MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 4-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team returns to Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium for a match against Purdue on Thursday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m.
It’s Dollar Ticket night, and all tickets are available for $1 each. WVU students are admitted free with a valid WVU Student ID.
“You could really hear the fans get behind anything positive the team did on the playfield,” WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said of the Mountaineers’ support at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium last weekend. “It was incredible, and it was absolutely what I asked for. The crowd responded, and we’re hoping to get the same kind of support this weekend.”
WVU extended its home unbeaten streak to 27 with two wins last weekend, including a 1-0 victory over No. 8 Clemson on Aug. 26. The squad has not lost at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium since a 2-0 defeat to No. 21 Duke on Aug. 29, 2014.
Thursday is the fifth meeting between the Mountaineers (3-0-1) and the Boilermakers (2-2), and WVU owns a 2-1-1 series edge. The squads last meet in 2012, a 2-2 double-overtime draw in West Lafayette, Indiana, on Sept. 9. Their last meeting in Morgantown resulted in a 3-0 win for the Mountaineers on Aug. 21, 2011.
The Boilermakers are the first of two Big Ten Conference opponents the Mountaineers will face this weekend, as they also will play host to No. 19 Ohio State on Sunday, Sept. 4, at 6 p.m. WVU is 0-0-1 against the conference this season, having opened the year with a 1-1 double-overtime draw at No. 2 Penn State on Aug. 19. The Mountaineers went 4-1 against the conference in 2015.
“Purdue has traditionally had some great results against top opponents,” Izzo-Brown said. “I know they’ll be up for this game. They had a lot of success last year, and they’re going to be technical, athletic and physical.
“This schedule this year has not been easy. We’ve faced some top-10 opponents already, and we just continue to get after it.”
The Mountaineers enter the weekend ranked No. 36 nationally with a 0.474 goals-against average (GAA). Anchored by senior center back Kadeisha Buchanan, the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, the WVU defense has posted two shutouts and held opponents to 29 shots through four games.
Freshman Rylee Foster shows a 2-0-1 mark in net and ranks No. 32 nationally with a 0.33 GAA.
Sophomore forward Sh’Nia Gordon, fresh off a two-goal performance in the team’s 3-1 win over Saint Francis on Aug. 28, paces the squad with five points (2 G, 1 A). Junior defender Amandine Pierre-Louis shows a team-best two assists and ranks second with four points (1 G, 2 A).
The Boilermakers are led by senior forward Hannah Lenert’s six points (2 G, 2 A). Classmate Jordan Ginther shows a 1-2 record in net and a 2.65 GAA.
Most recently, Purdue came from behind to defeat Cincinnati, 2-1, in overtime, on Aug. 28. The squad opened the weekend with a 5-1 defeat at Baylor on Aug. 26.
