MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A scoreless stalemate was broken in the 76th minute as the WVU women’s soccer team collected their first Big 12 victory, 1-0 over Iowa State at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
Maya McCutcheon lifted a shot just inside the post and past Iowa State goalkeeper Avery Gillahan, ending a string of near misses at the Cyclone net. The Mountaineers (3-5-2, 1-1 Big 12) outshot ISU 19-7 and hit the posts three times in the second half.
“You have two choices. You can get frustrated and kind of lose your composure. Or you can grind and get more focused. One of the biggest things I was most proud of was the way we refocused and grinded it out,” said WVU head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “We hit three posts tonight. It was just one of those things. I thought the girls just stayed on task and found a way to come away with the result.”
WVU outshot the Cyclones 13-4 in the second half and their goal was a result of better attacks on the Cyclone net after halftime. McCutcheon’s goal was set up by a cross from Isabel Loza. It was McCutcheon’s second goal of the season.
“I was not very confident because this goalkeeper was playing on her head tonight. She was fabulous. But it couldn’t have been any better than Maya McCutcheon. She worked so hard tonight and worked her tail feathers off. So I was happy she was able to finish one.”
WVU goalkeeper Kayza Mazzey made four stops in the Mountaineer net, including a pair of leaping, point blank saves in the 38th and 75th minutes.
“All the credit to Eric [Beltran], our goalkeeping coach. He does a ton of reactive stuff. That’s absolutely what Kayza does so well.”
Gillahan made six saves for Iowa State (3-6-1, 0-2 Big 12).
WVU picked up their first win since August 27. The Mountaineers will host TCU Sunday at noon in a rematch of the 2022 Big 12 Championship game, a contest won by the Mountaineers.