Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Though tied 0-0 at halftime, the No. 23-ranked West Virginia University women's soccer team found its scoring touch quickly in the second half and never looked back, tallying three goals in seven minutes and cruising to a 4-0 victory over Kansas State tonight in front of 1,827 fans at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
 
The win over the Wildcats, making their first-ever trip to Morgantown, was the Mountaineers' (7-2-3, 3-0) sixth straight and pushed WVU's unbeaten home streak against conference foes to 40. The clean sheet is WVU's fifth in a row; a Big 12 opponent has not scored on the Mountaineers this season.
 
Tonight's four-goal performance is WVU's second in three weeks. Since dropping a 2-0 loss to No. 11 Georgetown on Sept. 2, the Mountaineers have outscored their opponents, 16-1.
 
"I think it's confidence and great leadership from our nine seniors," Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said of WVU's building momentum. "It starts from the back. We can call out different senior leaders. It's all about huge confidence and our current team mentality."
 
For the second straight Friday night, sophomore forward Lauren Segalla helped jumpstart the Mountaineers' attack in the second half, as she tallied the game-winner, her second in three games, in the 48th minute. With the ball wide and Segalla crashing the frame, senior forward Hannah Abraham sent a cross to the near-left post. Segalla tapped the ball around K-State's Brookelynn Entz and found a narrow opening at the post for her second goal of the season.
 
"That was a shot in the arm for everyone, but especially for Lauren. She struggled early on (this season) to finish, but her grind mentality and hard work is paying off," Izzo-Brown said. "She's staying focused, on-task and in her routine."
 
Abraham helped WVU double its lead less than three minutes later. A Wildcat penalty gave WVU a free kick 10-yards above the box. Abraham headed the initial ball toward the far-right post. K-State's Emma Malsy got her hands on the ball but couldn't control it, giving senior forward Sh'Nia Gordon the perfect opportunity to bury a close-range shot for her fourth goal of the season.
 
Ninety-nine seconds later, Abraham set-up her third different teammate, sending a perfectly placed cross into the box. Gill ran up on the ball and quickly sent a high shot toward the frame, which pinged off the crossbar before bouncing behind Malsy for her first goal in a Mountaineer uniform.
 
Abraham's three helpers, her first of the season and a career single-game high, are the most for a Mountaineer since Kailey Utley tallied a program-record four in an 8-0 win over Villanova on Sept. 5, 2015.
 
"We talked about playing wide and making sure we were opening up Kansas State," Izzo-Brown said of WVU's halftime discussion. "They were doing a great job keeping us compact. Hannah was incredible on those three assists, and to have Lauren, Nia and Nadya finish was big time."
 
Though the attack slowed, the Mountaineers were not done, as WVU found its fourth goal in the 85th minute, with a pair of freshmen forwards combining for the final score. Lizzie Mayfield initially halted a K-State clearance and immediately sent the ball forward. A Wildcat failed to control the ball, giving Alina Stahl an easy steal. Racing into the box, she beat K-State's Olivia Elofsson with a clean shot toward the lower right pocket for her second score of the season.
 
The Mountaineers finished with double-digit shot totals in both halves and earned a 31-7 final edge. WVU forced K-State into eight saves, five in the first half.
 
Segalla paced the field with six shots and placed two on-goal, a mark matched by senior midfielder Grace Cutler and freshman defender Jordan Brewster. Entz paced K-State with four shots.
 
Junior Rylee Foster made one first-half save for the team's seventh clean sheet of the season. Earning credit for six, Foster continues to rank No. 4 in program history with 26 career shutouts.
 
WVU finished with a 14-1 edge in corner kicks.  
 
Though play was slow early, the Wildcats (4-6-2, 0-3) earned the first shot on-goal this evening, with Entz sending a long look toward the left post. Foster made the easy save and quickly flipped the field.
 
The shot on-goal was only the second by a Big 12 opponent this season.
 
Brewster's first chance came in the 17th minute. With the ball high of the box, she sent a high, floating shot toward the left post. Malsy dove correctly and tipped the ball for the initial stop. Freshman midfielder Addison Clark pounced on the rebound, but her shot went wide.
 
WVU earned three solid looks in the 27th minute. The first, a shot inside the box by Segalla, was blocked. Gordon corralled the ball wide of the six-yard box, but her shot dinged off the near post. Brewster earned the final look, but her deep shot went wide.
 
Brewster again looked to break scoreless play in the 39th minute with her best chance of the night. The North Canton, Ohio, native's long shot nearly snuck over Malsy's head before the Wildcat jumped to push the ball off the crossbar and back into play. Stahl's quick header off the rebound also was stopped by Malsy.
 
After quickly going up 3-0 in the second half, Clark looked to get into the scoring mix, but her hard shot near the penalty line smacked off the crossbar.
 
Tonight's goal total was the Mountaineers' best regular-season performance against a Big 12 opponent since earning a 4-0 win over Iowa State on Oct. 13, 2017, at DDSS.
 
With the victory, WVU improves to 2-0 all-time against K-State.
 
The Mountaineers return to Dick Dlesk Stadium on Friday, Oct. 5, for a key match against Baylor, the reigning Big 12 Conference Tournament champions, at 7 p.m. It's Soctoberfest, and the first 300 fans will receive a WVU stein.