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Top-Five Battle Awaits at No. 5 Duke
September 08, 2016 10:49 AM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 4-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team takes a five-match win streak onto the road this weekend, as the squad is set for a test at No. 5 Duke on Friday, Sept. 9, with first kick from Koskinen Stadium set for 7 p.m.
Friday’s match will be streamed live on WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
The match is WVU’s fourth in as many weeks against a ranked opponent, a first for the Mountaineers since at least the 2005 season. The squad is 2-0-1 against ranked teams in 2016, earning a 1-1 draw at No. 2 Penn State in the season opener and wins in Morgantown against No. 8 Clemson (1-0, Aug. 26) and No. 19 Ohio State (2-1, Sept. 4).
Duke, the 2015 NCAA Tournament runners-up, is the Mountaineers’ third top-10 opponent this season. With its win over the Tigers in August, WVU has defeated at least one top-10 team in each of the last 12 seasons. The squad is 14-11-3 all-time against top-10 teams.
“Duke is a very attacking-minded team; we’re going to see all sorts of weapons coming at us,” Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “They have an older, experienced team. We’re going to see some of the best soccer players in the country coming at us Friday night. It’s going to be an incredible challenge to go in there and hold off the Blue Devils.”
Friday is the team’s third meeting in four years. WVU is 0-1-1 all-time against Duke. Most recently, the No. 11 Mountaineers lost 2-0 to the No. 21 Blue Devils on Aug. 29, 2014, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The defeat was WVU’s last loss in Morgantown.
Two stingy defenses will meet Friday night, as both teams have recorded three shutouts through six games this season, while WVU has only allowed three goals to Duke’s four.
Offensively, the Blue Devils rank No. 26 nationally with a 2.67 goals/game average, and the Mountaineers check in at No. 78 with a 1.83 average.
The Mountaineers are led by junior forward Heather Kaleiohi, as the San Diego native paces in points (6), goals (3) and game-winning goals (2). Junior Carla Portillo paces the squad with four assists and ranks No. 28 nationally with a 0.67 assists/game average. Freshman Rylee Foster ranks 29th nationally with a 0.398 goals-against average (GAA) and shows 11 saves on the year.
Junior forward Imani Dorsey paces the Blue Devils with seven points (3 G, 1 A), including two game-winning scores. Junior EJ Proctor is 4-1-1 between the posts this season and shows a 0.50 GAA to go along with nine saves.
WVU and Duke went a combined 3-0-1 against ranked teams last weekend. The Mountaineers earned a pair of wins against Big Ten Conference opponents in Morgantown, defeating Purdue, 2-0, on Sept. 1, and No. 19 Ohio State, 2-1, on Sept. 4. WVU held the teams to five combined shots, with only the Buckeyes’ goal landing on-frame.
The Mountaineers are Duke’s third straight top-10 opponent. At the Duke Nike Classic last weekend, the squad drew No. 8 North Carolina, 0-0, on Sept. 2, and defeated No. 9 Minnesota, 1-0, on Sept. 4.
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