Weekend Women's Soccer Update - Indiana & Saint Joseph's
The West Virginia Women's Soccer team opened its regular season with a scoreless draw against the Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday night.
Head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown's team then broke the scoring seal on Sunday afternoon, when they welcomed the Saint Joseph's Hawks to Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
The Mountaineers tacked on four second-half goals to blast past the Hawks on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore forward Rhea Kijowski notched the Mountaineers' first score, the first half's only action. In the 39th minute, a ball from fellow sophomore forward Aria Bilal fell at her feet, and a quick touch found the back of the net.
It would be nearly ten minutes before the next goal landed; this time: a 47' score off senior midfielder Maddie Moreau. Two minutes into the second half, the Mountaineers had taken a 2-0 lead.
The Hawks rallied their first, and only, goal of the day less than a minute later, off a PK past the outstretched fingers of WVU senior keeper Kayza Massey. A 2-1 lead wasn't enough for the Mountaineers, and that became evident quickly.
Two minutes later, WVU freshman forward Emily Thompson logged her first career goal to bump the Mountaineer lead to 3-1.
In the 54th minute, midfielder AJ Rodriguez, who had been sprinting up and down the pitch, rocketed her third career goal behind SJU's Katie Capelletti for the afternoon's fourth WVU score.
Down 4-1, the Hawks started to fall apart, allowing the Mountaineers a penalty kick of their own. Izzo-Brown sent Chloe Adler to the spot in the 79th minute, and the junior forward made up for Thursday's missed chances with today's game-winner.
In total between the two games, WVU finished with 36 shots and 20 shots on goal. Massey also secured five combined saves, four from Saint Joseph's alone.
A scoreless draw followed by a dominant 5-1 victory set the West Virginia Mountaineers up for a more difficult competition on Aug. 25. The team travels to Penn State to play the No. 14 Nittany Lions (0-0-1). That game at Jeffrey Field kicks at 6 p.m.
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