No. 17 Mountaineers Open Home Slate

Thursday, August 30

Morgantown, W.Va.

7:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

Xavier

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August 29, 2018 05:57 PM | Women's Soccer

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By: Shannon Wolfgang

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 17-ranked West Virginia University women's soccer team opens its 2018 home season at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 30, against Xavier at 7 p.m.

Thursday is a Dollar Night, and all tickets and select concessions will be available for $1 each. Fans can purchase tickets now at WVUGAME.com. It's also Poster Night, and all fans in attendance will receive a free Mountaineer schedule poster featuring the team's nine seniors. Additionally, for Thursday night only, the stadium gates will open at 5:30 p.m.

To provide a safer environment for Mountaineer fans and to expedite entry into all ticketed WVU athletic events, the West Virginia Department of Intercollegiate Athletics enforces the NFL's Clear Bag Policy. The athletic department invites and encourages fans to visit WVUsports.com/clearbag for more information, to view pictures of permissible and non-permissible items and to obtain answers to frequently asked questions about the clear bag policy.

"It's exciting for us to finally be home, in front of our fans and in our environment at Dick Dlesk Stadium," Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said.

Thursday is just the second meeting between the Mountaineers (0-1-3) and the Musketeers (1-3), with the first contest resulting in a 5-1 win for WVU on Sept. 16, 2007, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

The Mountaineers, 15-6-1 in home season openers, return to Morgantown after opening the 2018 season with a pair of invitationals on the road. Most recently, WVU battled to a 0-0 (2OT) draw against No. 19 Northwestern on Aug. 26, at the Boilermaker Challenge Cup in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Mountaineers held the Wildcats to six shots, with only two first-half attempts landing on-frame, and one corner kick. All three totals were opponent season lows, and the clean sheet, credited to junior Rylee Foster, was the Mountaineers' first of the season.

"I'm really leaning on our upperclassmen to make sure they keep encouraging everyone," Izzo-Brown said. "There is an understanding that we celebrate 1-0 wins, and that's why we celebrate goals. Sometimes, it's just a little bit of luck. The game is about inches, and we've been creating incredible chances. We're working away. We're in a good mindset right now."

Seniors Bianca St. Georges (1 G) and Grace Cutler (1 G) pace the WVU attack with two points. Classmate Nadya Gill shows a team-high 16 shots (4.0/game), and St. Georges has tallied a team-best seven shots on-goal (1.75/game).

Foster has played all 420:00 minutes in net and shows a 0.64 goals-against average (GAA). She has made 11 saves for a .786 save percentage.

Thursday is Xavier's fourth straight road match and second consecutive against a ranked opponent. The Musketeers most recently dropped a 3-0 decision at No. 13 Tennessee on Aug. 26.

"They've gone out and played an incredibly tough schedule thus far," Izzo-Brown added. "Thursday is going to be a huge battle."

Sophomore forward Sydney Schembri paces Xavier with three points (1 G, 1 A). Junior Toni Bizzarro is 1-2 in net this season, allowing four goals and boasting a 1.29 GAA. Freshman Olivia Jenkins played the full 90 minutes against the Volunteers.