LAWRENCE, Kan. — No. 7 West Virginia did its part by beating Kansas 2-0 on Friday night, only to see a sixth straight Big 12 regular-season title slip away moments later.
Oklahoma State’s subsequent 1-0 overtime win at Texas ended the Mountaineers’ string of conference championships and means they must settle for the No. 2 seed when the Big 12 tournament begins next week.
“I thought the seniors really stepped up today. They came out with the mindset that we had to win,” WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “You see Alli Magaletta get the first (goal), and Michaela get the second – I can’t ask more of those seniors. I’m totally proud of the way the girls came out with their mentality tonight. They refused to lose, and it was a great way to finish Big 12 play.”
While West Virginia (14-3-1, 7-1-1) beat Oklahoma State in their only head-to-head match, Izzo-Brown’s team lost its grip on the top spot by falling to Texas and suffering a tie against seventh-place Texas Tech. The Cowgirls, picked sixth in the Big 12 preseason poll, won their first title since 2011, the year before WVU joined the league.
The Mountaineers closed the regular season with their 11th shutout overall and fifth in Big 12 play, enjoying a 12-5 edge in shots and a 4-0 advantage in corner kicks.
Sophomore Rylee Foster made two first-half saves for her 10th clean sheet of the season.
“It was a total team effort defensively, how Rylee and our backline managed the game,” Izzo-Brown said.
The Mountaineers needed less than 15 minutes to take a lead at Kansas (8-9-2, 3-5-1). Off a free kick, Carla Portillo played a curling cross into the box that slammed off the foot of Alli Magaletta, who rerouted it to the far-right corner for the 1-0 lead.
In the 71st minute, West Virginia got its second goal off a set piece, this time off a corner kick. Partillo’s service found the head of Michaela Abam, who connected on her seventh goal of the season.
“If you don’t defend well on set pieces, West Virginia is going to make you pay, and that’s what happened tonight,” Kansas coach Mark Francis.