KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The conference’s lone ranked squads will battle for a position in the Big 12 Soccer Championship final Friday evening, as the No. 2 West Virginia University women’s soccer team will face No. 18 Texas Tech on Nov. 6, at 6:30 p.m., at Swope Soccer Village.
The top-seeded Mountaineers (16-1-1, 6-0-1), the two-time reigning tournament champions, look to advance to the final for the third time in as many seasons. The fifth-seeded Red Raiders (11-3-5, 3-2-3) also are making their third appearance in the championship semifinal; TTU has never advanced to the championship final.
Friday is the first meeting between the teams at the conference championship. The squads met in Lubbock, Texas, on Oct. 11, with WVU earning a 4-1 victory. The Mountaineers are the only team to score more than two goals against TTU this year.
“Texas Tech has threats all over the field,” said Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “We needed to get a result in October, and we were able to beat a nationally ranked Texas Tech team. Having said that, we know what’s at stake this Friday night. It’s going to be another battle.”
Freshman forward Nia Gordon tallied the game-winner against the Red Raiders in the 49th minute. Senior midfielder Leah Emaus opened the game’s scoring in the 29th minute, and sophomore forwards Amandine Pierre-Louis and Michaela Abam added late insurance goals after the Red Raiders scored in the 72nd minute. WVU finished with a 17-9 shot advantage and forced Lauren Watson into four saves. Mountaineer senior Hannah Steadman made a season-high three saves.
WVU is 3-1 all-time against TTU.
Friday night’s match will feature three from the Canadian National Team: Mountaineers Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence, and Red Raider Janine Beckie. Buchanan is the three-time reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, while Beckie is the two-time reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. In their October meeting, Buchanan and the WVU defense held Beckie to five shots, with only one landing on-frame. The forward paces the Red Raiders in points (23) and goals (10).
“The matchup against Kadeisha and Janine is a great one to watch,” explained Izzo-Brown. “It was a great matchup earlier this year, too. They both bring the best out of the other, and it will be a great battle for us to see how we can keep the Big 12’s best offensive player quiet.”
The Mountaineers ride a 16-match unbeaten streak into Friday’s semifinal, four results short of matching the program record of 20, primarily established in 2014 and extended this season with the team’s 2-0 season-opening win against SIUE on Aug. 21.
The WVU defense has posted 13 shutouts, the second-best total in the NCAA, and allowed just six goals all year. Steadman ranks No. 4 nationally, No. 1 in the Big 12, with a 0.354 goals-against average.
The Mountaineers rank No. 5 nationally, tops in the conference, in scoring offense (2.67). Senior forward Kailey Utley paces the team with a conference-best 24 points (9 G, 6 A). The St. Louis, Missouri, native ranks No. 5 nationally, No. 1 in the Big 12, with six game-winning goals. Abam leads the Mountaineers and ranks No. 1 in the conference with 10 goals, while Lawrence, a junior midfielder, sits at No. 2 in the Big 12 with a team-best seven assists.
The Mountaineers opened the championship with a 2-1 victory over eighth-seeded Oklahoma State on Nov. 4. Pierre-Louis and senior midfielder Amanda Hill scored goals in a span of 100 seconds with 10 minutes remaining, giving WVU an advantage it would hold on to, despite an OSU penalty kick in the 84th minute. Steadman finished with three saves.
The Red Raiders rank No. 6 in the Big 12 in scoring offense (1.47) and No. 3 in goals-against average (0.770). Watson has posted seven shutouts and shows a 0.729 goals-against average.
TTU overcame fourth-seeded Oklahoma in overtime Wednesday, defeating the Sooners 2-1. Senior midfielder Caity Heap tallied the game-winner in the 99th minute. Freshman forward Gwennie Puente opened the scoring in the 33rd minute. The match was the Red Raiders’ ninth overtime contest of the season.
Should the Mountaineers win Friday, they will advance to the championship final and meet the winner of No. 2-seed Baylor – No. 6-seed Kansas on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 4 p.m. ET, at Swope Soccer Village. The match will be broadcast on FS1.
