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2015 Women's Soccer Preview
August 18, 2015 12:53 PM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following months of offseason preparation and training fueled by a collective desire to take the program to new heights in its 20th season, the West Virginia University women’s soccer team returns to competition this weekend with the season-opening Hoosier Classic, Aug. 21-23, at Armstrong Stadium, in Bloomington, Indiana.
Fifteen letterwinners return for WVU, including six seniors and junior All-American defender Kadeisha Buchanan. They will be joined by 12 newcomers, and combined, the Mountaineers will push to defend their three straight Big 12 Conference regular-season titles and back-to-back Big 12 Soccer Championship crowns.
WVU kicks off against SIUE at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The No. 10/12 (TopDrawerSoccer.com/NSCAA Poll) Mountaineers will then face No. 11/13 Virginia Tech on Sunday at noon.
20th Season Celebration
The WVU women’s soccer program embarks on its 20th season in 2015.
Named the team’s first head coach on Aug. 3, 1995, Nikki Izzo-Brown led an infant program to a 10-7-2 record in 1996, and the Mountaineers have not slowed down since, compiling winning seasons in each of the subsequent years, qualifying for 15 straight NCAA Championship appearances and winning 13 conference titles, including five in the Big 12 Conference.
Izzo-Brown has led WVU to a 267-98-43 overall record and a 113-41-19 mark in conference play.
A Look at the Schedule
As is expected each season, the Mountaineers will face a difficult slate of opponents in 2015. Ten of WVU’s matches will be against 2014 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, including a showdown with Penn State, a quarterfinalist one year ago, on Friday, Sept. 4, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. WVU will compete in Morgantown 10 times in 2015.
WVU opens the season on the road for the third straight year, taking on SIUE and Virginia Tech at Indiana’s Hoosier Classic Aug. 21-23. WVU and VT last met in 2013, a 1-0 win for the Hokies in the NCAA Tournament Second Round. The Mountaineers open their home season on Sunday, Aug. 30, against Duquesne.
The Mountaineers will open the defense of their three straight Big 12 Conference regular-season titles against Texas on Friday, Sept. 25, in Morgantown. The squad opens its conference road schedule at Oklahoma on Oct. 9; the Mountaineers and the Sooners met in the Big 12 Soccer Championship title match in 2014, with WVU earning a 1-0 victory.
The 2015 Big 12 Soccer Championship begins with quarterfinal play on Nov. 4, with the semifinals and final following on Nov. 6 and Nov. 8. For the third straight year, all matches will be played at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri. WVU is the two-time defending champions.
The first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament will begin on Nov. 13-15, with all matches will be held at campus sites. The 2015 Women’s College Cup will be held Dec. 4-6 at WakeMed Soccer Park, in Cary, North Carolina. WVU has qualified for 15 straight NCAA Tournaments, the eighth-longest active streak in the nation.
The Streak Continues
The Mountaineers enter the 2015 season riding a historical streak, as the team finished 2014 on a 19-game unbeaten streak. WVU has not lost a match since dropping a 2-0 decision to No. 21 Duke on Aug. 29, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
WVU matched the program’s previous unbeaten streak record of 18 with a 1-0 win over Oklahoma in the 2014 Big 12 Soccer Championship title match. The squad set the new record with its 0-0 draw against Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 15, in Morgantown.
WVU also carries a 26-match unbeaten streak in conference games played at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium into the 2015 season. The Mountaineers have not lost a conference match in Morgantown since falling 3-2 in overtime to No. 8 Notre Dame on Oct. 2, 2009.
Scorers Return
Despite the graduation of All-America forward Kate Schwindel, 80 percent of the Mountaineers’ goal scoring from the 2014 season returns. Sophomore forward Michaela Abam returns for her second season after leading the team as a rookie with 16 points on eight goals, the fourth-best mark in the Big 12 Conference. She also ranked No. 2 in the Big 12 in game-winning goals (4). Also returning are junior midfielder Ashley Lawrence (4 G, 7 A) and senior forward Kailey Utley (5 G, 5 A); both ranked second on the team in 2014 with 15 points. Additionally, Lawrence’s team-best seven assists ranked No. 2 in the Big 12.
In total, WVU returns five student-athletes that tallied double-digit points in 2014, including seniors Leah Emaus (5 G) and Kelsie Maloney (3 G, 4 A).
Two-time NSCAA All-American Kadeisha Buchanan returns to lead the WVU defense this season.
Defense Stands Tall
The WVU defense was one of the nation’s stingiest in 2014, tallying 12 shutouts, 11 credited to returning senior goaltender Hannah Steadman, and allowing only 15 goals; both marks were tops in the Big 12 Conference.
In addition to Steadman, three return to the Mountaineers’ backline: center backs Carly Black and Kadeisha Buchanan, as well as outside back Maggie Bedillion.
New Faces
The Mountaineers will be joined by 15 newcomers in 2014, including transfers Yulie Lopez (Florida State), Aaran Parry (Tennessee) and Kayla Saager (NC State). Saager, as well as freshmen Hannah Abraham and Easter Mayi Kith, joined WVU in January 2015.
World-Class Experience
Juniors Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence spent their summer gaining experience on the world’s biggest stage, as the duo started all five of Canada’s matches at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The first women’s soccer players named to a World Cup roster, Buchanan, a defender, was named the Best Young Player and featured on a Canadian commemorative stamp. Lawrence, a midfielder, scored Canada’s lone goal in a 1-1 draw against Netherland in Group A play on June 16; the score helped advance Canada to the knockout stage for only the second time in six tries.
Canada dropped a 2-1 decision to England in the quarterfinals on June 27.
Amanda Hill, a three-year starter at midfield, is one of six seniors looking to win seven career conference titles.
Seniors’ Last Stand
With two Big 12 Conference title wins this season, the 2015 Mountaineer senior class will match the program record of seven conference titles won by one class while at WVU, first set by the 2014 senior class.
This year’s senior class – forwards Kelsie Maloney and Kailey Utley, goalkeeper Hannah Steadman, midfielders Leah Emaus and Amanda Hill and defender Maggie Bedillion – has had a hand in five title wins since 2012, including three straight Big 12 regular-season crowns and the last two Big 12 Soccer Championship titles. Members of the Big 12 Conference all four years of their WVU careers, the class has helped the Mountaineers compile a 21-1-2 all-time record in Big 12 play and an undefeated mark at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
Ranking Representation
For the second straight season, the Mountaineers will open the year ranked No. 12 nationally, as the team sits in the position in the 2015 National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) Division I Women’s National Preseason Rankings.
WVU’s slot is three spots better than the team’s No. 15 ranking in the final 2014 NSCAA NCAA Division I Women’s National Rankings. The squad’s ranking matches its highest preseason position, first hit at the onset of 2008 and again in 2014.
WVU is the highest-ranked Big 12 Conference team, with Texas Tech following at No. 15 and Kansas at No. 23. Two additional WVU opponents also are ranked: No. 6 Penn State and No. 13 Virginia Tech.
Reigning NCAA champion Florida State is No. 1, with Virginia following at No. 2 and Stanford at No. 3. UCLA is No. 4, and Texas A&M is No. 5.
Taking Names
The Mountaineers have defeated at least one top-10 team in each of the last 10 seasons. Most recently, WVU earned a 2-0 victory at No. 9 Kansas on Oct. 19, 2014. WVU is 12-10-2 against top-10 teams and 19-24-8 against all ranked opponents since 2005.
Wins vs. the Top 10
2014 at No. 9 Kansas W, 2-0
2013 at No. 9 Baylor W, 4-3
2012 vs. No. 1 Stanford (in University Park, Pa.) W, 1-0
2012 No. 7 Oklahoma State W, 1-0
2011 No. 8 Marquette W, 3-1
2010 No. 9 Virginia W, 1-0
2009 at No. 9 Rutgers W, 1-0
2009 at No. 8 Penn State W, 2-1
2008 No. 7 Virginia W, 3-0
2007 at No. 6 Penn State W, 1-0
2006 at No. 7 Penn State W, 2-1
2005 at No. 9 Marquette W, 2-0
Nice to Meet You
The Mountaineers will face five first-time opponents in 2015: Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), Maryland, Longwood, Buffalo and Florida Gulf Coast.
In the program’s 19-year history (moving into the 2015 season), the Mountaineers have faced 100 different teams. WVU went 3-0 against first-time opponents in 2014.
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