Women’s Soccer: BIG EAST Opener Thursday
September 17, 2008 11:26 AM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
September 17, 2008
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| Lisa DuCote |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The 14th-ranked West Virginia women’s soccer team opens BIG EAST Conference play Thursday, Sept. 18, at home against Pitt. Three days later, the Mountaineers play host to 6th-ranked Virginia on Sunday, Sept. 21, as part of a doubleheader with the WVU men’s soccer team.
West Virginia is playing its second-straight Thursday night match, hosting the Panthers with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
“It has been interesting with these Thursday night games but we’ll be ready to go,” says Head Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown of the short work week. “We’ve had a challenging non-conference schedule and we learned some lessons along the way. It is time we bring it all together for BIG EAST play against a hard-nosed team like Pitt.”
Pitt, led by sixth-year Head Coach Sue-Moy Chin, brings a 3-4-0 record into Thursday’s match. The Panthers are coming off a tough 2-1 loss to St. Bonaventure on Sept. 14.
Pitt returns eight starters and 15 letterwinners from last year's squad, including the top two leading scorers in Jennifer Kritch and Ashley Habbel, along with its entire defense intact.
The Mountaineers are 6-6-0 all-time in BIG EAST openers since joining the league in 1996. Thursday’s contest marks the fourth-straight year West Virginia and Pitt have kicked off conference play against each other.
West Virginia, 4-1-2 on the season, plays its third ranked opponent of the year in Virginia. The Mountaineers have never defeated the Cavaliers at home in three (0-2-1) tries.
UVA, led by ninth-year Head Coach Steve Swanson, brings a record of 6-0-1 into Sunday’s contest. Virginia, NCAA Sweet 16 participants in seven of the past nine years, is coming off a 2-1 win over Dartmouth on Sept. 14.
“Virginia is one of the best programs in the country,” says Izzo-Brown. “The way they posses the ball and their technical abilities are unmatched. Steve always has his teams organized and ready to go. It will be a battle on Sunday and I’m looking forward to seeing how we do against such a great opponent.”
The Cavaliers return nine starters this season, including one of the nation’s top goalkeepers in sophomore Chantel Jones, a First Team Freshman All-American in 2007. Jones, however, has been called up to play with the US National Team, putting Celeste Miles in goal. Miles, a senior, has allowed only three goals in 650 minutes between the posts this season.
A year ago, Virginia led the nation with a 0.40 goals against average and set school records with 15 shutouts and 10 goals allowed all season. Anchoring that group were center backs Becky Sauerbrunn and Nikki Krzysik, both First Team All-Americans.
Forwards Meghan Lenczyk and Kelly Quinn lead the offensive attack, combining for 10 of the 20 goals scored through seven games this season.
Sunday’s contest has been deemed a “Dollar Day” with all tickets, hot dogs, popcorn and Coca-Colas available for purchase for just one dollar. Prior to the match, the WVU men’s team will play host to Rutgers in the first game of the doubleheader.
