Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The combination of a clicking offense and a stifling defense proved lethal for the No. 5 West Virginia University women's soccer team tonight, as the Mountaineers rode two second-half goals to a 3-1 win over Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Big 12 Soccer Championship at Swope Soccer Village.
 
Tonight's win avenges the Mountaineers' (15-3-1, 7-1-1) 1-1 (2OT) draw against the Red Raiders (9-7-4, 2-4-3) earlier in the season on Oct. 19 at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
 
"I liked our tempo of play tonight. Everyone came ready and everyone was battling," Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "Everyone showed that they wanted to win tonight. It was an incredible performance by our seniors who led the way.
 
"I'm so proud of everybody. It's postseason, and they sent a message – they were ready to go."
 
Seeded No. 2, WVU, the reigning tournament winner, advances to the Big 12 Soccer Championship semifinal for the fifth straight season. The Mountaineers will kick against the winner of No. 3-seed TCU – No. 6-seed Kansas on Friday, Nov. 3, at 8 p.m. EST, at Swope Soccer Village.
 
Knotted in a 1-1 battle, senior forward Heather Kaleiohi's brilliant individual offensive effort put WVU ahead for good in the 68th minute. With the ball wide, she split two Red Raider defenders before pushing the ball ahead and firing a shot from 15-yards out through a wall of TTU defenders that hugged the near post.
 
The goal was Kaleiohi's fifth of the season and her second game-winner.
 
Senior forward Michaela Abam punctuated the team's impressive second half in the 83rd minute, connecting on a signature long shot.
 
Kaleiohi played a critical role in the score, chasing the ball to the sideline and keeping it in play before sending a cross to junior midfielder Grace Cutler. Cutler immediately tapped the ball left to Abam. The Houston native settled it above the box before sending a long, hard shot toward the right post for her team-best eighth goal of the year.
 
"At halftime, we talked about moving the ball and taking care of the ball," Izzo-Brown said. "We had to find the small spaces because Texas Tech was closing us down defensively. I credit the girls and the extra efforts they took to be patient around the net but also persistent. They made sure we didn't give the ball away."
 
Abam's goal is her 40th career score. She is only the third Mountaineer in the program's 22-year history to score 40 or more goals, joining WVU greats Chrissie Abbott (53) and Katie Barnes (45). She continues to rank No. 5 in program history with 96 career points.
 
The Mountaineers got on the board early, as senior midfielder Alli Magaletta tallied the team's first goal for the fourth time in five games. The Chesterfield, Missouri, native connected on the team's second corner kick of the night in the 16th minute. Senior midfielder Carla Portillo put the ball squarely at the far-right post. Unmarked, Magaletta met it mid-jump and headed it to the back of the net for her fifth goal of the season.  
 
The Red Raiders answered in the 28th minute on their second corner kick. Midfielder Jordie Harr sent the ball toward the far-left post, where a slew of players failed to clear it away. Defender Mary Heiberger eventually got her foot on the ball and directed it past sophomore Rylee Foster and toward the lower right pocket.
   
Foster made two saves for the Mountaineers. Red Raider freshman Marissa Zucchetto finished with five stops, four in the first 45 minutes.
 
WVU also earned a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.
 
The crossbar proved cruel this evening, as at least three Mountaineer shots banged off the wood. The first came just four minutes after Magaletta put WVU ahead 1-0. With the ball high above the box, she took a second shot from 25-out that skimmed the bar before leaving the field.
 
Senior defender Amandine Pierre-Louis looked to break the 1-1 tie in the 33rd minute, as she sent a long, curving shot toward the net. Zucchetto met the ball high and pushed it off and over the crossbar, setting up WVU's fourth corner kick of the night.
 
Portillo was on the end of a crossbar stop in the 50th minute, as her own long attempt pinged off the frame and back into play.
 
Foster came up big in the 58th minute, laying out along the line to stop a low shot from TTU's leading goal scorer, forward Ally Griffin.
 
Just prior to Kaleiohi's game-winner, she nearly setup the go-ahead goal for junior forward Sh'Nia Gordon in the 62nd minute. She crossed the ball at the end line to Gordon, who headed it at the right post. Zucchetto moved just in time to make the save.
 
Kaleiohi and Gordon paced the field with five shots each. The duo, along with Pierre-Louis, placed two shots on-goal.
 
With the win, WVU improves to 6-2-1 all-time against TTU and 2-1 against the Red Raiders at the Big 12 Soccer Championship.