FORT WORTH – The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team opens its final regular-season road trip at TCU on Friday, Oct. 21, at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium, at 8 p.m. ET.
Riding a six-match win streak, a victory Friday evening would move WVU’s 21-year program win total to 300, with all victories coming under coach Nikki Izzo-Brown.
The Mountaineers (13-1-1, 5-0) are 5-0-1 away from Morgantown this season and 14-1-2 in all-time road Big 12 matches, including a 7-0-2 mark since the 2014 season.
Friday is the first meeting between WVU and TCU (8-4-2, 0-4-1) since the Mountaineers earned a 2-1 victory at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Oct. 2, 2015. Senior midfielder Ashley Lawrence scored just 62 seconds into the contest, and junior forward Michaela Abam clinched the win with a goal in the 82nd minute. WVU owns a 4-1-1 series edge.
The Mountaineers settled for a 0-0 double-overtime draw on their last trip to Fort Worth on Sept. 27, 2014. Abam paced the field off the bench with seven shots, and the Mountaineers forced the Horned Frogs into nine saves.
“I’m sure TCU is going to have an incredible crowd,” WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “TCU is organized, and they’re going to come after us. We know that they have a huge home-field advantage. We have to be sharp and ready. We have to connect our passes and finish our opportunities. We have to be smart with our decision making.”
TCU is 11-2-3 at Garvey-Rosenthal Stadium the last two years and owns a 5-1-1 mark this season.
The Mountaineer defense has been stellar in recent weeks, denying five straight Big 12 opponents a goal and holding each team to two or fewer shots on-goal. WVU has posted a shutout in seven of its last nine Big 12 road matches.
Anchored by reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week Kadeisha Buchanan, the unit shows nine shutouts on the season and has allowed just six opponent goals, the second-fewest allowed nationally. The Mountaineer defense ranks No. 6 in the NCAA, No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference, with a 0.391 goals-against average (GAA).
“We pride ourselves on shutouts just as much goals,” Izzo-Brown added. “This whole team is defending well. Our backline has great senior leadership in Carly Black and Kadeisha Buchanan. All in all, I think everyone is doing her part and contributing. As the season goes on, I was hoping we would get better in disallowing goals, and at this point, I think the backline is doing a good job with that challenge.”
Freshman Rylee Foster ranks No. 2 nationally and No. 1 in the Big 12 with a 0.334 GAA. She is 10-1-1 between the posts this season, making 27 saves and earning credit for six of the team’s clean sheets.
Offensively, the Mountaineers rank No. 3 in the conference with a 1.93 goals/game average. The squad has tallied two or more goals against three conference opponents this season.
Abam paces WVU with 17 points (7 G, 3 A), while sophomore forward Hannah Abraham shows a team-high four game-winning goals, the second-best Big 12 total. Most recently, Abraham scored in the 82nd minute to push the Mountaineers to a 1-0 victory over Texas Tech on Oct. 14, in Morgantown.
TCU is 1-4-1 since Sept. 23, with its lone victory a 1-0 double-overtime win over SMU on Sept. 25. The Horned Frogs have been outscored 8-3 in that span.
Junior forward Emma Heckendorn paces TCU with 13 points (2 G, 9 A). She ranks No. 3 nationally with a 0.64 assists/game average.
The Horned Frog defense shows a 0.805 GAA, the fourth-best mark in the Big 12. Junior Courtney Hofer and freshman Katie Lund have split time in net this season, with Lund earning the starting nod the last three matches. She ranks No. 8 in the Big 12 with a 0.851 GAA.
