Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Mountaineers Begin 2020 Preseason
August 04, 2020 01:53 PM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The 25th season of West Virginia University women's soccer officially opened with the team's first preseason training session on Tuesday morning at Dreamswork Field.
A total of 13 letterwinners, including eight starters, return to the squad this fall, while eight newcomers also have joined the program for the new campaign. The Mountaineers are coming off a 12-8-2 season in 2019, which included their 20th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. WVU reached the NCAA Third Round for the fourth time in the last five years.
"Every day is going to be a gift," WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "For us not knowing if we were going to be able to get out here, we just want to win the day. Today was really exciting. It was different, but it was exciting.
"We're preaching safety first. We keep telling the girls that their safety is the No. 1 goal here, and I think we've done a really good job as a staff to make sure we're not missing anything."
West Virginia returns six of its top nine goal scorers from last fall, led by junior forward Alina Stahl, who paced the Mountaineers with eight goals and 18 points in 2019, as well as sophomore defender Julianne Vallerand, who found the back of the net five times in just seven games played.
Additionally, the nine-time Big 12 Conference champions welcome back five other players with starting experience on the back line, including junior defender Jordan Brewster, redshirt sophomore Mackenzie Aunkst and sophomores Juliana Lynch, Nicole Payne and Gabby Robinson. Brewster was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team last season, while Payne and sophomore forward Enzi Broussard were featured on the 2019 All-Big 12 Freshman Team.
Additional returners include the Mountaineers' lone senior, midfielder Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel, redshirt junior forward Lauren Segalla, redshirt junior midfielder Grace Smith, junior midfielders Addison Clark and Isabella Sibley, sophomore goalkeeper Kayza Massey, sophomore defenders Stephanie Chmiel and Jillian Smalls and sophomore midfielder Aaliyah Scott.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUWomensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
A total of 13 letterwinners, including eight starters, return to the squad this fall, while eight newcomers also have joined the program for the new campaign. The Mountaineers are coming off a 12-8-2 season in 2019, which included their 20th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. WVU reached the NCAA Third Round for the fourth time in the last five years.
"Every day is going to be a gift," WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "For us not knowing if we were going to be able to get out here, we just want to win the day. Today was really exciting. It was different, but it was exciting.
"We're preaching safety first. We keep telling the girls that their safety is the No. 1 goal here, and I think we've done a really good job as a staff to make sure we're not missing anything."
West Virginia returns six of its top nine goal scorers from last fall, led by junior forward Alina Stahl, who paced the Mountaineers with eight goals and 18 points in 2019, as well as sophomore defender Julianne Vallerand, who found the back of the net five times in just seven games played.
Additionally, the nine-time Big 12 Conference champions welcome back five other players with starting experience on the back line, including junior defender Jordan Brewster, redshirt sophomore Mackenzie Aunkst and sophomores Juliana Lynch, Nicole Payne and Gabby Robinson. Brewster was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team last season, while Payne and sophomore forward Enzi Broussard were featured on the 2019 All-Big 12 Freshman Team.
Additional returners include the Mountaineers' lone senior, midfielder Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel, redshirt junior forward Lauren Segalla, redshirt junior midfielder Grace Smith, junior midfielders Addison Clark and Isabella Sibley, sophomore goalkeeper Kayza Massey, sophomore defenders Stephanie Chmiel and Jillian Smalls and sophomore midfielder Aaliyah Scott.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUWomensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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