MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women's soccer team returns to Morgantown to play host to Kansas State in the 2020 home opener on Friday, Sept. 18. Kickoff at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium is set for 7 p.m. ET.
 
Andrew Caridi and Adam Zundell have the call on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. For more information, or to sign up for the digital platform, visit WVUsports.com/Big12Now. The game also can be heard on 91.7 FM (WWVU) in Morgantown. Live stats are available at WVUsports.com.
 
Due to safety precautions from the COVID-19 pandemic, only essential game operations personnel and families of the players and women's soccer staff will be admitted into the stadium.
 
"We have a good foundation, and now we just have to build off it," WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "Like all teams, we lost some development time in the spring, not only soccer-wise for tactics and technical, but just knowing the kids and what type of kids they are in those performing opportunities. But I was really pleased with our mindset going into last week's game."
 
Friday marks the fourth meeting between the Mountaineers (1-0, 1-0 Big 12) and Wildcats (0-1, 0-1 Big 12). West Virginia is 3-0 all-time against K-State, including last season's 3-0 victory on Oct. 27, 2019, in Manhattan, Kansas.
 
Kansas State has never scored against WVU, and it is one of three Big 12 foes to never defeat WVU (Iowa State, Oklahoma).
 
West Virginia is 12-3-1 in home openers at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium, which opened in 2004. The squad also is 28-4-2 at home against Big 12 opponents since joining the league in 2012.
 
WVU is coming off a season-opening, 2-0 win at Iowa State on Sept. 11, at the Cyclone Sports Complex in Ames, Iowa. Senior midfielder Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel netted the game-winning goal in the 13th minute, while junior forward Alina Stahl added an insurance goal in the 84th minute. Defensively, junior goalkeeper Maddie Murphy made her Mountaineer debut, registering two saves and earning the shutout victory.
 
West Virginia held a 7-2 advantage over the Cyclones in shots on goal and 6-4 in corner kicks.
 
Following the contest, Ferrer-vanGinkel was named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week on Sept. 14. The Barcelona, Spain, native also was included in TopDrawerSoccer.com's Women's Team of the Week.
 
Kansas State is led by fifth-year coach Mike Dibbini, who owns a mark of 17-46-8 in Manhattan. The Wildcats opened the season on short notice with a 3-0 loss to Oklahoma State on Sept. 12, just two days after an originally scheduled match against Texas Tech was postponed.
 
K-State, which was picked to tie for ninth in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, finished 3-13-2 last season, including 1-8 in Big 12 play. The Wildcats return its 2019 leading points scorer in senior midfielder Brookelynn Ertz, who finished with three goals and four assists last fall. She also led KSU in shots (67) and shots on goal (28) last season.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUWomensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.