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No. 4/7 Mountaineers Close Non-Conference Slate
September 17, 2015 04:33 PM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 4/7 West Virginia University women’s soccer team closes its 2015 nonconference season this weekend with a pair of matches at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
The Mountaineers (7-1) will play host to Buffalo on Friday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m., and Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday, Sept. 20, at 1 p.m.
Tickets for Friday’s match are $3 for youth, $5 for adults and $2 each for groups of 10 or more. Sunday is a “Dollar Day,” with all tickets and select concession items available for $1 each. Tickets for both matches are available now at WVUGAME.com and also can be purchased at the stadium gate. WVU students are admitted free with a valid WVU student I.D.
The first 200 Mountaineer Maniacs at Friday’s game will receive gold Mountaineer Maniacs Sunglasses. There also will be a Maniac tailgate at 5 p.m.
Youth Soccer Day also is scheduled for Sunday, and items from US Youth Soccer Month will be distributed. Additionally, fans will have an opportunity to take pictures with Travis Braden’s WVU race car at the match, and Mr. Twister will be in attendance, offering free face painting and balloon animals for all youth fans.
Due to a concert at the WVU Coliseum Friday evening and the Morgantown Marathon on Sunday, fans are only permitted to park in the lower Shell/Natatorium lot/Band lot, adjacent to the track, for both matches. This lot will only be accessible off Monongahela Blvd. on Sunday.
A free shuttle bus will be available from the Mountainlair and the Brooke/Braxton Towers loop for an hour leading up to Sunday’s start time. Return service to the Mountainlair and the Brooke/Braxton Towers loop also will be available for an hour at the conclusion of the match.
Bolstered by the program’s highest ranking earned in any poll in 20 seasons, the Mountaineers ride a six-match win streak into this weekend. WVU owns a 16-match unbeaten streak at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium and has not lost in Morgantown since dropping a 2-0 decision to No. 21 Duke on Aug. 29, 2014.
“We’re excited about this weekend. Both these teams made the postseason tournament last year and have had success against top schools this year,” said Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “We know they’re going to be up to the challenge and are going to be ready for us. Both are a tough side, and this weekend is a good test for us as we prepare to move into Big 12 play.”
All seven of the team’s wins have been shutouts, and WVU ranks No. 3 nationally in shutout percentage (0.875). The squad also ranks No. 7 in goals-against average (0.250). WVU has held its opponents to 34 combined shots. Most recently, the Mountaineers denied Longwood a shot in a 4-0 victory at DDSS on Sept. 13.
Sophomore forward Michaela Abam ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference, No. 7 nationally, with seven goals. The Houston native is one goal short of matching her 2014 team-best eight-goal output. Senior forward Kailey Utley is tops in the conference, No. 13 nationally, in points (5 G, 5 A). The St. Louis, Missouri, native’s point, goal and assist totals match her career-best totals from 2014.
This weekend’s meetings are the Mountaineers’ first against the Bulls (4-2-1) and the Eagles (4-3-1). WVU is 3-0 against first-time opponents this year.
In its last outing, UB tallied a season-high three goals in a 3-0 win against Binghamton on Sept. 11. Sophomore Julia Benati paces the team with five points (2 G, 1 A). Classmate Laura Dougall has played all seven matches in net, allowing six goals and earning four shutouts.
UB went 16-3-3 last year en route to winning the Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament titles. The Bulls earned the program’s first bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they dropped a 4-1 decision at Penn State in the first round.
FGCU bounced back from a 1-0 loss to Miami on Sept. 11 with a 2-0 win against FIU on Sept. 13. The Eagles outshot FIU 15-2 and held the Panthers without a shot the entire second half. Senior Brittany Brown, the reigning Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Week, earned the shutout and owns a conference-best 32 clean sheets.
FGCU earned a program-record 17 wins in 2014, as well as the Atlantic Sun Championship. The Eagles advanced to their third NCAA Tournament and fell 1-0 at Auburn in the first round.
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