KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the third time in four years, the No. 1-ranked and top-seeded West Virginia University women's soccer team will go for the Big 12 Conference title sweep, as the Mountaineers moved past No. 4-seed Oklahoma, 2-0, tonight in the first of two Big 12 Soccer Championship semifinal matches at Swope Soccer Village.

 

With the clean sheet, the team's 14th of the season, WVU (18-1-1, 8-0) pushed its program- and conference-record shutout streak to 10. The Mountaineers have now recorded a school-record 934:33 minutes of shut-out play since allowing a penalty kick to Richmond on Sept. 23.

 

The WVU backline held OU (13-6-2, 4-3-1) to just one shot on-goal; no conference opponent has scored on the Mountaineer defense this season.

 

“This was a total-team effort tonight,” Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “The backline really handled the pressure, and I'm proud they were able to get that shutout.”

 

Tonight's victory also is WVU's 11th straight. The Mountaineers are now one win and one shutout short of matching the program records set in 2015.

 

WVU advances to a conference championship final for the fifth time in seven seasons. The Mountaineers will face the winner of No. 3-seed Baylor – No. 7-seed TCU on Sunday, Nov. 6, at 3:30 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast nationally on FS1.    

 

After dodging a scary OU look one minute into the match, the Mountaineers finally earned the chance they chased all first half when sophomore forward Grace Cutler buried a rebound in the 41st minute to give WVU an advantage it would not relinquish.

 

Cutler was in the right place at the time. Senior midfielder Ashley Lawrence got the play started, spinning with the ball 10-yards out of the box before sending it in. Senior defender Kadeisha Buchanan gave chase and pushed the ball toward the goal line before sending a shot toward the right post from inside the penalty-kick line. OU's Kassidie Stade made a diving save and tipped the ball right to Cutler's feet. She immediately sent it back in, away from Stade's body and toward the far post for her fourth score and first game-winner of the season.

 

“That's exactly what Grace needed to do – she needed to find the back of the net,” Izzo-Brown explained. “We had a couple of good looks, but we weren't finding the goal.”

 

Cutler, a native of Fort Collins, Colorado, has now scored in three of the last five matches. Buchanan's assist is her second of the year.

 

After withstanding a flurry of Sooner chances late in the match, the Mountaineers stamped their championship ticket in the 90th minute.

 

Liz Keester sent a driving free kick into the box with 63 seconds remaining. After a few bounces, the Mountaineers cleared, with junior defender Amandine Pierre-Louis pushing the ball up the field. Once inside the box, she sent a great cross to a streaking Sh'Nia Gordon, and the sophomore forward easily finished for her third goal in as many games.

 

The score pushes Gordon's season goal total to six, the second-best team mark. She also ranks second on the team with 14 points (6 G, 2 A).

 

WVU finished with a 23-5 edge in shots and forced Stade into three saves. Junior Michelle Newhouse made one save for her fourth shutout of the season.

 

The Mountaineers also earned a 7-5 edge in corner kicks.  

 

“You could tell Oklahoma really wanted to get a ball behind us,” Izzo-Brown explained. “They were constantly putting direct balls in and looking to get second balls and flicks. I thought our team did a really good job of dealing with that. I'm very proud we were able to put our two away.

 

“Oklahoma is everything they're made out to be. I wish them nothing but the best in the NCAA Championship. That was a tough, physical and demanding game.”

 

Inches stood between the Mountaineers and an early deficit. OU forward Madison Saliba earned a clean look wide of the penalty-kick line just 60 seconds into the match. She had the angle on the net, but it sailed wide of the far right post.

 

Gordon looked to break scoreless play in the 26th minute, receiving a ball at the back post from junior midfielder Carla Portillo, but her shot from six-yards out went high of the crossbar.

 

Lawrence had a goal stolen away in the 56th minute. With the ball wide of the penalty-kick line, she sent a dead-on shot in, but it cruelly smacked off the post and out of play for the Mountaineers' fourth corner kick of the night.

 

Fourteen minutes later, Pierre-Louis nearly iced the match, connecting on a free kick high of the box. Stade tipped the ball at the last moment up and over the crossbar.

 

OU earned a few chances late, but the Mountaineer defense stood tall, especially in the 88th minute. Keester took an in-stride shot that was pushed away at the post by Newhouse, awarding OU a corner kick. Off the kick, the ball bounced in the box among Sooners before the Mountaineer goalkeeper fell on it, halting any further pressure.

 

Lawrence paced the field tonight with five shots. Five different Mountaineers registered a shot on-goal.

 

With the win, WVU improves to 6-0-1 all-time against the Sooners.