No. 8 WSoc Nets Win in Regular-Season Finale
October 31, 2014 11:12 PM | General
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The seniors of the No. 8-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team earned a win in their final career regular-season game on the strength of a freshman’s leg, as forward Michaela Abam’s two goals helped the Mountaineers defeat Baylor, 2-0, this evening in wet, cold conditions at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
The victory pushes the Big 12 Conference champion Mountaineers’ (14-2-2, 7-0-1) unbeaten streak to 15 matches, three short of tying the program record. WVU has not dropped a home conference match since the 2009 season, and tonight’s win puts the team’s streak at 26 matches.
“We have such a hardworking team this year; there are a lot of athletes that want to achieve great things on this squad,” said Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “This is a great bunch that doesn’t want to stop here.”
WVU has now earned seven wins in each of its three seasons in Big 12 play and owns an overall record of 21-1-2.
Tonight was the final regular-season home match for midfielder Ali Connelly, defender Jess Crowder, goalkeeper Katie Osterman and forward Kate Schwindel.
Though Abam’s goals helped deliver WVU’s win, it was the Mountaineers’ stout defensive effort that solidified the victory, as the squad denied BU a shot for the final 71 minutes tonight. WVU finished with a 25-3 edge in shots and placed seven on frame. After allowing a Bear corner kick in the 19th minute, the first of the game, the Mountaineers denied their opponent a second chance and finished with an 8-1 edge.
“Baylor is always a tough team to beat,” said Izzo-Brown. “They were really playing a high back line; they tried to keep us compact. We wanted to open them up a bit in the second half, and I thought the girls did a great job of breaking their traps. This team showed pure will tonight. They created both goals, and this was a great win for them.
“To hold a team without a shot in the final 71 minutes – that just shows how much this team wanted this win for the seniors. Eliminating shots eliminates goals, and that means shutouts and wins.”
Junior Hannah Steadman played all 90 minutes between the posts and did not have to make a save for the team’s ninth shutout of the season. The squad is one shutout short of matching its total from 2013; the program record is 14.
The Bears’ (8-8-2, 2-5-1) Michelle Kloss finished with five saves.
Abam’s two-goal performance was her second of the season. The Houston native now shows a team-best seven goals.
“It was very big to come out tonight and get the win for the seniors,” Abam said. “I’m very proud of all their achievements throughout the years. We’ve learned so much from them this year. It was great to get the shutout, too.”
Knotted at 0-0 after the first 45 minutes, the Mountaineers came out of the locker room attacking, taking three shots and earning three corners in the first five minutes. With the ball in the 52nd minute, Abam made sure the team’s fourth shot of the half counted, as she put a pretty flick from just outside the six away from the reach of Kloss’ hands toward the near corner. The score came off a beautiful cross from Crowder, her fifth helper of the year.
“Baylor is a hard team, and coming out of the first half without a goal, we knew we needed to get an early score in the second half,” Crowder said. “I was happy to be able to get Michaela that goal.”
Abam added an insurance goal in the 86th minute, corralling a bouncing ball from junior forward Kelsie Maloney in front of the net and putting a blast on frame that went through Kloss’ hands for the score. Kloss’ miscue set up the goal, as she initially came off her line to punch the ball away from a streaking Abam inside the box. Maloney pounced and bent her pass back into Abam around a BU defender.
Redshirt-freshman forward Amandine Pierre-Louis nearly gave the Mountaineers the early lead in the 22nd minute, but Kloss marked her shot from just outside the box and came up with the only save of the half.
Utley came within inches of giving WVU a one-goal advantage in the 29th minute, but her shot cruelly bounced off the crossbar and sailed out of play.
Abam finished with a game-best three shots on-goal. Junior midfielder Cari Price led all with six shots.
With the No. 1 seed locked up, the Mountaineers now turn their attention to the 2014 Big 12 Soccer Tournament. WVU will open the tournament against No. 8 seed TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 5, at 12:30 p.m. ET, at Swope Soccer Village. The squads played to a 0-0 draw in Fort Worth on Sept. 26.
2014 BIG 12 SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Swope Soccer Village - Kansas City
Wednesday, Nov. 5
No. 1 West Virginia vs. No. 8 TCU, 12:30 p.m. ET
No. 4 Texas Tech vs. No. 5 Texas, 3 p.m. ET
No. 2 Oklahoma State vs. No. 7 Baylor, 6:30 p.m. ET
No. 3 Kansas vs. No. 6 Oklahoma, 9 p.m. ET
Friday, Nov. 7
Wednesday Afternoon Winners, 6:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday Evening Winners, 9 p.m. ET
Sunday, Nov. 9
Semifinal Winners, 4:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1
Alumni Series | Violet Hewett
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SWIM: What it Means to Represent West Virginia
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SWIM: What it Means to Become a Mountaineer
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Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
