KANSAS CITY, Missouri – The No. 1-ranked and top-seeded West Virginia University women’s soccer team advanced to the Big 12 Soccer Championship semifinal for the fourth straight year and will face No. 4-seed Oklahoma on Friday, Nov. 4, at 5:30 p.m., at Swope Soccer Village.
The semifinal match will be streamed at Big12Sports.com.
The Mountaineers (17-1-1, 8-0) earned their spot in the semifinal with a 3-0 win over No. 8-seed Texas Tech on Nov. 2. The Sooners (13-5-2, 4-3-1) advanced after defeating No. 5-seed Iowa State, 2-0, on Wednesday.
WVU rides a 10-match win streak into Friday evening, with the last nine victories coming in shut-out fashion, matching the longest shutout streak in program and conference history. The Mountaineers have not allowed a goal to a Big 12 opponent this season and show 13 clean sheets on the year. WVU has recorded 844:53 of shut-out play since allowing a goal at Richmond on Sept. 23, and the team is 27:33 from matching the program record, set in 2015.
Friday is the second meeting between the teams at the championship. WVU earned its second straight Big 12 Championship title with a 1-0 win over OU on Nov. 9, 2014.
“Oklahoma is a very dangerous team,” Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “They’ve really challenged themselves this season, and their strength of schedule ranks No. 1 nationally. We know we’re going to have an uphill battle Friday against the Sooners.”
The Mountaineers are 5-0-1 all-time against the Sooners. Most recently, WVU earned a 2-0 win over OU on Oct. 2, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium, in Morgantown. Sophomore forward Hannah Abraham broke scoreless play in the 78th minute, and junior forward Michaela Abam added an insurance goal in the 86th minute. The Mountaineers outshot the Sooners 17-9 and forced senior Kassidie Stade into six saves. Freshman Rylee Foster made two stops for WVU.
“They play such a tough defensive game, and we really have to be sharp and relentless inside the box,” Izzo-Brown explained. “OU does not give up a lot of goals.”
Four-time reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Kadeisha Buchanan and the Mountaineer defense has allowed six opponent goals all season, the second-fewest nationally. WVU shows a 0.684 shutout percentage and ranks No. 4 in the NCAA. The Mountaineers are two shutouts short of matching the program single-season record, set in 2015.
Junior Michelle Newhouse earned the most-recent shutout against the Red Raiders, making two saves in the victory. She has played in nine matches this season and shows a 5-0-0 record and a 0.36 goals-against average (GAA).
The WVU attack shows a 2.05 goals/game average and ranks No. 38 nationally, No. 1 in the Big 12. The Mountaineers have tallied 39 goals this season, the 13th-most nationally.
The Mountaineers’ three-goal output against TTU marked the second time this season WVU has tallied three or more goals in back-to-back matches. Abam, the reigning co-Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, paces the team with 22 points (8 G, 6 A). Juniors Carla Portillo and Heather Kaleiohi, as well as sophomore Sh’Nia Gordon, rank second on the team with five goals each; all three scored against the Red Raiders. Senior midfielder Ashley Lawrence paces the team and ranks No. 31 nationally with eight assists.
OU ranks No. 65 nationally, No. 4 in the Big 12, with a 0.869 GAA. Stade has played every minute in all 20 matches and has allowed 18 goals while making 65 saves. OU’s shutout against the Cyclones was her eighth of the season.
Senior forward Liz Keester scored the game-winner against the Cyclones, her fifth of the season; she ranks No. 16 nationally and is tops in the Big 12. Keester paces OU with 24 points (9 G, 6 A).
Should the Mountaineers win Friday, they will face the winner of Baylor - TCU on Sunday, Nov. 6, at 3:30 p.m. ET, at Swope Soccer Village.
