MORGANTOWN, West Virginia – After a scoreless first half, West Virginia pumped in three goals in the first seven minutes of the second half to defeat Kansas State on Friday night at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium, 4-0. The Wildcats have dropped four of their last five matches, including three straight losses.
“We have to put this one behind us. We just experienced a buzzsaw by a really good team,” said head coach Mike Dibbini about the message to the team. “We competed well for 45 minutes, so I am proud of our girls. Going on the road it was tough, especially when they found separation. We tried to refocus, but it was tough. You have to give them credit, they are a really solid team.”
Kansas State (4-6-2, 0-3-0 Big 12) and West Virginia played a scoreless opening half. The Mountaineers outshot K-State, 17-3 including a 5-1 edge in shots on goal. The lone shot on goal by the Wildcats in the first half came from Brookelynn Entz in the seventh minute. Katie Cramer forced a turnover in West Virginia’s end of the field and Entz collected the ball and fired from over 20 yards out.
The K-State defense was strong, as the backline registered six blocked shots and parried eight corner kicks from the Mountaineers in the opening half.
K-State avoided a dangerous moment in the 39th minute. West Virginia’s Jordan Brewster fire a rocket from 35 yards in the center of the field. K-State goalkeeper Emma Malsy pushed the ball into the crossbar for the initial save and then stopped the rebound attempt on a header from Alina Stahl.
West Virginia (7-2-3, 3-0-0) broke the scoreless tie just three minutes into the second half. Hannah Abraham crossed a ball from the left side of the field and into the goal area. West Virginia’s Lauren Segalla won the foot race to the near post and deflected the ball in.
The Mountaineers netted an insurance goal in the 51st minute. West Virginia’s Abraham sent a free kick into the box. Malsy was unable to pull in the ball and Sh’Nia Gordon punched home the chance.
Just a minute later, Abraham found Nadya Gill with a cross at the top of the 18-yard box. Gill set herself and floated her shot into the upper right corner to move the West Virginia lead to 3-0.
In the 85th minute, West Virginia’s Stahl forced a turnover in K-State’s end and raced toward K-State’s net. She slotted the ball past K-State freshman goalkeeper Olivia Elofsson to increase the lead to 4-0.
West Virginia ended the night with a 31-7 advantage in total shots, including a 12-1 lead in shots on goal. The Mountaineers recorded a 14-1 margin in corner kicks.
Kansas State returns home to begin a three-match home stand on Friday, October 5. K-State will host the Sunflower Showndown for the first time in the history of the series with Kansas. First kick is 7 p.m. For tickets, contact the K-State Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 221-CATS or visit kstatesports.com/tickets.
Friday’s match will be broadcast on ESPN3 and the audio broadcast will be available on 101.5 KROCK in Manhattan and for free at kstatesports.com.
– kstatesports.com –