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No. 5 WVU Meets Familiar Foe in 2016 Opener
August 18, 2016 04:59 PM | Women's Soccer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – An Elite-Eight rematch against defending National Champion and No. 2-ranked Penn State highlights the No. 5-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team’s season-opening trip to the Penn State Invitational.
The Mountaineers will face the host Nittany Lions on Friday, Aug. 19, at 7:30 p.m., at Jeffrey Field. The match will be broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network. WVU will conclude the weekend with a match against Buffalo at noon on Sunday, Aug. 21.
“As a coach, you feel you’re never prepared for the start of the season and wish you had more time,” Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “After our two exhibition matches, though, I do think we’re ready to take on the defending National Champions. Penn State always brings their strongest game against us, but I think this group is ready.”
WVU went 2-1 against PSU and UB in 2015, earning 1-0 regular-season victories against both squads in Morgantown before the postseason loss to the Nittany Lions. The Mountaineers knocked off the Nittany Lions in a gritty battle plagued by rain on Sept. 4, and survived an overtime scare by the Bulls with an own-goal victory on Sept. 18. PSU earned revenge with a 2-0 win over WVU at Jeffrey Field on Nov. 28.
“This weekend is all about West Virginia soccer; we know what we need to do,” Izzo-Brown explained.
All-time, the Mountaineers are 6-7-1 against PSU and 1-0 against UB.
Friday marks the fourth straight season the Mountaineers have opened the season away from Morgantown, and the team is 1-1-1 in the span. WVU is 9-8-3 overall in season openers.
Eighteen letterwinners return for the Mountaineers following a 2015 campaign which saw the four-time reigning Big 12 Conference champions post program season records in wins (19), shutouts (15) and goals (61). The squad ended the year ranked in the top-10 nationally in scoring offense (No. 4, 2.65), goals against average (No. 5, 0.471), shutout percentage (No. 5, 0.652) and points per game average (No. 6, 7.65).
Tops among the returners leading the Mountaineers into the season-opening weekend are senior defender Carly Black, back from a season-ending injury in 2015, and juniors Michaela Abam and Carla Portillo, both members of the 2016 Preseason All-Big 12 Team. Abam, a forward, paced the Mountaineers last year with a career-high 12 goals and finished with 28 points, the top returning total in the Big 12 Conference.
Of note, repeat Hermann Trophy hopefuls and All-Americans Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence are unavailable for the weekend, as they will compete with Canada in the third-place game at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games on Friday. Kick is slated for noon.
Coach Izzo-Brown returns for her 21st season with the Mountaineers needing one win to reach career victory No. 300.
PSU, the reigning Big Ten Conference champion, returns 12 letterwinners, with all but one a junior. The Nittany Lions will celebrate their 2015 National Championship title prior to Friday’s kick.
The Nittany Lions carry a streak of eight straight shutouts into the weekend. The squad ended the year ranked No. 8 nationally in goals against average (0.510) and No. 9 in points per game average (7.19).
The Bulls also return 18 letterwinners this season, including 13 who played in at least 15 matches in 2015.
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