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No. 4/5 Mountaineers Trump Texas in Opener
September 25, 2015 10:20 PM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 4/5 West Virginia University women’s soccer team opened its Big 12 Conference schedule much the same way it closed its nonconference slate, earning a 2-0 win over Texas, tonight, in front of 1,617 fans at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
The Mountaineers (10-1, 1-0), the three-time reigning Big 12 regular-season champions, thrilled the program’s fifth-largest crowd offensively and defensively, placing 12 of their 31 shots on-goal while holding the Longhorns (3-3-3, 0-1) to just five shots, with only two landing on-frame.
The victory pushes the team’s home conference unbeaten streak to 27. WVU improves to 12-0-1 in all-time home Big 12 matches and 21-1-2 in all-time Big 12 games.
“We are competing for a championship every Big 12 match, and I thought the team brought the intensity it needed tonight – they played for a championship,” said Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “These points are critical moving forward given the parity within this conference.”
WVU’s shutout is its program-best ninth straight and nation-best 10th of the season. The Mountaineers need four more clean sheets to match the program record of 14.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better crowd tonight,” continued Izzo-Brown. “They were loud and proud, and they were completely behind us. That energy from Mountaineer Nation was incredible.”
Mountaineer senior Hannah Steadman made two saves for her seventh shutout of the season, while Longhorn senior Abby Smith stopped 10, five each half. WVU’s 31 shots were the most Smith has faced in her four-year UT career.
After forcing Smith into five saves in the first 14 minutes, WVU freshman defender Hannah Abraham made the team’s sixth shot on-goal count, as the Fairchance, Pennsylvania, native ran up on a cross from classmate Bianca St. Georges in the 36th minute and headed it in toward the far right post for her first career game winner.
“Abby is a special goalkeeper, and she was doing a great job of keeping Texas in the game,” said Izzo-Brown. “Thank goodness Hannah had the focus and mentality to put the ball into the back of the net. She was not going to allow that ball to not go in the net. She was incredible.”
The Mountaineers padded their advantage seven minutes into the second half, as a pair of veterans connected to produce the final score. Senior forward Kailey Utley, who paced the field with three shots on-goal tonight, sent a well-placed cross through traffic in the box to the right post, where Ashley Lawrence was able to redirect the ball around a UT defender and into the back of the net. The goal was the third of the season for the junior midfielder.
Sophomore forward Michaela Abam finished with a game-high seven shots, two on-goal. Five different Longhorns tallied a shot tonight.
Amidst the Mountaineers’ early chances this evening was a thrilling set of shots in the 10th minute, but back-to-back saves by Smith and a cruel crossbar foiled the team’s plans for an early score. Utley took the initial shot from left of the box. Smith made the save but failed to cover the ball. Abam pounced on the rebound in front of the net, but Smith laid out for the save. The ball bounced right to Lawrence’s feet, but her boot from the top of the box smacked off the crossbar.
UT’s first shot of the match quickly followed WVU’s goal, as the Longhorns connected on the ensuing kickoff and Chantale Campbell took a blast from 30-yards out that sailed right into Steadman’s hands.
Sophomore forward Amandine Pierre-Louis nearly connected on her first of two shots on-goal tonight, but her running chance to the right of the box in the 70th minute was pushed aside by Smith’s fingertips.
Though largely untested for most of the evening, Steadman came up big in the 81st minute. Awarded a free kick following a WVU foul, UT’s Julia Dyche took a blast from 26-yards out that sailed over the Mountaineer wall. Steadman jumped at just the right time and pushed the ball up and over the net.
The Mountaineers finished with a 10-2 edge in corner kicks.
With tonight’s victory, Izzo-Brown has now led the Mountaineers to 16 straight 10-win seasons.
The Mountaineers return to DDSS next Friday, Oct. 2, for a 7 p.m. match against TCU. It’s a “Pink Match” for breast cancer awareness, and all fans are encouraged to wear pink. The match also is the team’s “Soctoberfest” celebration, and specialty German food and beverage options will be available at the concession stands.
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