Washington women’s soccer team made the Elite Eight last season, then lost a scrimmage to a team of 14-year-old boys

The University of Washington women’s soccer team recently dropped a preseason scrimmage to a group of 14-year-old boys, a result that stands out given the program just completed the best season in its history. The Huskies reached the Elite Eight last year after upsetting the No. 1 seed Virginia in the Sweet 16.

The match took place in Seattle against Crossfire, an elite club program based out of Redmond, Washington, widely regarded as one of the top youth clubs in the country. As detailed by BroBible, the Crossfire U14 boys team defeated the Huskies 2-1 after 90 minutes of play. The two sides also met in an exhibition in 2024, which ended 1-1.

Washington is no ordinary program. The Huskies have made 18 NCAA Tournament appearances since adding women’s soccer in 1991, and last season finished 15-3-7 overall with an 8-1-2 conference record. After winning the Big Ten Women’s College Soccer Tournament, they earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Duke in the Elite Eight. Notable alumni include USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo, among several other professional and national team players.

This one is going to raise a few eyebrows

The scrimmage was part of a five-game spring schedule for Washington, with only one game remaining. Admission was free, and updates from the match were shared by an attendee on Instagram. The result surfaced amid broader conversations around women’s soccer on the world stage, including Rapinoe accused of hypocrisy over her silence on the Iranian women’s team controversy.

Sports science research has long documented that physical performance gaps between males and females emerge early in life, often well before puberty. Data from studies involving over 85,000 children in Australia found that nine-year-old males were 9.8 percent faster in sprints and 16.6 percent faster in the mile run than girls of the same age. A separate study involving Greek children found that six-year-old males could jump nearly ten percent farther from a standing position than six-year-old females.

These differences are largely attributed to androgenic effects, including testosterone exposure in utero. Greg Brown, a professor of Exercise Science at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, has noted that physical fitness is a consistent baseline prerequisite for success in sport, and that these gaps are established well before competitive age. Research compiled by the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group draws on multiple data sets, including swimming records and track and field analysis, to support those findings. Youth sports incidents have also been drawing attention elsewhere, with a softball catcher targeting teenage batter going viral and prompting a formal ruling from Louisiana’s high school athletics body.

Whether or not Washington had its full squad available, the Huskies lost 2-1 to a team of middle school-aged boys, a result the program will look to put behind it heading into the upcoming season.