Women's Soccer Scorches Saint Francis[/B]
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (April 19, 2015) - Playing in a cold, steady rain, the West Virginia University women's soccer team tallied a 6-0 shutout against Saint Francis (Pa.), today, in its home spring finale at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
Up 1-0 after 45 minutes, the Mountaineers found their scoring touch in the second half, with freshman forward Heather Kaleiohi accounting for the team's final two goals.
WVU retained possession for the majority of the match and earned a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.
"I think the team did a really good job today of making the most of its opportunities in the final third," said associate head coach Lisa Stoia. "Coach (Nikki Izzo-Brown) did a great job this past week of helping the team key in on its patterns of play in the final third - you could see those training habits put into the game today, and we were able to find the back of the net. Overall, we did a great job of executing everything we worked on in practice."
Junior Hannah Steadman and redshirt-freshman Michelle Newhouse combined for the shutout, with each goalkeeper playing 45 minutes.
Freshman midfielder Carla Portillo broke the scoreless play in the 15th minute, netting the team's second goal of the spring off a cross from freshman Hannah Abraham. Three Mountaineers touched the ball before Portillo got her foot on it, and she sent a low shot past SFU's Romina Kunze.
Redshirt-freshman forward Amandine Pierre-Louis added the second goal in the 49th minute. After receiving the ball from junior midfielder Amanda Hill just right of the penalty line, the Montreal, Quebec, native sent a high shot toward the goal mouth, and it bounced off the high post and behind Kunze.
Junior midfielder Leah Emaus tallied a score in the 65th minute, converting a chance as she fell to the ground. The Webster, New York, native sent her shot from the top of the box toward the far right post and Kunze mishandled the ball, directing it back toward the left corner of the net.
The Mountaineers increased their advantage to four goals in the 66th minute, as junior defender Maggie Bedillion was in the right spot at the right time and put a rebound past Kunze from inside the goal box.
Kaleiohi added an exclamation point to WVU's offensive attack with back-to-back unassisted goals in the span of three minutes. The San Diego, California, native's first score came in the 78th minute, as she sent a blast from 15 yards out that sailed past Kunze's head and toward the far left post. Kaleiohi's second score, her team-best third of the spring, was impressive, as she wrestled the ball away from an SFU defender inside the box and sent another hard shot past Kunze, again toward the left post.
The Mountaineers conclude their spring season on Saturday, April 25, with a 1 p.m. match at Ohio State.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUWomensSoccer on Twitter.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (April 19, 2015) - Playing in a cold, steady rain, the West Virginia University women's soccer team tallied a 6-0 shutout against Saint Francis (Pa.), today, in its home spring finale at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
Up 1-0 after 45 minutes, the Mountaineers found their scoring touch in the second half, with freshman forward Heather Kaleiohi accounting for the team's final two goals.
WVU retained possession for the majority of the match and earned a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.
"I think the team did a really good job today of making the most of its opportunities in the final third," said associate head coach Lisa Stoia. "Coach (Nikki Izzo-Brown) did a great job this past week of helping the team key in on its patterns of play in the final third - you could see those training habits put into the game today, and we were able to find the back of the net. Overall, we did a great job of executing everything we worked on in practice."
Junior Hannah Steadman and redshirt-freshman Michelle Newhouse combined for the shutout, with each goalkeeper playing 45 minutes.
Freshman midfielder Carla Portillo broke the scoreless play in the 15th minute, netting the team's second goal of the spring off a cross from freshman Hannah Abraham. Three Mountaineers touched the ball before Portillo got her foot on it, and she sent a low shot past SFU's Romina Kunze.
Redshirt-freshman forward Amandine Pierre-Louis added the second goal in the 49th minute. After receiving the ball from junior midfielder Amanda Hill just right of the penalty line, the Montreal, Quebec, native sent a high shot toward the goal mouth, and it bounced off the high post and behind Kunze.
Junior midfielder Leah Emaus tallied a score in the 65th minute, converting a chance as she fell to the ground. The Webster, New York, native sent her shot from the top of the box toward the far right post and Kunze mishandled the ball, directing it back toward the left corner of the net.
The Mountaineers increased their advantage to four goals in the 66th minute, as junior defender Maggie Bedillion was in the right spot at the right time and put a rebound past Kunze from inside the goal box.
Kaleiohi added an exclamation point to WVU's offensive attack with back-to-back unassisted goals in the span of three minutes. The San Diego, California, native's first score came in the 78th minute, as she sent a blast from 15 yards out that sailed past Kunze's head and toward the far left post. Kaleiohi's second score, her team-best third of the spring, was impressive, as she wrestled the ball away from an SFU defender inside the box and sent another hard shot past Kunze, again toward the left post.
The Mountaineers conclude their spring season on Saturday, April 25, with a 1 p.m. match at Ohio State.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUWomensSoccer on Twitter.
