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Regular-Season Finale Next for No. 1 WVU
October 27, 2016 12:54 PM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked and 2016 Big 12 Conference champion West Virginia University women’s soccer team closes its 2016 regular season against Oklahoma State on Friday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m., at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
Friday is Senior Night, and WVU will celebrate the careers of its four seniors – Carly Black, Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence and Ashley Woolpert – prior to first kick.
WVU Trunk or Treat will be held in the Coliseum Blue Gate parking lot from 5-7 p.m. Friday night, and any youths in eighth grade and younger dressed in costume will receive free admission into the match. Additionally, the first 150 WVU students through the gate Friday night will receive a free WVU bucket hat, courtesy of Coca Cola.
Tickets are on sale now at WVUGAME.com. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for youths and senior citizens and $2 for groups of 10 or more. WVU students are admitted free with a valid WVU Student I.D.
“Friday night is going to be great for our seniors and a huge celebration for them,” Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “They’ve all accomplished so much and have created great memories here. They’ve impacted the WVU women’s soccer program tremendously.”
With two matches remaining on its schedule, WVU claimed its fifth straight Big 12 Conference regular-season crown with a 3-0 win at TCU on Oct. 21. The Mountaineers (15-1-1, 7-0) are 34-1-3 in all-time Big 12 play and 20-0-2 since 2014, the longest unbeaten streak in conference history. Additionally, the team is unbeaten in its last 33 home conference matches, the third-longest active streak nationally.
“Every game means a lot to this team, especially with where they want to go,” Izzo-Brown said. “We want to stay unbeaten at home and retain our No. 1 ranking. We find our motivations differently. We’re happy our hard work has paid off and we earned that first trophy. Now, we focus on different goals.”
Since falling 1-0 in double-overtime to No. 9 Georgetown on Sept. 18, the Mountaineers have tallied eight straight victories, with the last seven coming in shut-out efforts.
WVU owns a 6-0 all-time record against OSU (9-6-3, 3-3-1); all six matches have been decided by one goal, and the Mountaineers have needed overtime in the last two regular-season meetings.
WVU went 2-0 against the Cowgirls last season, earning a 2-1 overtime win in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Oct. 23, and a 2-1 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Big 12 Soccer Championship, on Nov. 4, in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Mountaineer defense has been downright stingy in recent weeks, denying seven straight conference opponents a goal and holding each team but Texas to two or fewer shots on-goal. The unit shows 11 shutouts on the season, four short of matching the program single-season record of 15, set in 2015, and has allowed just six opponent goals, the second-fewest nationally.
WVU ranks No. 3 nationally with a 0.346 goals-against average (GAA). The squad also ranks No. 8 nationally with a 0.647 shutout percentage and 0.875 save percentage.
Freshman Rylee Foster and junior Michelle Newhouse have split time in net this season, and each earned wins last weekend. Foster made one save in the win over the Horned Frogs, while Newhouse tallied a career-high six stops in a 1-0 win at Texas on Oct. 23.
Offensively, the Mountaineers rank No. 2 in the Big 12 Conference with a 1.94 goals/game average. Junior Michaela Abam paces with 19 points (8 G, 3 A), while classmate Carla Portillo ranks second with a career single-season best 13 points (4 G, 5 A). Most recently, Portillo tallied the game-winner against the Longhorns.
The Cowgirls are coming off a 1-0 win over Little Rock on Oct. 25, in Stillwater. Freshman Julia Lenhardt scored the game-winner with just over three minutes remaining, and OSU finished with a 7-0 edge in shots on-goal.
OSU is the only team in the Big 12 to rank ahead of WVU in the offensive statistics and sits at No. 1 with a 2.17 goals/game average. The team also ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 with a 6.11 points/game average. The Cowgirls are paced by senior forward Courtney Dike’s conference-best 25 points (9 G, 7 A).
“You don’t slow Courtney down; we just have to find a way to disrupt her rhythm,” Izzo-Brown added. “She’s a World Cup player, super athletic and super strong on the ball.”
Defensively, OSU ranks No. 9 in the Big 12 with a 1.214 GAA. The squad also shows a 0.753 save percentage, which ranks No. 8 in the conference. Junior Michela Ongaro shows a 1.25 GAA and has posted four shutouts.
Of note, the 2016 Big 12 Soccer Championship bracket will be released tomorrow night following the game.
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