MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The West Virginia women’s soccer team has a date against one of the top teams in the country that also features the nation’s top player.
Coming off its 2-0 victory against Duquesne on Friday, the No. 11-ranked Mountaineers (1-0) will find out plenty about themselves in Sunday’s noon match against No. 3 Stanford, at Penn State’s Jeffrey Field.
“It’s so hard and complicated, because we don’t want to look past Duquesne, but it’s Stanford, right?” Nikki Izzo-Brown said of the Mountaineers’ Friday-Sunday quick turnaround. “That quick turnaround for our student-athletes is so awful physically, mentally and, as a staff, to try and quickly get them ready.”
The Cardinal (1-0) are led by junior forward Catarina Macario, a Brazilian-born star who relocated with her family to San Diego when she was 12 to help her focus on soccer.
It certainly worked. Macario was the nation’s top freshman in 2017. Last season she was named the MAC Hermann Trophy winner — soccer’s version of the Heisman Trophy — when she was fourth in the country with 2.07 points per game.
In Stanford’s 2-1 victory to open the season against No. 6 Penn State, Macario scored both goals on five shots.
Macario and Stanford’s offense will certainly be a test for a young WVU defense that did not allow a single shot in shutting out the Dukes.
In finishing 21-1-2 and advancing to the national semifinals last season, Stanford was tied for fourth in the country in points per game and also return forwards Civana Kuhlman and Sophia Smith, who both scored seven goals last season.
WVU counters with its own young and talented lineup, but outside of seniors Rylee Foster, Jade Gentile and Jessica Lissi and junior forward Lauren Segalla, that lineup has yet to face top 10-ranked competition.
“These younger girls aren’t going to understand what a Friday-Sunday turnaround looks like,” Izzo-Brown said. “It’s difficult for any sport or any athlete.”
Gentile led the Mountaineers with a goal and three shots against Duquesne, while freshman Julianne Vallerand sealed the game with a goal in the 84th minute.
The Mountaineers will continue to be tested early following today’s match against the Cardinal.
WVU will also travel to No. 9 Virginia on Sept. 1, before hosting No. 6 Penn State on Sept. 6. WVU will travel to No. 7 Georgetown on Sept. 15.
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