MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University women's soccer team opens its 2017 season at No. 5 Georgetown on Friday, Aug. 18, with first kick from Shaw Field in Washington, D.C., set for 4 p.m. ET.
 
Links for a video stream and live stats are available at WVUsports.com.
 
The season opener features two 2016 NCAA College Cup participants. The Mountaineers finished as the national runner-up, and the Hoyas lost to eventual national champion USC in the semifinal.
 
"Georgetown is going to do a great job setting the tone of the match with its speed of play," Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "They'll play a lot through Rachel (Corboz). She's the top midfielder in the country, and we know how special and crafty she is.
 
"Defensively, we know they smother the ball and do a really great job creating opportunities off transitions. This is a solid team from top-to-bottom. This is going to be a challenge."
 
Annual opponents as members of the Big East Conference, WVU and GU have met 20 times, and the Mountaineers own a 14-4-2 all-time series advantage. The Hoyas earned the upper-hand in the previous meeting on Sept. 18, 2016, as Grace Damaska found a goal in the 102nd minute to defeat the top-ranked Mountaineers, 1-0, in double-overtime at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The loss snapped WVU's 30-match unbeaten home streak.
 
WVU is 9-9-3 in season openers, and Friday marks the fifth straight season the Mountaineers have opened the year away from Morgantown. Last year, WVU earned a come-from-behind, 1-1 double-overtime draw at No. 2 Penn State on Aug. 19.
 
Ranked No. 1 entering a season for the first time in program history, the Mountaineers return 15 letterwinners from a 2016 squad that earned a program-record 23 wins and 18 shutouts.
 
"There are different challenges when you enter a season ranked No. 1, but we know and understand that it's just about us," Izzo-Brown added. "We want to compete for 90 minutes and give Georgetown our best look. We have to stay focused on what is in front of us."
 
Tops among the returners are nine starters from last year, including senior All-American Michaela Abam. The forward, a 2017 Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy candidate, has paced the Mountaineers in goals each of her three seasons at WVU. The 2016 co-Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year, Abam finish the season with a career single-season high 33 points (12 G, 9 A) and a team-best five game-winning goals. She ranks No. 8 in program history with 32 career goals and No. 9 with 77 career points.
 
Also back for the WVU offense are senior midfielder Carla Portillo and junior forward Sh'Nia Gordon. The duo ranked No. 3 on the team last season with 17 points each. Gordon finished second on the team with seven goals, while Portillo, a 2016 NSCAA All-Central Region Second Team honoree, chipped in five.
 
Four of five starters from WVU's backline, including sophomore goalkeeper Rylee Foster, return. Foster, also an NSCAA All-Central Region Second Team honoree, was credited with eight of the team's shutouts last season and finished with a 0.42 goals-against average (GAA), the best single-season total in program history the seventh-best mark nationally.
 
The Hoyas claimed their first Big East Conference Championship in 2016 and shut out four straight opponents in the NCAA Tournament en route to their first-ever NCAA College Cup appearance.
 
Corboz, a two-time All-American, led GU in 2016 with 38 points on 11 goals and a nation-best 16 assists. The midfielder is listed alongside Abam on the 2017 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List.