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Big 12 Champions!
October 23, 2015 11:00 PM | Women's Soccer
STILLWATER, Oklahoma - A golden goal from senior forward Kailey Utley delivered the fourth straight Big 12 Conference regular-season title to the No. 2/3 West Virginia University women’s soccer team, as the Mountaineers withstood constant pressure from Oklahoma State and earned a 2-1 overtime win tonight at Cowgirl Soccer Complex.
Knotted at 1-1 early in the first extra period, junior midfielder Ashley Lawrence worked the ball out from the WVU end and pushed it up the sideline to Utley. She then put on a footwork clinic, beating two OSU defenders and working the ball to the penalty-kick line, where she beat Cowgirl goalkeeper Michela Ongaro with a sure shot.
“When you come into an environment like this, it’s hard to get a win. This team physically and tacitly had a good game plan and wanted to disrupt us,” said WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “A team that had 14 wins figured out a way to get to 15 tonight, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. They stayed with the plan and grinded it out.”
Tonight’s title-clinching victory gives WVU six Big 12 titles in four seasons. The Mountaineers (15-1-1, 6-0-1) have now won five straight conference regular-season championships and nine since 2002.
WVU is one-result away from being the outright Big 12 champion. Losses by Texas and Kansas tonight take them out of contention. Baylor’s contest at TCU was postponed until Oct. 27. The Bears will play at Texas on Oct. 25.
“This team wanted to win a championship tonight – they wanted that ring,” Izzo-Brown continued. “They got it, and we’re going to celebrate this. Tomorrow, our attention turns to Baylor and our plans to win this title outright.”
Utley’s game-winner is her Big 12-best sixth of the season and her third in as many games.
Lawrence also assisted on WVU’s first goal for her first two-assist performance of the season and the fourth of her career. She paces the Mountaineers with seven helpers.
“This was a team win, but Ashley Lawrence was unbelievably special tonight,” said Izzo-Brown. “She busted it defensively and offensively and kept her head above all the fouls and the physical play OSU threw at her tonight.”
The Mountaineers outshot the Cowgirls (8-7-2, 1-3-2) 16-8 tonight. Both goalkeepers made one save, with WVU senior Hannah Steadman earning her 15th win of the season. The squads each earned three corner kicks.
Momentum was with the Mountaineers throughout the short overtime period, as they tallied a 3-0 shot advantage and earned the period’s lone corner kick.
Tonight was the second straight overtime contest between the squads, and the win pushed the Mountaineers’ series advantage to 5-0. All five contests have been decided by one goal. With the victory, WVU improves to 2-0-1 in overtime games this season.
The Mountaineers opened the scoring in the 66th minute, as a great individual effort from Lawrence set-up the squad’s first goal. Playing right in front of the WVU bench, Lawrence slid near the sideline to save possession before sending a strong cross into the box. Running straight toward the net, sophomore midfielder Carla Portillo met the ball near the penalty line and easily buried her shot behind Ongaro for her second score of the season.
OSU answered just five minutes later. The Mountaineers misplayed a throw-in deep in their end, and the Cowgirls pounced on the ball. Midfielder Allie Stephenson dribbled the ball into the box before finding Niki McKnight wide right. The forward ripped a shot from just inside the 18 that banged off the far left post and bounced behind Steadman for just the fifth goal allowed by WVU this season.
Lawrence nearly set up the equalizer in the 82nd minute, but a close-range shot from sophomore forward Michaela Abam’s slammed off the right post, putting the ball back into play.
Both teams netted chances in the first six minutes. Mercado sent a low shot toward the net off an OSU free kick in the fifth minute that was pushed away with her finger tips. The Mountaineers withstood the ensuing corner kick and quickly pushed the ball ahead. Utley received a pass on the left wing, but her low shot went just wide of the right post and out of play.
A physical battle waged between the squads for the majority of the first half, and neither team netted many clear looks. WVU avoided danger in the 43rd minute, as OSU’s Haley Woodard worked the ball deep into the corner before sending in a cross to a waiting Madison Mercado, but the forward’s shot sailed over the goal post.
Sophomore forward Amandine Pierre-Louis paced with a game-high four shots, while Utley finished with a game-best two shots on-goal.
Tonight’s victory pushes WVU’s unbeaten streak to 15.
The Mountaineers close their 2015 regular-season slate at Baylor on Friday, Oct. 30, with first kick from Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field set for 8 p.m. ET.
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