Only one contest this weekend for Women's Soccer, but it's one I've been looking forward to for months. UB will take on their third top-ten opponent in a year, and for the first time should be totally healthy after they were without Laura Dougall against Virginia Tech and lost Jackie Hall at halftime against Penn State in 2014.
UB probably won't score against the Mountaineers, who have given up only two goals on the season - both in a loss to Virginia Tech - and are riding a six-game shutout streak that includes a pair of 1-0 wins against Maryland and #4 Penn State. UB probably won't hold West Virginia to a reasonable number of goals - WVU is averaging three a game - but UB will learn from the tough matchup before heading into MAC play next weekend.
#7 West Virginia (7-1-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Friday, 18 September; 7:00 PM
Morgantown, WV
All-time series: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A
2015 Common Opponents: None
Streams: Yes! And I think it's free!
Live Stats: Statbroadcast provided by WVU
Mountaineers Player to Watch: KADEISHA BUCHANAN
Kadeisha Buchanan is a junior fullback on the defensive back four for WVU. She's rather good and certainly one of the favorites to win the Hermann Trophy as the best player in college soccer this year. As you can imagine from a player of that caliber, she's a relentless physical defender who gives her opponents no time to think. She's already a reigning First Team All-American and pretty much won everything she possibly could short of the Hermann Trophy in her sophomore season.
If you can believe it, that paragraph undersells Buchanan, who you might notice from the header picture is also a member of the Canadian Women's National Team and has been since she was 17. At this summer's Women's World Cup, she won the Best Young Player award. She may very well already be one of the ten best players in the world at 19.
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When it comes to Canadian internationals, West Virginia also has Ashley Lawrence, who started every game in the World Cup this summer. They also have reigning Big 12 Newcomer of the year Michaela Abam of the US U-20 National Team. All told, the Mountaineers have eight players who garnered Big 12 honors in 2014. They're very, very good. Enjoy the free stream.
Go Bulls.
