Women's Soccer: WVU Opens Tournament Play
November 01, 2008 11:08 AM | General
November 1, 2008
 |
||
Game
Notes |
BIG EAST Bracket |
All-Time vs. Louisville |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The 15th-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team begins its quest to defend its first conference title this weekend, hosting Louisville on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 1 p.m. at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
The match marks the third-straight championship meeting between the Mountaineers (12-2-5 overall, 7-1-3 BIG EAST), the No. 1 seed from the American Division, and the Cardinals (9-6-3 overall, 6-3-2 BIG EAST), the No. 4 seed from the National Division.
WVU played to a 0-0 tie in 2006 and advanced in a shootout (5-4) in the quarterfinals. The Mountaineers trumped the visiting Cardinals in last season’s semifinal’s match, 1-0. WVU owns a 2-0-1 series record against UofL.
“Louisville is a very good team and they are going to be organized and emotionally ready-to-go for this conference match,” says Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “It’s going to be a tough battle on Sunday.”
The Mountaineers enter the BIG EAST tournament on a six-match (5-0-1) unbeaten streak. The team closed out the regular season with two key victories on the road, defeating Marquette 2-0 on Oct. 24 and USF 2-0 on Oct. 26. The victories were the team’s 11th and 12th shutouts on the year.
Freshman forward Blake Miller leads the Mountaineers offensively with 19 points (8G/1A). The St. Louis, Mo., native tallied five shots against the Bulls, and scored the game-winning goal in the victory over the Golden Eagles. Miller has a team-best five game-winning goals on the season.
Defensively, the Mountaineers have posted seven shutouts at DDSS this season, allowing only three goals for an 8-0-2 record. Sophomore goalkeeper Kerri Butler boasts a 0.417 goals-against average mark, the nation’s fifth-best average.
The Cardinals, led by nine-year Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes, advanced to Sunday’s meeting via a 1-0 home victory over Pittsburgh, the No. 5 seed in the American Division, on Oct. 30. Freshman Giselle Mangal netted the game’s lone goal. Mangal (5G/3A), along with junior Lindsay Boling (6G/1A), lead UofL with 13 points each. Junior Katie Zoeller secured the shutout against the Panthers with two saves. Zoeller has a 0.58 GAA mark through 11 games played.
WVU is 8-7-3 all-time in BIG EAST Championship matches, including a 4-1-2 mark at home. The Mountaineers went 3-0 at home last season in the tournament, including the 1-0 semifinal win over UofL and a 1-1 tie against Notre Dame, in which WVU edged the Fighting Irish 5-3 in a shootout for its first conference title.
“Our goal from the beginning of this season has been to win another BIG EAST Championship,” says Izzo-Brown. “Obviously, we have to beat Louisville to do that. We know it’s going to take a lot of effort and focus on Sunday, and we’re looking forward to it.”
WVU students with a valid ID receive free admission to Sunday’s contest. Adult tickets can be purchased for $5 each, while kids and senior citizen tickets are available for $3 each. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $2 apiece. Fans can also watch the match for free by signing up for CBS College Sports TV at WVU’s official athletic site, www.msnsportsnet.com.
“I can’t stress enough how wonderful our crowd has been all year long and how much we are going to need them to be behind us on Sunday,” Izzo-Brown says. “If we could get the crowd out there cheering, that would be fantastic.”
The winner of the West Virginia-Louisville match will advance to the BIG EAST semifinals and face the winner of Georgetown-Connecticut on Friday, Nov. 7, at 2:30 p.m. in South Bend, Ind.
