Big East Champs!
November 11, 2007 04:19 PM | General
November 11, 2007
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – What began as a dream when the program was born 12 years ago culminated when the West Virginia women’s soccer team tied No. 9 Notre Dame 1-1 and then won 5-3 on penalty kicks to claim the school’s first ever BIG EAST women’s soccer tournament championship Sunday afternoon at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
“I’m just so proud of these ladies to battle a team of this caliber,” West Virginia Head Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “To come back and tie it up and then win it in PKs is huge.”
The Irish got on the board first just 13:25 into the first half when junior Kerri Hanks scored her team-leading 13th goal of the season, pushing a ball passed WVU freshman goalkeeper Kerri Butler. Courtney Rosen recorded her third assist of the year on the play. The goal ended the Mountaineers’ 280 minute scoreless streak and was just the eighth goal West Virginia had allowed in the first half this season.
WVU had an excellent chance to even the score with 14:36 left in the half when senior forward Kim Bonilla sent a corner kick into the box but sophomore midfielder Carolyn Blank’s header hit off the crossbar and the stout Irish defense cleared the ball.
Bonilla made good on a set piece 25 minutes later, sending a free kick into the box. Blank headed the ball far side to senior Kiley Harris, who beat Notre Dame goalkeeper Lauren Karas with a diving header from four yards out to even the score at 1-1 with just under seven minutes to go in the first half.
The Mountaineers dominated the first half of play outshooting the Irish 9-4 and holding a 3-1 advantage on corner kicks.
The second half was a see-saw battle in which neither team could gain a clear advantage. Notre Dame held a 4-3 advantage on shots but West Virginia had the edge in corner kicks 3-0.
The Mountaineer’s best chance to score in the second half came 14 minutes in when senior Ashley Banks sent a perfect cross into the box to junior Deanna Everrett. Everrett however was unable to get her foot to it and the ball rolled harmlessly away.
Notre Dame’s best chance came with under two minutes to go when Michelle Weissenhofer drilled a low bullet shot but Kerri Butler’s save ensured the game would be headed for overtime.
The Irish were strong in the two overtime periods, outshooting West Virginia 5-0 in the 20 minutes. Notre Dame had a chance to end the game 4:10 into the second overtime when Weissenhofer sent one of her trademark front-flip throw ins into the box. A huge scrum ensued before Butler was able to dive on the ball.
The Irish had one last gasp at the five minute mark of the second overtime when forward Amanda Cinalli sent a rocket to the left side of the goal. Butler’s diving save sent the game to penalty kicks and was a sign of things to come for the Fredericksburg, Va. native.
West Virginia outshot Notre Dame 13-12 in the game, breaking a streak of 11 straight games in which the Irish had outshot its opponent.
After Banks beat Karas to give WVU the early 1-0 lead in PKs, Butler made an acrobatic save, diving to her left, to rob defending National Player of the Year Kerri Hanks of a goal.
“We had talked about it before the game and she had taken some penalty kicks and she had always kicked them that way,” Butler said. “I just knew it was going that way and I knew I had to just make one save. As a goalkeeper you kind of have to pump yourself up enough to just save one. If you save one it not only pumps the rest of your team up but it puts the other team behind.”
With the tally at 3-2 in favor of the Gold and Blue, seldom-used Sydney Metheny came on and calmly beat Karas in the first pressure-packed moment of her young career to make the score 4-2. Metheny had played only once coming into the contest.
“I warmed up before the start of the second overtime so I was ready. My heart was pounding so fast but I was excited and ready,” Metheny said.
Izzo-Brown explained her reasoning for sending an untested player into such a pressure-packed situation.
“We have worked on PKs all season and as I coach I felt there were certain players that have been consistent and have handled the pressure well,” Izzo-Brown said. “They stepped up today, especially Syd Metheny. I mean here you go. She’s a little freshman but nobody can hit it better than Sydney and I’m proud of her.”
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| Ashley Banks picks up Lisa DuCote after the game-winning PK. |
After Notre Dame’s Lauren Fowlkes successfully found the back of the net, Junior midfielder Lisa DuCote came on for the clincher, sending a rocket past Karas to give West Virginia its first BIG EAST women’s soccer tournament championship.
“You sit there and you think about being in the NCAA or BIG EAST finals with a chance to hit the game-winning shot,” DuCote said. “It was a pressure packed moment but I knew I was going to make it. I knew that even if I didn’t I had someone behind me that could make theirs.”
West Virginia defeated Notre Dame (15-5-2) for the first time since 2002, an accomplishment not lost on senior defender Natalie Cocchi.
“The last time we beat Notre Dame I was on my recruiting visit in my senior year of high school (2002). I remember they beat them 3-0 and that was the day I made my decision to come here,” Cocchi said. “Notre Dame was always a big deal. I grew up watching them win the national championship and seeing them have players on the national team so to beat them today was a huge deal. This is why I came here.”
The win snaps Notre Dame’s streak of three straight tournament titles. The Irish have won nine tournament championships in their 13 years in the BIG EAST.
A record crowd of 1,213 braved the chilly temperatures to watch the Mountaineers make history. It was the largest crowd ever to see a women’s game at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
“The home crowd was unbelievable. They way they were screaming and yelling especially during PKs definitely gave us a momentum boost,” Izzo-Brown said. “We are always seeking a competitive edge and we are going to need them back when we host NCAAs.”
West Virginia (16-4-2) will now wait until Monday night at 8 p.m. to see who they will host in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“We are not done,” Izzo-Brown said. “We want to go to Texas. We want to go to the Final Four.”
