USF Ladies Soccer Takes on WVU

The USF ladies, after an overtime thriller to beat Jacksonville and improving to 4-2-1 on the season, will now open up Big East conference play as they host West Virginia (4-3-0) on tonight (game starts at 7:30 PM).  The Bulls and Mountaineers have some history.  Last season, the teams battled to an overtime draw in the first match and WVU beat USF in the Big East title game 1 to 0, so USF is looking for a little revenge in this game.

WVU is 0-2 away from home this season, but both losses have come to some pretty tough opponents, #10 Virginia and #18 Ohio State. So the Mountaineers have faced some tough competition as they enter conference play and will look to push the Bulls. WVU has a well balanced team as well so it will be a real fight for USF. Here are some of the players to watch in this contest.

WVU is led by senior forward Blake Miller (5-6) who leads the team with 2 goals on the season. Junior midfielder Bri Rodriguez (5-3) has 1 goal and 1 assist so far on the year. Sophomore forward Emily Dillon (5-6) and junior defender Mallory Smith (5-11) both have one goal a piece (balanced scoring all around for them).

Sophomore forward Katie Lenz (5-6) has 3 assists to lead the way, helping set up the WVU offensive attack. Sophomore forward Frances Silva (5-4) and senior defender Meghan Lewis (5-4) both have one goal apiece as well.

Red-shirt freshman Sara Keane (5-9) takes over in the net. She has allowed 9 goals so far this season (1.29 goals per game) and has made 19 saves (.679 percentage). The goals per game is a bit misleading due to the bad losses at the ranked opponents, but she has 4 shut outs in their wins, so the WVU can shut down people.

So what can we expect in this game? The Bulls have been lucky in the last few games with the offense not firing on all cylinders. Demi Stokes continues to be aggressive with her shots while Klotz has been held in check. USF needs to come out fast against a freshman goalkeeper, dictate the pace and get on the board early and hopefully start conference play 1-0.  Make sure to get to the game and fill the stands.  The Bulls will need the energy of the home crowd to get them going and get a much needed win here.