Women's Soccer: WVU to Face Virginia
November 09, 2006 09:47 AM | General
November 9, 2006
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| Nikki Izzo-Brown |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Nikki Izzo-Brown knew her 14th-rated West Virginia University women’s soccer team was going to face some outstanding teams in this year’s NCAA tournament, she just didn’t figure on getting such a good team in the first round.
“It is NCAA tournament time and you’re going to play the best teams in the country,” said Izzo-Brown. “We just have one really early.”
The Mountaineers battle Virginia in an opening round match at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Friday at 5 pm. The two teams played to a 1-1 double-overtime draw in Morgantown back on Sept. 17. West Virginia and Virginia have met seven times on the soccer field with the Cavaliers owning a 5-1-1 mark, including a 1-0 victory over WVU in the second round of the 2002 NCAA tournament.
This year marks the seventh straight season West Virginia has been invited to NCAA tournament play.
WVU last played on Saturday, Nov. 3, in Storrs, Conn., losing to Rutgers 3-2 in the Big East tournament semifinals. West Virginia (14-3-3) had a 2-0 lead in that match at one point.
The Mountaineers were the Big East American Division regular season champions with an 8-2-1 conference record and advanced to as high as sixth in the national rankings. WVU’s best victory of the season came on Sept. 8 in State College, Pa., when the Mountaineers knocked off No. 7-rated Penn State 2-1. The Lady Lions went on the win the Big Ten title and are the tournament’s No. 2-seeded team with a 15-4-3 overall record.
Virginia (10-7-2) has had an up and down year playing in the very difficult Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cavaliers show victories over Clemson, Duke and Wake Forest and ties with Florida State and West Virginia.
The Mountaineers held a 1-0 lead in that match after Amanda Cicchini’s header went in off the cross bar, but the Cavaliers tied things up seven minutes later when Jess Rostedt knocked one in from in front of the six-yard box.
Rostedt is Virginia’s top goal scorer with eight. Sarah Curtis has five goals with four UVA players showing three goals each.
Virginia goal keeper Christina de Vries has allowed just 15 goals this season and has an outstanding 0.80 goals against average.
“Both of us are going to have a feel for each other,” said Izzo-Brown. “Both teams have probably changed a little bit but we’re excited to play Virginia.”
Deana Everrett has knocked in 18 goals to lead West Virginia to go with seven assists for 43 points. Kim Bonilla shows nine goals and a team-leading 12 assists for 30 points.
The Mountaineers have scored 55 goals this season – or 25 more than Virginia’s 19-game total heading into Friday’s match.
The winner of the West Virginia-Virginia match will take on the winner of Wake Forest-Old Dominion on Sunday afternoon. Tournament overall No. 1-seeded North Carolina is in this bracket as well.
“I know the committee has certain criteria they have to follow and I respect what they are doing because I know they are working hard and pulling some late hours … but there are some surprises,” Izzo-Brown said. “I don’t think I’d want to be Texas going to Connecticut. It’s a total different climate there so I think that one really kind of shocked me a little bit.
“I’m sure there are good reasons for (their selections) and at this point everybody just wants to win,” she said.
West Virginia is 5-6 in NCAA tournament action having advanced to second-round play in each of the last four seasons.
West Virginia’s deepest run in the tournament came in 2003 when the Mountaineers made it to the “Sweet 16” where they lost 3-2 to Florida State.
The broadcast of Friday night’s match will be available on the Internet for free at MSNsportsNET.com through CSTV All-Access. Fans can also follow the game through CSTV’s Game Tracker service.
