Women's Soccer: First Tennessee Lady Vols Classic
September 03, 2008 08:21 PM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
September 4, 2008
GAME NOTES
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| Nikki Izzo-Brown |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The 13th-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team travels to Knoxville, Tenn., to participate in the First Tennessee Lady Vols Classic on Sept. 5-7. The Mountaineers will square off against No. 20 Tennessee and Washington State in the two-game road tournament.
WVU takes on host Tennessee on Friday, Sept. 5, at 8 p.m., and Washington State on Sunday, Sept. 7, at 11:30 a.m. All games will be played at Regal Soccer Stadium with Illinois being the fourth team in the weekend classic.
“The reason behind scheduling these tough early season tournaments is to simulate what it’s like in the NCAA tournament,” Head Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “We are in an away venue and playing some of the top teams in the country. This gives our ladies a chance to see what it takes to win in a tough environment.
“And playing another set of quality teams this weekend let’s us know where we need to improve ourselves.”
Tennessee is 1-2-0 on the young season and coming off a 1-0 loss to soccer-power North Carolina. The Lady Vols are led by forward Kylee Rossi and goalkeeper Jaimel Johnson, both 2008 Preseason All-SEC selections. Rossi is UT's all-time leading goal scorer and is a two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Year. Johnson joins Rossi as returning All-Americans after posting 11 shutouts a year ago.
“They’re coming off a close match with North Carolina which caught a lot of people’s attention. They are a talented team with good players at every position,” Izzo-Brown explained. “They are athletic and aggressive; just a good Top 25 team. They have a tough goalkeeper in net and it will be tough to get behind her.”
Washington State is 1-0-2 on the season following a pair of draws at the JMU/Comfort Inn Invitational. The Cougars are led by U-20 national team player Kiersten Dallstream. As a sophomore, Dallstream led WSU’s offensive attack with 10 goals and 24 assists. Between the posts for the Cougars is sophomore Lindsay Parlee.
“Washington State is an underrated team. Right now they haven’t lost and everything we’ve heard about them is that they are very good,” Izzo-Brown said. “I had Dallstream at the U-20 national team camp and she is a very good player. Sunday’s match isn’t any easier for us.”
The Mountaineers are 2-0 all-time against Tennessee with a win in Knoxville coming in 2003. Washington State is the third first-time opponent on WVU’s schedule this season.
Fans can follow the action for both contests via GameTracker by logging on to MSNsportsNET.com.
