Women's Soccer: WVU Ready for No. 7 Penn State
September 07, 2006 12:28 PM | General
September 7, 2006
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| Lana Bannerman |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 17 West Virginia University women’s soccer team will face No. 7 Penn State on Friday, Sept. 8, at 1 p.m., at Jeffrey Field, in State College, Pa.
West Virginia (4-0) is looking to avenge its second round loss to the Nittany Lions in the 2005 NCAA tournament. Penn State proved to be too much for the Mountaineers in the 5-2 result and finished the season ranked No. 2 in the NSCAA poll with a 23-0-2 record.
Penn State enters the game with a 1-1-2 record after opening the season with a tough non-conference schedule that included four teams that are now ranked in the NSCAA top 15. The Nittany Lions return to State College after going 0-1-1 on their Texas road trip. Penn State fell 2-1 to newly-ranked No. 8 Texas in Austin, on Sept. 1, but tied third-ranked Texas A&M 1-1, in College Station on Sept. 3.
WVU brings one of the BIG EAST’s top offenses into the weekend averaging four goals a game, which is tied for third-highest in the country.
The Mountaineers cruised past both Western Michigan and Binghamton this past weekend, outshooting their opponents by a combined 81-4 in the two games. Junior all-BIG EAST pick Ashley Banks scored three goals and had an assist while goalkeeper Lana Bannerman picked up her first two shutouts of the season.
West Virginia enters the weekend ranked No. 9 in the Soccer America poll, No. 10 in Soccer Buzz’s weekly poll and No. 17 in the NSCAA poll.
The Mountaineers are 0-2 all-time against Penn State with losses in 2003 and 2005.
