Scoreless Tie Debut
August 23, 2009 09:37 PM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
August 23, 2009
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WATCH | PHOTOS
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| Meghan Lewis |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The 14th-ranked West Virginia women’s soccer team played to a 0-0 double overtime draw against visiting Ohio State Sunday evening in the Mountaineers’ season-opening match at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
“It was a physical game and we did some good things tonight,” said coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “We had a few good looks but could not capitalize on them. Defensively, we did a lot of good things that we worked on in practice this past week. It was a good effort and we can build on that going into a tough weekend at Penn State.”
After a sluggish opening 10 minutes, the Mountaineers found some momentum midway through the first half of play. All-BIG EAST forward Megan Mischler created WVU’s first scoring chance in the 19th minute on a breakaway up the right flank on a long ball from freshman Caroline Szwed. Mischler fired a shot toward the near post that sailed wide.
The Mountaineer defense, who returns just one starter in senior Nicole Mailloux, played well in keeping Ohio State’s offense in check. First-time starters Meghan Lewis and Caralee Keppler, and sophomore Erica Henderson limited OSU to only two shots on-goal for the night.
All-American midfielder Carolyn Blank created several scoring opportunities in the second half for West Virginia. They threatened three times in final five minutes off two corner kicks and a free kick. Blank sent two headers just high over the crossbar and her free kick whistled just wide of the upper 90.
“Being a Hermann Trophy candidate, Carolyn is a player that we will rely heavily on this year,” added Izzo-Brown. “She had a strong second half and is so good at winning balls in the middle of the field for us.”
The Mountaineers (0-0-1) held a 13-8 shot advantage over the Buckeyes (1-0-1), including a game high four shots from Blank, as both back lines played solid soccer.
Each team had four shots at halftime and OSU midfielder Ashley Bowyer had two headers that sailed high of the goal.
A crowd of 1,079 attended tonight’s match – the second largest for a season-opener in the program’s 14 seasons.
The Mountaineers started four freshmen tonight in Keppler, Bry McCarthy, Bri Rodriguez and Szwed. And only four starters tonight (Blank, Butler, Mailloux and Mischler) were starters a year ago against Towson in WVU’s 2008 opener.
“There is competition for playing time each day, each practice, each workout,” said Izzo-Brown. “There are some talented freshmen on this team and I think you saw a glimpse of what they are capable of doing. They are young but will grow up quickly against experienced teams like Ohio State.”
Junior goalkeeper Kerri Butler worked all 110 minutes, making two saves in the shutout – the 19th of her career. The Mountaineers have opened the season with a shutout in four-consecutive seasons.
The Mountaineers are now 8-5-1 in matches to open a season, including a 4-0-1 mark when opening the season at home.
West Virginia returns to action on Aug. 29-31 with a trip to University Park, Pa., to battle Penn State and BYU in the Penn State Invitational.
