Women's Soccer: WVU Travels to JMU Invitational
August 24, 2006 11:26 AM | General
August 24, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 18 West Virginia University women’s soccer team will open the 2006 season this weekend at the James Madison Invitational at the JMU Soccer Complex in Harrisonburg, Va.
West Virginia will face the Richmond Spiders on Friday, Aug. 25, at 5 p.m. before taking on host James Madison on Sunday, Aug. 27, at 1:30 p.m.
WVU and Richmond battled to a 1-1 tie last season with the Spiders owning a 0-1-1 all-time record over the Mountaineers. The Mountaineers, however, do have the upperhand on James Madison, owning a 5-1-0 all-time record. West Virginia lost to the Dukes in the 1999 season opener, but then took the next five meetings all the way through the 2004 season.
The Mountaineers return eight starters and 12 letterwinners from last year’s squad. They will be lead by junior forward Ashley Banks who was selected as a preseason all-conference pick by the league’s coaches. Banks was WVU’s second leading scorer last season with five goals and seven assists. In net, West Virginia returns senior Lana Bannerman, who led the BIG EAST in shutouts last year (9) and holds the school record for career shutouts with 25.
WVU continues to be without preseason all-BIG EAST selection sophomore Amanda Cicchini as she is currently playing for Team Canada at the FIFA U-20 World Championships.
West Virginia enters the weekend ranked No. 17 in the Soccer America poll, No. 18 in the NSCAA poll and No. 21 in Soccer Buzz’s preseason poll. The Mountaineers have won their last two season openers and are 5-5 all-time in season-opening games.
