Women's Soccer: WVU Faces Rutgers
November 06, 2002 09:39 AM | General
November 6, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s soccer team is just one victory away from a return trip to the Big East championship game.
 |
|
| Laura Kane is second on the team in goals scored this season with nine. |
Last year the Mountaineers upset Connecticut in the tournament semifinals on the way to their first-ever championship game appearance against Notre Dame.
And while last year’s meeting in the tournament championship was something of a surprise for the upstart Mountaineers, an appearance this year is to be expected.
West Virginia, now ranked No. 4 in the latest Soccerbuzz Top 25 poll, boosted its record to 16-1-1 with last Sunday’s 4-0 win over St. John’s in the Big East quarterfinals in Morgantown.
Friday in Storrs, Conn., West Virginia looks to extend its 16-match unbeaten streak against Rutgers, a team WVU downed 2-1 in Piscataway back on Sept. 29.
In that game, the Mountaineers had to overcome a 1-0 Scarlet Knights lead on two goals by Chrissie Abbott for the narrow victory.
Rutgers, 10-7-2 overall, has won three of its last four matches and comes into the semifinals following an exciting 4-3 victory at Miami. Rutgers is ranked ninth in the Mid-Atlantic Region and is looking for a repeat trip to the NCAA tournament.
“Friday is going to be a huge match,” said West Virginia coach Nikki Izzo-Brown, who has led her Mountaineer team to a school-record 16 wins so far. “Rutgers has had a lot of success in their program.”
Carli Lloyd is the Knight’s top scorer with 10 goals and 27 points. Adrienne Dugandeic shows six goals and 16 points, while Danae Riboli has five goals and 13 points.
Defensively, Rutgers is allowing 1.24 goals per game. Goalkeeper Christine Caldwell has made 72 saves and shows a 1.32 goals against average in 18 contests.
The Knights are 0-5 against ranked teams this year, having lost to No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 10 West Virginia, No. 18 Princeton, No. 8 Connecticut and No. 10 Penn State by a combined score of 10-1.
Meanwhile, West Virginia is working on a streak of seven straight shutouts since a 1-1 tie at Seton Hall on Oct. 4. The Mountaineers have outscored their opponents 18-0 during the seven-game stretch and have only permitted two teams (Auburn and Pitt) to score more than one goal against them in a game this season.
Goalkeepers Melissa Haire and Laura Finley have split time in front of the net and have a combined 0.48 goals against average in 18 matches. A solid back line has only allowed the two to save just 49 shots this season.
Up front, West Virginia’s attack is led by All-American candidate Chrissie Abbott who leads the Big East with 18 goals and 41 points. Junior Lisa Stoia is coming off a two-goal performance against St. John’s and is second on the team with 26 points. Laura Kane also shows more than 20 points with 25 and is second to Abbott in goals scored with nine.
West Virginia has outscored its opponents by a remarkable 47-9 margin this year.
The two teams have played evenly since joining the Big East in 1996, with West Virginia holding a slim 4-2-1 advantage in series play.
“We’ve been here before and hopefully we can hang around until Sunday,” said Izzo-Brown.
Friday’s match will get underway at 7 p.m. following the Connecticut-Villanova contest. MSNsportsNET’s live webcast coverage will begin at 6:50 p.m.
