Tall Task
November 19, 2003 02:39 PM | General
November 19, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University women’s soccer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown wouldn’t mind it being about 35 degrees with a stiff wind for Sunday’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16-round soccer match against Florida State at the Mountaineer Soccer Complex.
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| West Virginia coach Nikki Izzo-Brown says Florida State will be one of the most athletic teams the Mountaineers will face this season. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Unfortunately that’s probably not going to be the case. Weather.com’s extended forecast is calling for cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid 60s. The Seminoles look like they are going to sidestep late November weather in West Virginia.
“It’s not going to happen,” said Izzo-Brown. “We’re obviously looking for any kind of advantage that we can get.”
Izzo-Brown is searching for any way to slow down an athletic and talented Florida State team that gave North Carolina all it wanted in the ACC championship game back on Nov. 9, losing 3-2.
Florida State’s losses this year have come against USC, Penn State, Florida, Kansas, Virginia and twice to North Carolina.
North Carolina, Penn State, Kansas and Florida are still alive in the national tournament.
Florida State coach Patrick Baker has constructed a program that is beginning to show signs of rivaling long-time national power North Carolina for ACC supremacy. Florida State has been to the round of 16 three straight years and Baker owns a 7-3 NCAA tournament record since taking over the program in 2000.
“They’re always knocking on the door. Obviously they play a great schedule and they’re playing day-in and day-out in a great conference,” said Izzo-Brown.
FSU’s seven wins in its first four trips to the NCAA tournament rank fourth all-time in NCAA history behind North Carolina, Notre Dame and Florida.
Despite its heady success, Florida State (15-7-1) is still looking to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. FSU has also failed to score a goal in its three prior “Sweet 16” appearances, including a 1-0 loss at Connecticut last year.
Florida State is an offensive-minded team. The Tribe have scored 55 goals this season marking just the third time in school history a Florida State team has scored more than 50 goals in a campaign. Florida State has also tied a school record for the fewest goals allowed this year with 23.
“They play very similar to us,” said Izzo-Brown, who says Florida State reminds her a lot of Virginia and Tennessee – two teams West Virginia faced earlier this season. “There are certain individuals that we have to pay attention to because offensively they’re very dangerous and defensively they’re very well organized.”
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| Florida State sophomore Leah Gallegos leads the Seminoles with 17 goals and 37 points. (AP photo) |
Super sophomore Leah Gallegos is one of the nation’s top offensive players despite not making the semifinal cut for the Hermann Trophy presented to the nation’s top collegiate player. She has tied the school record for goals scored in a season with 17, game-winning goals in a season (six), and multi-goal games for her career (six). Gallegos earned first-team all-ACC honors and has recorded at least one point in 11 of FSU’s 23 games this year.
Camie Bybee has also been a scoring threat, scoring eight goals and producing six assists for 22 points. Julia Schnugg has handed out a team-high 10 assists to go with six goals for 22 points.
“They are athletic and skilled,” said Izzo-Brown. “We’re going to have to step it up and get after them because of their skill level.”
FSU keeper Joy McKenzie has a solid 0.82 goals-against-average and has turned away 71 shots for an 81.6 save percentage.
Florida State, which defeated Dartmouth and Auburn to advance to the third round, has produced nine shutouts this season.
West Virginia, meanwhile, has advanced to the “Sweet 16” for the first time in school history. The Mountaineers got to the round of 16 by defeating Loyola, Md., and Ohio State in Morgantown.
WVU overcame a late-season slump that saw the Mountaineers lose 4-1 at home to Penn State and get knocked out in the semifinals of the Big East tournament to Villanova on penalty kicks.
The Mountaineers (17-3-2) are coming off one of their best performances of the season against Ohio State last Sunday, defeating the nationally ranked Buckeyes 3-0.
“There wasn’t one individual that didn’t play up to their potential that day,” said Izzo-Brown. “It reminded me of when we played Tennessee earlier this year.”
The Mountaineers got goals from Lisa Stoia, Laura Kane and Leslie Barden and have scored seven goals in its two NCAA tournament wins.
Hermann Trophy candidate Chrissie Abbott scored a goal in the Loyola win and assisted on two others in NCAA play. She leads West Virginia with 34 points that includes a career-high eight assists.
With teams paying more attention to Abbott, Stoia and Kane have stepped up their offensive production. Stoia scored the game’s first goal against Ohio State and comes into the Florida State match having scored seven goals to go with 11 assists for 25 points. Kane has eight goals and four assists for 20 points.
For the most part, the Mountaineers have been tough to score on, allowing just 16 goals this season. WVU keeper Lana Bannerman has a solid 0.73 goals-against-average and shows 76 saves for the season. West Virginia has 12 shutouts.
The Mountaineers are one of three Big East teams still alive in the 2003 NCAA Women’s College Cup. Villanova plays host to BYU and Connecticut plays host to Michigan this weekend. The Big East and the Big Ten have the most teams left in the tournament.
Sunday’s match will start at 1 pm and tickets can be purchased in advance by stopping by the Mountaineer Ticket Office located in the WVU Coliseum. Fans can also purchase tickets at the gate on game day.
Izzo-Brown is hoping for another large and spirited crowd for Sunday’s match, “Friday night was freezing and people really came out. We’ve had great support and we need to have a big crowd out there for our girls on Sunday because this is huge for our program,” she said.
MSNsportsNET.com will provide live audio coverage of the NCAA tournament third-round match through Yahoo! Sports. LiveStats will also be available through MSNsportsNET.com.
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Tale of the Tape |
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| West Virginia | Offense | Florida State |
| 2.18 | Goals per Game | 2.40 |
| 452 | Shot Attempts | 392 |
| .108 | Shot Pct. | .140 |
| 183 | Shots on Goal | 171 |
| 20.5 | Shots per Game | 17.0 |
| 44 | Assists | 54 |
| 135 | Corner Kicks | 130 |
| West Virginia | Defense | Florida State |
| 0.71 | Goals per Game | 0.98 |
| 187 | Shot Attempts | 253 |
| .086 | Shot Pct. | .091 |
| 93 | Shots on Goal | 108 |
| 8.5 | Shots per Game | 11.0 |
| 77 | Saves | 86 |
