MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 4-ranked West Virginia became the highest-scoring and winningest team in school history by crushing Northwestern 4-0 on Friday night. And there’s a chance for more heading into the third round of the NCAA women’s soccer tournament.
Amanda Hill put the Mountaineers ahead in the 15th minute, Kadiesha Buchanan assisted on two subsequent goals and WVU dominated play with a 22-3 edge in shots.
The Mountaineers (18-2-1, 6-0-1) will play again Sunday at 1 p.m. against Loyola Marymount, who defeated Minnesota 1-0.
West Virginia’s 15 shutouts and 56 goals are both single-season records and the 18 victories match the benchmark achieved by the 2002, 2007 and 2010 squads.
Northwestern (14-6-2, 7-3-1 Big Ten) brought in one of the nation’s best defenses—having allowed just 11 goals all season—yet WVU struck for four in the first half. Hill cashed in on the team’s second of three corner kicks, heading a ricochet just behind Wildcats keeper Lauren Clem.
“Everyone worked so hard for that, and it’s one of those scrappy goals that you really like because it shows the no give-up mentality,” Hill said. We busted to get that one in.”
Michaela Abam made it 2-0 in the 23rd minute, ripping a shot from 25 yards out for her team-best 11th goal of the season.
The third goal came quickly for WVU after a foul by Northwestern in the 27th minute allowed a free kick to the left of the 18-yard box. The kick was played deep in front of the net to Buchanan, who spun into traffic and directed a pass to Leah Emaus, who placed her low shot toward the far left post for her second goal of the season.
Kelsie Maloney made it 4-0 in the 36th minute off an assist by Heather Kaleiohi.
“Everyone had great movement on and off the ball,” said WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown, now two wins short of her 300th career victory. “I was so proud of the effort, the will and the ability to move the ball around to find the back of the net. It was incredible.”
Northwestern coach Michael Moynihan praised West Virginia for seizing control of he match early.
“Credit to West Virginia. I thought they were a fantastic team,” he said. “We came in here with hopes, and I thought we put together a fantastic season. We have shown steady improvement, and we have played some pretty good teams ourselves. (West Virginia’s) amount of athleticism and the quality in terms of technical ability was extremely impressive. It was the best we have seen this year.”