Mountaineers Tame Wildcats in Home-Opener

The Mountaineers relentless pressure too much for Wildcats in blowout win

Morgantown, WV - The West Virginia University Mountaineers women's soccer team moved to 2-0 on the season after upending the Kansas State Wildcats 4-1 inside Dick Dlesk Stadium Friday night. The Mountaineers applied pressure early and often with 17 shots on and 12 on goal.

Kansas State midfielder Brookelynn Entz not only scored the first goal on the night, but the first time the Wildcats put a point on the board against the Mountaineers.

Wildcat Defender Shelby Lierz kicked it deep into West Virginia territory as Mountaineer goalie Maddie Murphy attacked the ball. Still, Entz was able to poke it by her and quickly gathered herself to beat Jordan Brewster to the ball and knock it in for the early lead. 

The Mountaineers quickly responded. Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel gathered the ball at midfield, passed it over to Enzi Broussard on a give and go as the duo began the attack, then Ferrer-vanGinkel went back to Broussard, who had got behind the Wildcat defense, and in a tough angle, knocked it into the far side of the net.

“I was really proud with how this team responded. They got their mindset right and just continued to do their job. I thought we did a really good job responding,” said West Virginia head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown.

West Virginia continued applying pressure. In just over two minutes from tying the game, Julianne Vallerand dropped it over to Nicole Payne on the right side and delivered, hitting the bottom of the crossbar and slamming into the goal, giving the Mountaineers the 2-1 lead.

Nine minutes into the second half, the Mountaineers relentless offensive attack led to Lauren Segalla getting a deflection inside the right side of the box and passed it across as Broussard tapped it in for her second goal of the evening.

“Enzi, she’s a poacher – she’s a goal scorer, and I thought she did a great job tonight,” said Izzo-Brown. “I’m really pleased with where Enzi is and how she was able to finish those two.”

Nearing the midway point of the second period, Vallerand weaved her way through the Kansas State defense and finished it with a beautiful stepover off the left foot and into the right corner of the net as the Mountaineers cruised to a 4-1 victory.

Next week, West Virginia is back on the road to face the 2019 regular-season champion Oklahoma State on Friday at 8:00 pm on ESPN+.

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