Women’s Soccer: Mountaineers Down Ohio State
April 25, 2009 06:10 PM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
April 25, 2009
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| Chelsey Corroto |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sophomore Megan Mischler’s second half goal guided the West Virginia women’s soccer team past Ohio State, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
With the score tied at 1-1, Mischler one-timed a cross from 12-yards out for the game-winner. Junior Carolyn Blank started the play by sending a diagonal pass down the left flank to a streaking Chelsey Corroto. Corroto worked the ball towards the end line before finding Mischler wide open in the middle of the box.
“We knew it would be a challenge facing a physical Big Ten team like Ohio State, not to mention we had to battle the heat today,” said Head Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown following the 90-minute match. “It’s nice to end the spring with a win but we really had a productive spring and need to carry that improvement into the fall.”
The Mountaineers took a 1-0 lead in the first half off a free kick from Blank who was tripped outside the half-circle at the top of the box. Blank bent the shot around the Buckeye wall and inside the left post for the score.
Sophomore Kerri Butler worked 45-shutout minutes between the posts for West Virginia. Butler made an outstanding save in the 28th minute, coming off her line to make a sliding save on a through ball to a Buckeye forward inside the box.
Blank came up big on the defensive end in the second half, making a team save along the goal line in the 62nd minute.
The Buckeyes countered, however, taking the ensuing corner kick and connecting on a header for the game-tying goal at the 62:25 mark. A Buckeye midfielder out-jumped a Mountaineer inside the box to make it 1-1.
Junior goalkeeper Mallory Beck played the final 45 minutes for West Virginia.
WVU finished with six shots on-goal while OSU was credited with four shots on-goal.
Today’s exhibition match was the final competition date allotted by the NCAA during the spring semester. The Mountaineers previously played Penn State, Tennessee, Georgia, Pitt and Purdue.
West Virginia played the spring season without its eight seniors from last semester. Izzo-Brown guided her 2008 team to a ninth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, the country’s ninth-best active streak. The Mountaineers finished the season with a final ranking of 14th by the NSCAA and won its third-straight BIG EAST American Division title.
