UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The No. 11 West Virginia women’s soccer team could not overcome a three-goal halftime deficit as it fell to No. 3 Stanford, 3-1, on Sunday at Jeffrey Field.
“I said before the game that Stanford will capitalize on your mistakes,” WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said after the game. “You have to give them all the credit, they capitalized when we made mistakes and, unfortunately, we ran out of time at the end.”
Stanford jumped on the board early as the Cardinal took advantage of a WVU turnover deep inside of its own zone and Carly Malatskey placed a shot into the right side of the net to give the Cardinal a 1-0 lead. The Cardinal added a pair of goals in the 35th and 40th minutes — after Sierra Enge and Madison Haley found the back of the net — to take a 3-0 lead into halftime.
The Mountaineers started the second half fast as senior forward Jessica Lisi scored just 25 seconds into the second half, when she lobbed a ball just over the goalie’s head from the left side of the box to cut the Stanford lead to 3-1.
Lisi’s score marked her first career goal at WVU and the 17th of her career. Alina Stahl picked up the assist.
WVU added three more shots in the second half, but only one landed on goal, which was saved by Stanford’s goalie. Julianne Vallerand drew a penalty kick in the 84th minute, but WVU was unable to capitalize.
Stanford outshot the Mountaineers 13-4 in the contest — eight were on goal. WVU had the advantage in corner kicks, 3-1. Stanford was also called for more fouls than WVU.
Rylee Foster recorded five saves for the Mountaineers. Katie Meyer recorded one save for the Cardinal.
WVU returns to Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium to face High Point at 7 p.m. Friday. The match is Barks and Brews night. Fans can bring their dogs to the stadium with a completed attendance waiver. The first 100 dogs in attendance will receive a WVU women’s soccer tennis ball shaped in the form of a dog bone.
