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Izzo-Brown Believes WVU is Ready
September 04, 2015 11:19 AM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University women’s soccer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown knows her No. 11-ranked Mountaineers are in for a battle tonight when they line up across from No. 5 Penn State at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
The Nittany Lions (3-0-1) have scored 10 goals in four matches. Their top attacker, senior forward Mallory Weber, shows a team-best eight points (3 G, 2 A), while sophomore forwards Megan Schafer and Frannie Crouse show 6 points (3 G), and four points (2 G), respectively. PSU has proven early on that it can attack fast and from multiple angles.
“They’re prowling,” Izzo-Brown said of PSU earlier this week. “It’s going to be a battle Friday night, and you can’t take anything away from Penn State. They can do it on both sides of the ball. We’re going to do everything we can to get a victory.”
Fortunately for Izzo-Brown and the Mountaineers (3-1), WVU possesses its own lethal scoring attack, awaken last week in the team’s resounding 5-0 defeat of Duquesne in the home season opener on Aug. 30. Five Mountaineers put the ball in the net against the Dukes, including senior forward Kailey Utley, the reigning Big 12 Offense Player of the Week. Utley, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, has scored a goal in three straight matches and shows a conference-best three goals and seven points (3 G, 1 A).
Right behind Utley is freshman forward Nia Gordon, who shows five points (2 G, 1 A) and junior midfielder Ashley Lawrence, who shows four points (1 G, 2 A). The Mountaineers have tallied nine goals, just one behind PSU’s early total, and earned 93 shots, with 37 attempts landing on-frame.
Needless to say, the teams are going to get their chances this evening, meaning a stout defense may tip the match in one squad’s favor.
Advantage – Mountaineers.
The WVU defense has held its first four opponents to a combined two goals, both scored by No. 11 Virginia Tech in a 2-1 WVU loss on Aug. 23, and 18 shots, with only five on-goal. Anchored by two-time NSCAA All-American Kadeisha Buchanan, the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, the WVU defense has been a bit more stingy than PSU’s, as the Nittany Lions have conceded five goals, 32 shots and 16 shots on-goal to their first four opponents, with their only shutout a 0-0 double-overtime draw against No. 21 Duke on Aug. 28.
Izzo-Brown likes her team’s chances against PSU’s attack.
“Even though we haven’t seen Penn State early (this season), we have seen Virginia Tech and Maryland, and they both caused our back line some issues and some problems,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a great matchup. We have some great senior leadership. Our defense is going to be up for the challenge, and they have a great understanding of what Penn State is going to bring.”
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An early-season meeting with Penn State is a yearly tradition for West Virginia. The squads have met within the first three weeks of the season eight times since 2006, with three of those contests coming in the season opener, including the last two meetings in 2013 and 2014.
Izzo-Brown believes that a later meeting plays to her team’s advantage.
“It’s good to have experience and a chance to correct early mistakes, especially when you’re feeling PSU’s pressure and their attack with the weapons that they have each season,” she explained. “It’s going to be better for this team to have had the opportunity to correct the few things we didn’t do right in the early weeks, especially when our next opponent is as good as Penn State is.”
The teams have met in the third week of the season twice before, with mixed results. WVU earned a 2-1 win at No. 7 PSU on Sept. 28, 2006, and dropped a tight 2-1 double-overtime match to the No. 6-ranked Nittany Lions on Aug. 31, 2012, in Morgantown. That match was decided by a PSU free kick with 82 seconds remaining after WVU was whistled for obstruction at the top of the box.
PSU owns a 5-6-1 all-time series advantage.
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The 2015 Senior CLASS Award candidate list was announced late Wednesday evening, and midfielder Amanda Hill was one of 30 players to make the cut. The Washington, Pennsylvania, native is the third Mountaineer in as many seasons to land on the award’s candidate list. Frances Silva was the team’s first-ever candidate in 2013, and Kate Schwindel was the program’s first-ever finalist in 2014. Schwindel was named to the Senior CLASS All-America Second Team.
Presented annually, the award is given to a student-athlete who shows notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalist midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will then select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C’s of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2015 NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Cup championships in December.
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Tonight’s match against the Nittany Lions is a “Gold Rush,” and all fans are encouraged to wear gold. Fans should make sure they’re in their seats early, as the program will take a moment to recognize its 20th season prior to kickoff. Additionally, the first 200 Mountaineer Maniacs through the gate will receive a free t-shirt.
WVU stays at home and plays host to Villanova on Sunday at 1 p.m. It’s “Youth Jersey Day,” and fans 13 and under can wear their youth league soccer jersey for free admission. The first 20 youth fans through the gate will receive a free red hair braid. Additionally, the Mountaineers will meet with fans and sign autographs following the match.
Tickets for both matches are available at WVUGAME.com and also will be sold at the gate.
Let’s Go Mountaineers!
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