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No. 1 Mountaineers Open NCAA Play Saturday
November 11, 2016 02:08 PM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked and top-seeded West Virginia University women’s soccer team opens the 2016 NCAA Tournament against Northern Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 3 p.m., at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
Tickets for Saturday’s match are on sale now at WVUGAME.com. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students and youths under the age of 13, and $2 for groups of 10 or more. WVU students will be admitted for free with a valid WVU student I.D.
The Big 12 Conference regular-season and tournament champions, the Mountaineers (19-1-1, 8-0) earned a regional top seed for the first time in program history. WVU, the conference’s automatic qualifier, is making its 17th straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the seventh-longest active streak nationally. The Mountaineers have advanced as far as the fourth round twice, including the 2015 season.
“The No. 1 seed allows us to stay home for every game,” Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “It’s not going to win games for us; it just allows us to stay home. We’re very happy about that, and we’ll see how it goes.
“This team knows how important each part of our season has been in helping us get prepared for this moment. We have to bring each of those lessons learned into Saturday’s game. This is a huge game for us. It’s also a game we’re prepared and ready for.”
WVU is 15-15-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and 10-6-2 in home tournament matches. The Mountaineers went 3-0 in 2015 NCAA Tournament matches in Morgantown, outscoring opponents 13-2. WVU posted shutouts in the first and second rounds last season and has tallied 12 clean sheets in all-time NCAA Tournament play.
The Mountaineers ride a 12-match win streak into Saturday’s tournament opener and need two more victories to match the program’s longest win streak, set in 2010. WVU is the winningest team nationally with a 92.9 win percentage.
Saturday is the first-ever meeting between WVU and NKU (13-6-1, 6-2-1 Horizon League). The Norse earned the University’s first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament berth with a 3-2 win over Milwaukee at the Horizon League Championship on Nov. 5. NKU advanced to the tournament in its first season of eligibility, as the University was granted active Division I status in August 2016.
“Northern Kentucky is not a team we can take lightly,” Izzo-Brown said. “Their coach has done a great job with this group. He got them ready for their conference tournament, and they won it. This isn’t a team who is going to take us lightly. They’re going to come out fighting. We expect a great team against us on Saturday.”
A stout Mountaineer defense looks to match the program single-season shutout record Saturday, as the unit has posted 14 clean sheets this season, including 10 in the last 11 matches. WVU ranks No. 3 nationally with a 0.373 goals-against average (GAA) and No. 5 in shutout percentage (0.667). The Mountaineers have allowed just eight opponent goals, the third-fewest allowed nationally.
Junior Michelle Newhouse has played between the posts in 11 matches this season and boasts a 7-0-0 record. She has earned the starting nod in four of the team’s last five matches, and the Pinch, West Virginia, native shows a 0.52 GAA and has made 19 saves.
The Mountaineers’ attack ranks No. 29 nationally with a 2.1 goals/game average. WVU has scored two or more goals in four straight games and in five of its last six matches.
Junior forward Michaela Abam, the 2016 co-Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, paces with 25 points (9 G, 7 A). The seven helpers are a career single-season best. Classmate Carla Portillo ranks No. 2 on the team with a career-high 16 points (5 G, 6 A), while sophomore Sh’Nia Gordon is third with 15 points (6 G, 3 A).
Senior Ashley Lawrence shows a team-best nine assists, also a career single-season high. She owns 28 career assists, the third-best total in program history, and needs five more to match the school record of 33, set by associate head coach Lisa Stoia.
The Norse show a 1.039 GAA. Sophomore Emily Lohmann has allowed 18 goals in 18 starts for a 1.07 GAA. She has made 70 saves and posted five shutouts.
Offensively, NKU ranks No. 62 nationally with a 5.3 points/game average. Junior forwards Macy Hamblin and Jessica Frey pace the team with 27 points (9 G, 9 A) and 26 points (10 G, 6 A), respectively.
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