MORGANTOWN — The No.13-ranked WVU women’s soccer team suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of No. 7 Penn State on Thursday night at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
Despite leading the Nittany Lions 13-10 in shots, including 5-0 in the second half, the Mountaineers (3-2) couldn’t overcome PSU’s (4-0) back-to-back, first-half goals at the 29:01 and 30:04 marks. West Virginia continued to apply pressure in the final third but were unable find the finish in the 90 minutes.
“Tonight was definitely frustrating,” WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “We were clearing balls off the line, our shots were hitting posts, it was just wasn’t going in. I was proud of the group tonight, though. At the end of the day, you have to give Penn State credit. They finished those two chances, and we just could not finish tonight. Unfortunately, you have to create those chances and create those goals, and I thought we did that, but now we have to finish them.”
The Mountaineers started strong, tallying five shots, including three on goal, before the 20-minute mark. The offensive attack was replicated on the other end of the pitch, with Penn State also starting the game with four early shots. The two teams continued to trade offensive momentum before a WVU miscue on a PSU corner kick led to a Nittany Lions goal. Just over a minute later, Penn State found the back of the net again, as Kerry Abello out-dribbled the Mountaineer defense to quickly put her team up by a pair.
Out of the half, West Virginia was forced to play from behind for just the second time this season and struggled to find the offensive spark it had in the first 45 minutes. The Mountaineers earned a pair of early corners, but they couldn’t finish the opportunities. WVU’s first shot of the second half didn’t come until the 72:03 mark from junior midfielder Aaliyah Scott, but it sailed high. Despite tallying four more shots and holding Penn State to zero shots in the remaining minutes of the game, West Virginia failed to find the back of the net in the matchup.
Junior midfielder Maya McCutcheon led the WVU attack with three shots, while eight other Mountaineers also recorded a shot in the match. Junior goalkeeper Kayza Massey recorded three saves, her most in a single game this season. With Thursday’s loss, WVU falls to 7-10-3 all-time against Penn State, while the Nittany Lions also take a 5-4-1 lead in games played in Morgantown.
Following a week-long break, West Virginia returns to Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium for another top-15 matchup, hosting No. 8 Georgetown on Sept. 9. The match, set for 7 p.m., is a Gold Rush and will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
