MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Throughout their first five matches of the season, the No. 8 WVU women’s soccer team has struggled to find the net in the first half. Eight of their nine goals came after halftime in their 5-0 start.
On Sunday, the Mountaineers scored their earliest goal of the year, but they were unable to hold onto their lead, playing to a 1-1 draw with UConn.
“We knew we secured the goal and I think they were just more hungry than us,” said WVU head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “Emotionally, we have to be better in that situation.”
Just 2:26 into the match, Abbey Olexa tallied her second goal of the season off of feeds from Anna Hauer and Ava Arnold. Olexa fired from about 20 yards out and her shot found the lower right corner of the net.
“It is exciting, we finally get on the board early. I am a little disappointed towards the end of the game that we didn’t secure the win. I know a lot of the players are disappointed with the result. But you’ve got to give UConn, they came out with a lot of energy, a huge compliment and they were able to find the back of the net.”
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Huskies (2-1-3) equalized in the 52nd minute. Jessica Carr sent a corner kick into the box and Maeve Staunton headed the ball into the net for her third goal of the season.
Scoring opportunities were few and far between for both sides the rest of the way. WVU held a 10-9 advantage on shots while the Huskies led in corner kicks, 6-3.
Bailey Herfurth made five stops in the WVU net.
The Mountaineers have posted an unbeaten non-conference slate for the third time in program history (2006, 2020-21).
“It is not easy to do what we just did. We wanted to win out. But not to lose says a lot about the character of this team. We just have to make sure that we know that we have nine seniors that are leading us. That experience is really important.”
West Virginia will host No. 17 Baylor to open Big 12 play Friday at 7 p.m.
“Going into conference play, Baylor is nationally-ranked. Emotion and how bad you want to will yourself and make choices on the field do matter. We’ve got to fix that.”