-Echenberg was named First Team All-AAC, Third Team All-Region, and won AAC Midfielder of the Year honors. Ahead of the 2025 season, she has been named to the American Women’s Soccer Players to Watch list.
Back to the northwest we go, checking in on the duo at the University of Montana, Chloe Seelhoff and Carly Whalen. Seelhoff spent her first two years of her collegiate career at the University of Washington before transferring to Montana for her junior year ahead of the 2024 season. She immediately hit the ground running with the Grizzlies, winning Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors once and also earning Second Team All-Big Sky honors. Ahead of her senior season in 2025, Seelhoff was named Preseason All-Big Sky. Whalen is going into her sophomore season after a breakout freshman year in 2024. In 2024, Whalen played in 18 of 19 matches and started 11 on her way to earning Big Sky Honorable Mention recognition. Ahead of the 2025 season, she has been named a Big Sky Breakout Candidate by Top Drawer Soccer.
As we head East, it’s time to check in on the Big Ten players who will be competing against the Salmon Bay huskies this fall. Senior midfielders Freya Jupp and Kelsey Kwon will both be in the Big Ten this fall with Jupp at Minnesota and Kwon at Northwestern. Jupp is using her final year of eligibility with the Gophers after spending three seasons at DePaul in Chicago alongside Salmon Bay teammate, Elena Milam. Jupp’s breakout year came in 2024 where she was named Third Team All-Big East after leading the Blue Demons in goals (6), assists (3), and points (15). Although Jupp and Milam are leaving the Windy City, there will still be one Salmon Bay player in Chicago this fall as Kwon will be running the midfield for the Northwestern Wildcats. Kwon will be looking to build upon a breakout year in 2024 where she played in all 19 matches, a career high.
Despite the exodus of the DePaul duo, there will still be two Salmon Bay players competing in the Big East. Kaya Hanson will be a junior this fall at Georgetown, looking to become. a consistent starter in 2025 after being a very impactful role player in her first two seasons. Hanson has played in 39 of the 43 total matches in her time with the Hoyas, but has only started seven matches and so she’ll be looking to make that step up this fall. Alongside Hanson in the Big East is goalkeeper Hannah Dickinson who is the starter for Villanova. Dickinson’s career started at the University of Southern California (USC) where she took a redshirt in 2022 before becoming the starter in 2023. After starting in 14 matches and keeping eight clean sheets in 2023, Dickinson transferred to Villanova ahead of the 2024 season. In 2024, Dickinson was named Big East Goalkeeper of the Week once and earned Second Team All-Big East honors.
Also in the Northeast are the Ivy League trio of Maia Tabion, Alex Chang, and Andie Miller. Chang and Miller are both defenders at Yale University. Chang took a redshirt in 2023, and then made her collegiate debut in 2024 as she made nine appearances and recorded her first collegiate assist. Additionally, Chang got to represent her country as she went to the 2024 U20 World Cup with the Korea Republic. Her teammate, Andie Miller, has been a consistent starter for Yale in both 2023 and 2024 and will look to build upon that in 2025. Joining the Yale duo in the Ivy League is Columbia’s Maia Tabion. Tabion goes into her senior season after starting in at least 14 matches in each of her previous three seasons tallying at least 1,000 minutes in each of them as well. She received First Team All-Ivy Honors in 2024 and will look to have another all-conference season in 2025.
Lastly, let’s look at one final player in the Northeast who will be competing in the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) with Syracuse. Ava Uribe was an intern for both Salmon Bay FC and Ballard FC this summer as an ACL injury kept her from playing this summer. However, uribe will be back with Syracuse this fall and Salmon Bay fans should be sure to support her alongside the other Salmon bay players in the ACC this year. in 2024, Uribe started in all but one match for the Orange, scoring two goals and recording four assists. This year, she will look to bounce back from injury and be a key contributor for Syracuse once again.
That’s a wrap for the Salmon Bay FC college preview. 30 players at 18 different institutions. Check in on your favorite players as they represent the Salmon Bay well this school year.
Written by Max Dresbach
