Big Ten Renames Goalkeeper of The Year Award in Honor of Late Washington Huskies player

The Washington Huskies women's soccer team is currently 10-1-2 and 5-1-1 in Big Ten play coming off one of the best seasons in program history.

In 2025, the Huskies won their first-ever postseason conference championship and second-ever regular season conference title. They advanced all the way to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament for just the third time in program history.

The entirety of the way, Washington was playing for late goalkeeper Mia Hamant.

Hamant died Nov. 6, 2025, at the age of 21 due to a rare case of kidney cancer, which led to her being unable to play in the 2025 season.

Hamant was honored by the women's soccer team, several of the university's other athletic programs and the professional soccer world, often by wearing orange ribbons, the color for kidney cancer awareness.

Hamant was on the UW roster from 2022-25 and saw the field in 2023-24. During her two seasons of game action, she was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team in '24. She won the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in '25.

And now, the best goalkeeper every single season in the Big Ten will win a trophy honoring Hamant's legacy. On Thursday, the Big Ten announced that the best goalie in the conference will receive the Mia Hamant award.

"Already a leader on the field and a national standout in the goal, Mia Hamant not only inspired the University of Washington, its athletic department and its soccer program, she inspired all of the Big Ten and so many more with the spirit displayed in facing one of the toughest challenges one can face," Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti said in a news release. "The Big Ten will keep her memory and story alive with this coveted honor bearing her name."

The Huskies were unable to advance to the national championship match last season, but are looking like legitimate title contenders this season.

Washington is yet to lose a match at home in Seattle and have won two straight matches in conference play against the Southern California (USC) Trojans and Iowa Hawkeyes, respectively.

The Huskies are currently ranked 13th in the country, per the IWSOC Coaches Poll and will next be in action at 1 p.m. PT on Sunday against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Husky Soccer Field in Seattle. Penn State received votes in the latest poll.

After that, Washington will have another top-25 match against the No. 10-ranked UCLA Bruins at 8 p.m. PT on Oct. 16 in Los Angeles.