Women’s Soccer: WVU Surrenders First-Half Lead
February 27, 2010 08:43 PM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
February 27, 2010
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| Drea Barklage |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia women’s soccer team saw its 1-0 lead diminish in the second half against Penn State Saturday evening at Holuba Hall in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions scored four unanswered goals to post a 4-1 victory in the season-opener for both team’s spring seasons.
“There were moments today that I felt we played very good soccer,” said coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “But it was also a good measure of how much we need to grow this spring. We want to get better each week; that is our team’s focus.”
West Virginia out-shot the Nittany Lions 19-13 due large in part to connecting passes and maintaining possession in the first half. WVU held a 6-2 corner kick advantage and its defense did not allow a corner kick until the 75th minute.
The Mountaineer offense struck first in the 33rd minute on a goal from defender Drea Barklage. Barklage, a transfer from St. Louis University, finished a header off a Morgan Betscher corner kick at the 32:53 mark to give WVU a 1-0 lead.
Goalkeeper Kerri Butler worked a scoreless opening 45 minutes in goal for the Mountaineers, including a fantastic 1-versus-1 save in the first 10 minutes of play.
Penn State did its damage in the second half, including a pair of goals roughly three minutes after intermission. WVU goalkeeper Sara Keane was solid off her line, getting touches on the ball in a pair of breakaway’s for PSU, with WVU’s backline unable to clear the ball on Penn State’s go-ahead goal.
The Nittany Lions added to its lead on a goal from Maddy Evans on a low blast from 22-yards out into the left side of net.
PSU’s Danielle Toney concluded the scoring in the 37th minute.
All 20 available players who made the trip saw action for the Mountaineers.
Next up for WVU is its annual 4-versus-4 tournament to raise funds for the Betty Puskar Breast Care Center. On March 6, teams will compete in the “Three’s a Team…the Fourth’s a Mountaineer” all-day event at the Caperton Indoor Facility. The tournament is open to boys and girls in grades three through eight, with an open division for college-age and older groups.
West Virginia’s next spring match is a two-game trip at the Jefferson Cup in Richmond, Va. WVU will face Virginia and William & Mary in pair of contests on March 20 at Sportsbackers Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. against the Cavaliers and 5 p.m. against the Tribe.
