Women's Soccer: WVU Battles CMU Saturday
September 03, 2010 02:12 PM | General
August 31, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia women’s soccer team returns to action Saturday, Sept. 4, with a 7 p.m. match against Central Michigan at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
“The team is anxious to get back on the field and compete,” says coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “Central Michigan, the MAC champions and an NCAA tournament team a year ago, return all but one starter and will present a challenge for us tomorrow night.”
The Chippewas are led by fourth-year coach Tom Anagnost and return 10 starters and 13 letterwinners from last season. Central Michigan was picked to finish first in the MAC’s West Division standings in 2010 in the preseason coaches poll. The entire starting back line returns on a defense that led the nation in shutouts with 19 in 24 matches.
This season, Anagnost guided his team to three shutout victories to open the season before a 1-0 loss at Iowa last weekend. Nicole Samuel leads the team in shots (15) and goals (2) on a squad that returns all but nine of its 37 goals scored from 2009. Goalkeepers Shay Mannino and Stefanie Turner have each worked 180 minutes in goal this season. Mannino is the reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Year after recording a nation-best 17 solo shutouts last fall.
WVU split a pair of matches last weekend, posting a 3-0 shutout at Bowling Green and dropping a 3-1 decision at Ohio State. Two Mountaineers scored their first collegiate goals against BG in sophomore Mallory Smith and freshman Frances Silva. WVU held a 1-0 lead at the half against Ohio State on sophomore Bri Rodriguez’s team-leading second goal of the season.
The Mountaineers are 1-0 all-time against the Chippewas. The two teams last met in 2000, a 1-0 Mountaineer victory at Purdue.
Fans unable to attend the match can follow the Mountaineers at home all season long via Live Stats and a free WebStream at MSNsportsNET.com.
