LAWRENCE, KAN. – The West Virginia University women's soccer opens its final road swing of the regular season with a match against No. 23 Kansas on Thursday, Oct. 24. Kickoff at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas, is set for 8 p.m. ET.

Thursday's match will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Fans with questions about Big 12 Now on ESPN+ can click here to find answers to the most common questions about the new platform. 

Thursday's match marks the ninth meeting between the Mountaineers and Jayhawks. West Virginia is 7-1-0 all-time against Kansas and has outscored KU, 17-1, in the eight meetings. Kansas earned its lone win of the series in the last meeting, as the Jayhawks came away with a 1-0 win in Morgantown on Oct. 25, 2018.

WVU enters the contest with an 8-6-1 record (3-3 Big 12) after the squad registered its sixth clean sheet of the season against Oklahoma on Oct. 20. The Mountaineers netted the game's lone goal in the 54th minute as sophomore forward Alina Stahl took a cross from senior forward Jade Gentile inside the box. Stahl froze the Sooner's netminder with a shot that went just inside the left post and gave the Mountaineers a 1-0 victory.

Senior goalkeeper Rylee Foster moved into No. 2 on the program's career shutouts list, passing Lana Bannerman (2003-06), after registering her 37th-career clean sheet against the Sooners. Foster is third on the career shutouts list among active Division I players and is tied for second in the Big 12 with six shutouts this season.

Freshman forward Julianne Vallerand leads the Mountaineers with 11 points (5 G, 1 A) this season. Stahl is second on the team with four goals and paces the team with two game-winning goals this season.

The Jayhawks are 11-4-1 and 3-2-1 in conference play after earning a 3-0 win over in-state rival Kansas State on Oct. 18. KU has outshot its opponents 230-169 this season, while holding a 31-13 advantage in goals.  

Senior forward Katie McClure paces Kansas in points (29), goals (11) and assists (7) this season. McClure ranks ninth nationally in points and game-winning goals (5) and leads the league in both categories.

"It's going to be really important that we own critical space and stay compact," Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "Defensively, we can't give (Katie) McClure any opportunities to score because she is terrorizing opponents in her senior year."

Sophomore Sarah Peters is the projected starter between the posts for KU. She has a record of 10-4-1 and leads the league with seven shutouts.

Mark Francis is in his 21st season as the head coach of the Jayhawks. He has an overall record of 230-167-35 at Kansas, including an 89-88-15 record in Big 12 play. Francis has led the Jayhawks to eight NCAA tournament appearances and guided KU to its first-ever Big 12 Championship in 2004.