Showdown in Motown
October 25, 2003 11:16 AM | General
October 25, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A lot is riding on Sunday afternoon’s West Virginia-Penn State women’s soccer match in Morgantown.
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| All-American Chrissie Abbott will be playing hr final regular season match at the Mountaineer Soccer Complex Sunday. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
With both the Mountaineers and the Lady Lions ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively in the Mid-Atlantic Region, the winner of Sunday’s match gets the inside track on home field advantage for the first round of the NCAA tournament.
“There are a lot of different avenues that will be opened for the team that wins this match,” said West Virginia coach Nikki Izzo-Brown.
West Virginia, 14-2-1, fell one spot in the latest Soccer America rankings from No. 6 to No. 7 after tying Villanova, 0-0 last week. Since dropping a 2-0 decision at No. 2-ranked Notre Dame on Oct. 3, West Virginia is 5-0-1 although the Mountaineers’ last two matches against Villanova (tied 0-0) and Pitt (won 2-1) were tough battles.
“When it comes to Big East play everyone brings out their ‘A’ game,” said Izzo-Brown. “Unfortunately at Villanova we just didn’t take care of what we needed to do but we battled. We had our chances and just didn’t finish them. Against Pitt we hit three posts; it’s just one of those games where we were up 2-0 and just let a soft goal in.”
Senior Chrissie Abbott, playing in her last regular season home match, leads WVU with 11 goals and 27 points. The North Olmsted, Ohio, resident is the school’s most prolific goal scorer with 51 entering the Penn State match. Abbott also needs just three more points to become the school record holder in that category as well.
Fellow senior Lisa Stoia has been a steady and dependable performer at the center of WVU’s attack. Stoia has dished out seven assists so far this year and shows 28 for her career, which ranks her second in school history.
Jennifer Lewis is one of the team’s fastest players and has been a consistent defender throughout her career. The rest of the senior class is comprised of Ambere Cunningham, Laura Finley and Sarah Maddox.
This group has posted a remarkable 62-16-3 record over the last four years.
“It’s going to be a big, big game for those seniors and there are no words to describe what they have done for our program,” said Izzo-Brown.
On Sunday, WVU’s senior class will have a very difficult assignment facing one of the nation’s most explosive attacks in No. 5-rated Penn State (15-2-2).
“They are definitely a Final Four-type of team once again this year,” said Izzo-Brown. “A team that can score that many goals against quality competition is a team that you’ve got to be well prepared and ready for.”
The Lady Lions have already clinched the Big Ten regular season title and come to Morgantown having defeated No. 21 Ohio State, 1-0 Friday night. It was Penn State’s eighth straight victory since Sept. 28 and prior to the Ohio State win, the Lady Lions produced 13 goals in consecutive wins over Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Penn State has one of the nation’s top one-two scoring punches in Tiffany Weimer and Joanna Lohman. The two have combined for 33 goals and 77 points through 19 games. Lohman, a senior midfielder, is on the Hermann Trophy Watch List as one of the nation’s top players. Lohman is a two-time All-American.
“(Lohman) was on the Under-21 national team and she is a huge factor in the midfield and then they’ve got Weimer up top who is just putting the ball in the back of the net,” said Izzo-Brown.
Weimer, a sophomore forward, has dismantled the Penn State sophomore scoring record and leads the Big Ten Conference in scoring.
“They’re athletic, they’re fast … it’s a legit team coming to town,” said Izzo-Brown.
Because Penn State has been so effective scoring goals, considerable pressure has been taken off Lady Lion keeper Amanda Brown. Still, she managed to record her eighth shutout of the season against Ohio State on Friday. She also shows 36 saves in 19 matches.
Penn State now owns a 31-25-2 record versus nationally ranked teams after besting Ohio State, including a 5-2-1 mark against rated teams this year.
The Mountaineers have also been formidable against ranked teams, going 6-3 over the last two seasons. WVU also sports an 18-match unbeaten streak at home.
“There are no words to describe what it would mean to have a large crowd out here Sunday because there is obviously a little rivalry going on between the two schools with both of us being in the same region,” said Izzo-Brown. “It’s going to be a showdown and we need all of the support we can get.”
Game time is 1 pm and fans that can’t make it to the Mountaineer Soccer Complex can listen to MSNsportsNET.com’s live radio coverage through Yahoo! Sports.
Following Sunday’s contest, West Virginia will play host to a Big East tournament first-round match in Morgantown, most likely against No. 25 Boston College.
