Women’s Soccer: No. 3 Aggies Prevail, 2-1
September 14, 2007 04:36 PM | General
BOX SCORE
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
September 14, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 14th-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team’s comeback fell short in the final minutes of a 2-1 loss to third-ranked Texas A&M on a wet Friday evening at Jeffrey Field in University Park, Pa.
Trailing 2-0 at the half, The Mountaineers played a strong 45 minutes and tallied a goal in the 87th minute to narrow the deficit. Senior defender Natalie Cocchi sent a long ball to a streaking Ashley Banks who headed in a goal from 15 yards out, her third goal of the season.
The Aggies held off a tough West Virginia team in the final minutes to improve to 4-1 on the season. The Mountaineers and North Carolina are the only teams to score on A&M this season.
“We played a good Texas A&M team tonight but didn’t take advantage of some opportunities that we had,” said head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “We came out strong in the second half but ran out of time.”
The Aggies lit the scoreboard first as forward Whitney Hooper took advantage of a WVU defensive mis-clear inside the box. Hooper quickly chipped the ball over the head of WVU goalkeeper Mallory Beck from 13 yards out for the first goal of the game.
WVU senior forward Kiley Harris nearly tied the score in the 40th minute, sending a shot on the ground just left of the goal.
A&M regained momentum moments later in the 41st minute. Beck made a diving save on an Aggie shot and the ball slipped off her, onto the foot of midfielder Cydne Currie. Currie touched the ball into the empty net for a 2-0 lead.
Heavy rain and lightning shortly after 4 p.m. delayed the start of the neutral site contest at Penn State’s Jeffrey Field. The Mountaineers, however, wasted no time forcing the action in the opening minutes.
WVU appeared to take a 1-0 lead in the game’s first two minutes when senior forward Kim Bonilla one-touched a ball into the net but was called offsides.
Aggie goalkeeper Kristin Arnold earned her fourth win of 2007, stopping five West Virginia shots on goal. WVU and A&M each took 17shots and four corner kicks on the night while the Aggies made one more foul than WVU.
The loss drops the Mountaineers’ record to 3-2 with both losses coming to ranked foes. West Virginia returns to action on Sunday at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium against Xavier at 1 p.m.
