No. 11 WVU Opens 2019 With A Win

Friday, August 23

Morgantown, W.Va.

7:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

1-0

Duquesne

0-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Duquesne	0	0	0
WVU	1	1	2

Julianne Vallerand begins the celebration after scoring the Mountaineers second goal.

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

August 23, 2019 11:02 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score WVU-Duquesne Box Score Season Stats Photo Gallery Nikki Izzo-Brown Postgame

By: Chris Pharis

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 11-ranked West Virginia University women's soccer team scored a goal in each half and the defense held Duquesne to zero shots as it opened the 2019 season with a 2-0 win on Friday, Aug. 23, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

No. 11 WVU's (1-0) marks the third time in the previous five seasons that it has opened the season with a victory. The Mountaineers moved to 11-10-3 in season openers after earning the win in front of 1,589 fans.

"I always talk about Mountaineer Nation and how we have the best fans and they came through tonight," Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "It was a great crowd and we were excited to have so many people in attendance and it helped us push to the win."

Senior forward Jade Gentile put the Mountaineers on the board first in the 25th minute when she took a low cross from Jordan Brewster inside the box and sent it over the Duquesne goalie's head to give WVU the early, 1-0, advantage.

Gentile's goal marked the second of her career and the first time she has earned the game-winning goal. Brewster's assist put her in first amongst active WVU players with five assists in her career.

The Mountaineers added an insurance goal in the 84th minute as Julianne Vallerand fired a left-footed shot from outside the box that landed in the top-right of the net. The goal marked the first of her career, after scoring in her intercollegiate debut.

Senior goalkeeper Rylee Foster recorded her 32nd career shutout as WVU's defense held Duquesne without a shot. It marks the first time WVU has denied an opponent a shot since it held Saint Francis (Pa.) to zero shots on Sept. 16, 2018.

"I am proud of our team, I thought we moved the ball really well," Izzo-Brown continued. "Overall, we did a really good job against a dynamic Duquesne. That team is going to do really good things."

The Mountaineers outshot the Dukes 21-0. WVU recorded 10 corner kicks in the contest, while holding Duquesne to one.

WVU improved to 9-0-2 all-time against Duquesne, with all nine wins coming in Morgantown.

The Mountaineers will hit the road for the first time in 2019 on Sunday, August 25, as it takes on No. 3 Stanford at University Park, Pennsylvania. First kick from the Jeffrey Field is slated for noon ET. The match marks the first of four top-10 opponents over the next six games.