MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s women’s soccer team has more time than normal to prepare for its Top 25 showdown Thursday when the 22nd-ranked Mountaineers are set to host No. 23 Penn State for a 7 p.m. early season showdown at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
With a full week between a 2-0 season-opening win over Dayton and the matchup with the Nittany Lions, the Mountaineers are hopeful to make the most of extended rest and preparation leading up to what is a significant second match this season against a regional rival.
“Back in ’95, I loved the underdog pep talks and the underdog mentality, because you had nothing to lose,” veteran WVU head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “When you go into a game like Penn State where you’re both nationally-ranked, it kind of evens out that mentally where you’re like, ‘OK, we want their ranking, they want ours. We want to move up. We want those RPI points for postseason play.’
“There will be a lot at stake. I know our team did respect the [Atlantic] 10 champion and Dayton is going to have a great year, but it’s a little bit easier when you see a national ranking behind a team to get a little bit more motivated.”
PSU (0-1-1) leads the all-time series 15-7-3 and has had the upper hand of late, topping the Mountaineers in each of the last six meetings dating back to 2021.
The Nittany Lions are unbeaten against WVU across the last nine matches and are 8-0-1 over that time. West Virginia’s most recent win in the series was in September of 2017 — a season that culminated 10 weeks later with Penn State eliminating the Mountaineers in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
“You look year in and year out at their recruiting. They have some extremely talented players,” Izzo-Brown said. “Their coaching staff is very experienced, so between them being tactically sound and talented, obviously it’s a very hard opponent for us, and we respect that. I would probably say it’s combination of both how organized and effective their staff is, but also the talent they bring in.”
One year after finishing 10-8-3 with one NCAA Tournament win, PSU began this season just outside the United Soccer Coaches Top 25, but worked its way into this week’s poll following Sunday’s 2-2 draw at then-No. 2 Notre Dame.
While the result itself was impressive, the Nittany Lions squandered a 2-0 second-half lead and surrendered a tying goal with 2:16 remaining in regulation.
The Nittany Lions got one goal apiece from Paige Kalal and Aubrey Kulpa, who assisted Kalal’s goal.
WVU, meanwhile, overcame a sluggish first half against the Flyers thanks in large part to a Sophia Nickel goal less than 1 minute into the second half of its season opener. An own goal by Dayton off a corner kick followed nearly 17 minutes later, and the Mountaineers were on their way to improving to 330-12-5 all-time when scoring more than one goal.
“I say this to the team all the time. You have so many emotions flying, and it’s really important to watch video, because sometimes it’s not as bad as you thought or as good as you thought,” Izzo-Brown said. “The first half, we just weren’t taking care of the ball as well and giving each other options. There were some individual breakdowns. I know the captains spoke to this in a team meeting that they want to be able to make adjustments before halftime where the staff has to. All in all, I was pleased with the way we played. We’re always on the hunt of consistency and a 90-minute game, so going into Penn State, that’s what we have to be.”
Following the second match of the season, the Mountaineers (1-0) will return to action for a third straight home game Sunday against Duquesne. That will provide Izzo-Brown with a look at her team on a quicker turnaround, which it will have to become accustomed to as the season progresses. Thursday’s match against PSU is one of only three times this season WVU has a full week between games.
“It’s a really big effort for my assistants. They do a great job making sure that we are ready for the quick turnaround with the scouting report and preparing the team,” Izzo-Brown said. “It’s a lot of being laser-focused with the girls and making sure in those couple days, we’re preparing them the best we can in the short amount of time, but being efficient with that time. I attribute all of it to my staff and how well they do with that quick turnaround.”