Mountaineers Kick at Michigan Monday
August 06, 2017 03:03 PM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s soccer team will face Michigan in an exhibition match on Monday, Aug. 7, at 1 p.m., at U-M Soccer Stadium, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Monday’s match is the first competition of the 2017 season for the Mountaineers, who held their first preseason training session on Aug. 2.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to play an opponent like Michigan, who I expect to challenge us in many different ways,” 22-year Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “Michigan will give us a very good picture of where we are as a team.”
WVU enters the match ranked No. 1 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women National Preseason Ranking, the squad’s first-ever preseason No. 1 position.
Fifteen letterwinners return for the Mountaineers, including nine starters from a 2016 team who advanced to the program’s first NCAA College Cup, as well as earned a nation- and program-best 23 wins and 18 shutouts and swept the Big 12 Conference titles.
Included in the 15 returning letterwinners are five seniors: forwards Michaela Abam and Heather Kaleiohi, midfielders Alli Magaletta and Carla Portillo and defender Amandine Pierre-Louis. This class accounted for 81 (28 G, 25 A) of the team’s 156 points in 2016.
Sophomore Rylee Foster returns to goal following a rookie season which saw her post a conference-best 0.42 goals-against average, a program single-season record.
Michigan went 10-5-5 in 2016 en route to a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten Conference and a bid to the NCAA Tournament, the team’s first since 2013.
Nikki Izzo-Brown & Alicia Riggins | Wagner Postgame | Nov. 14
Saturday, November 15
Nikki Izzo-Brown | Nov. 10
Monday, November 10
WSOC | Cincinnati Cinematic Recap
Friday, October 31
Ajanae Respass | Cincinnati Postgame | Oct. 30
Thursday, October 30
