WVU Advances
November 03, 2002 05:11 PM | General
November 3, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- The West Virginia University women's soccer team (16-1-1) defeated St. John's 4-0 in the opening round of the BIG EAST tournament Sunday afternoon at the Mountaineer Soccer Complex.
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| Junior Lisa Stoia celebrates the first of her two second-half goals during Sunday's win over St. John's. |
Sophomore Leslie Barden scored on a header with three minutes left in the second half for the game's first goal. The goal, her third of the season, was a result of a Marisa Kanela cross which Barden slipped past St. John's goalkeeper Tina Fogg.
The match remained 1-0 until senior midfielder Rachel Kruze scored at the 66:54 mark. Defender Jenn Lewis passed the ball to Lisa Stoia near the post and Stoia one-timed the ball to Kruze who stood waiting to score.
Kruze's goal was the first of a West Virginia scoring flurry as Stoia scored two goals in the next six minutes to give West Virginia an insurmountable 4-0 lead.
"Today's game was good for us because we were able to possess the ball a lot against them," said Kruze. "We are focused on taking it one game at a time, and that's what we did today."
West Virginia has shut out its last seven opponents, not having been scored on since its tie at Seton Hall on Oct. 4. The seven straight shutouts and the 11 total shutouts in the season tie school records. Both records were set in 1996, with the total shutouts also being tied in 2000.
Junior goalkeeper Laura Finley recorded her fifth shutout of the season.
Having tallied her 10th assist of the season against St. John's Stoia claimed a share of the season assists record set by Katie Barnes in 2001.
"Today's win moved us one step closer to our ultimate goal of winning a BIG EAST championship," said head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. "We played a good St. John's team, took it to them, and got the job done."
The Mountaineers' 16 wins sets a school record for victories in a season. West Virginia posted 15 wins in each of the last two years.
St. John's falls to 9-6-4.
West Virginia will face Rutgers, who they defeated 2-1 during regular season play, in the BIG EAST semifinal on Friday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. in Storrs, Conn. The match will be broadcast live on MSNsportsNET.com.
West Virginia 4, St. John's 0
Scoring: WVU- Barden (Kanela) 42:11; WVU- Kruze (Lewis, Stoia) 66:54; WVU-Stoia 69:29; WVU-Stoia 72:26 (Abbott).
Shots: WVU -28; SJU - 4
Corners: WVU - 8; SJU - 1
Fouls: SJU - 11; WVU - 8
Goalkeeping: WVU - Laura Finely, 0GA, 1 saves, 90:00 minutes; SJU- Tina Fogg, 4GA, 8 saves, 90:00 minutes.
