Women's Soccer: Virginia NIKE Soccer Classic
September 10, 2009 09:30 AM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
September 10, 2009
GAME NOTES
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| Coach Izzo-Brown |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 12/15 West Virginia women’s soccer team takes to the road this weekend with a trip to Charlottesville, Va., to participate in the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic. WVU will battle No. 9/16 Virginia on Friday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. West Virginia then plays Ivy League member Dartmouth on Sunday, Sept. 13 at noon.
“We know this is going to be a tough weekend with a top 10 Virginia team,” says coach Nikki Izzo-Brown, whose Mountaineers battle their third ranked opponent in their first six matches. “It is always a battle against a well-coached Virginia team. Then we turn around and have to play Dartmouth, the Ivy League’s top team.”
Virginia, led by 20th-year coach Steve Swanson, brings a record of 3-1-1 into Friday’s contest. Swanson has led his teams to 13 NCAA tournaments and his 2009 Cavalier squad was picked fourth in the preseason ACC coaches’ poll.
UVA returns three all-ACC first or second team players from a year ago in midfielder Sinead Farrelly and forwards Lauren Alwine and Meghan Lenczyk. The Cavaliers also feature one of the nation’s best goalkeepers in Chantel Jones, who missed the 2008 season while playing with the U-20 World Cup team.
The Cavaliers’ only loss this year came at the hands of Penn State on Aug. 21. UVa then won three matches before tying Arizona State, 1-1, in Tempe the last time out.
West Virginia and Virginia meet for the 12th time with UVa holding an 8-2-1 lead in the all-time series. The two teams played twice last season with the Mountaineers taking the regular-season win, 3-0 at home, while the Cavaliers won the second round NCAA match, 3-2.
Dartmouth, led by fifth-year coach Angie Hind, brings a record of 1-1-0 into the weekend. The Big Green battles Seton Hall on Friday, Sept. 11, prior to their match with WVU on Sunday, Sept. 13.
DC returns eight starters in 2009, including three all-Ivy performers in midfielders Myra Sack, Ali Hubbard and Kelsey Quick. Quick and Sack will captain the Big Green along with Poskin, who returns after leading the team with three game-winning goals in 2008. Sack, an NSCAA all-Northeast first team pick, led the Big Green in scoring with 11 points last season while Quick added 10.
The Big Green have played only two matches thus far, winning their season-opener on Sept. 4 against Maine (3-1) and falling to San Diego State (1-0) on Sept. 6 at home.
The Mountaineers’ match with Dartmouth marks the first meeting between the two programs. The only other Ivy League opponents WVU has faced are Yale (2003) and Princeton (2008) .
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