Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women's soccer team dropped its 2025 season opener, falling to No. 15 Virginia, 1-0, inside Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown on Thursday night.
 
Despite controlling the possession for much of the match, the Mountaineers (0-1) fell behind in the 64th minute and couldn't draw level with the visiting Cavaliers (1-0) in the remainder of the match. West Virginia led 14-8 in shots and 5-2 in shots on goal, while UVA took seven corner kicks and WVU took five. Juniors Jacey Rase and Maya Leoni and sophomore Maddie Levy led the squad with two shots apiece.
 
West Virginia showed a dominant performance in the first half, edging UVA 5-3 in shots and 3-0 in shots on goal. The squad had quite a few good looks at a score, with five different Mountaineers placing a shot on frame throughout the match. WVU played as the more dominant team the majority of the match, despite coming out on the losing side.  
 
With the result, Virginia's advantage in the overall series moves to 14-4-3, while the Cavaliers are now 6-3-1 in games played in Morgantown. Four Mountaineers earned their first start Thursday night, including Rase, Leoni, junior Anna Hauer and freshman Ava Arnold. Along with Leoni, Hauer and Arnold, sophomore Sophia Nickel and freshman Layla Thompson saw the pitch for the first time as Mountaineers.
 
In the first event of the 2025-26 WVU Athletics season, 1,106 fans were in attendance for the Mountaineers' season opener. The crowd marked the largest home opener attendance since 2022.
 
West Virginia is back in action next Thursday, Aug. 21, when it welcomes Akron to Morgantown for the second  match of a doubleheader with the WVU men's soccer team. The contest is scheduled to kick off a 7 p.m. ET at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium, and it's Glow Back to School Night.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUWomensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.