Women's Soccer: WVU Opens Season Friday
August 25, 2005 09:55 AM | General
August 25, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Looking for its sixth-straight NCAA tournament berth, the West Virginia University women’s soccer team opens its 10th season of competition on Friday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m., when defending Atlantic 10 champion Dayton visits Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
The Mountaineers, who enter the contest ranked as high as No. 11 in the preseason polls, and the Flyers, who are receiving votes in the SoccerBuzz and NSCAA/adidas polls, will be meeting for the first time.
West Virginia returns eight of 11 starters from a 2004 squad that posted a 15-6-0 record and advanced to the NCAA tournament second round. Headlining the returners are senior midfielder Marisa Kanela and sophomore midfielder Ashley Banks. Kanela, a second team all-region and all-conference selection in 2004, was WVU’s leading scorer with 11 goals and four assists for 26 points a year ago. Banks, last year’s BIG EAST co-rookie of the year, broke every WVU freshman record in the books en route to earning freshman All-America status after an eight-goal, eight-assist rookie campaign.
Dayton returns 18 letterwinners from last year’s Atlantic 10 champion squad. A senior trio of forward Reba Sedlacek, defender Aliciga Bredlo and midfielder Katie Lowstuter lead the Flyers into 2005.
WVU looks to move its record in season openers to .500 with Friday’s contest. Entering the match, the Mountaineers have a 4-5 opening-match record. Last season, West Virginia downed Kentucky 3-2 in double overtime to start the season.
Friday’s match marks only the second time in women’s soccer history that the Mountaineers have opened a season at home. In 2000, WVU defeated Syracuse in that match.
Following the match with Dayton, West Virginia will travel to No. 5 Virginia for a 2 p.m., contest on Sunday, Aug. 28, at Klöckner Stadium.
Ticket prices for Friday’s match are $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and youth 18 and under and $2 per ticket for groups of 10 or more.
