No. 4 West Virginia defeats No. 1 Texas, advances to Big 12 Championship

West Virginia (9-4-7, 4-1-4), continued their late season run with a 1-0 victory over No. 1 seed Texas (14-2-4, 7-1-2), earning their spot in the Big 12 championship final for the first time since 2018. 

The Mountaineers lone goal in the match, was scored by fifth-year senior Lauren Segalla, who provided an excellent individual performance on the counter-attack, beating multiple defenders and slotting a goal in the bottom right corner in the 43rd minute.

The goal had been coming for the Mountaineers, who dominated the first half, getting three corners, with Segalla having a free header saved on one, as well as dangerous free kick opportunity shortly before the Segalla goal. 

The second half the Mountaineers continued their exceptional defense, as they continued their gameplan of focusing on defense, rather than attempting to out-score the Longhorns. 

The loss for Texas was the first time they have lost to a conference opponent since they lost to TCU in the Big 12 Tournament Championship last season. The West Virginia defense also shut-out the Longhorns offense for only the second time this season, led by five saves from Big 12 co-goal-keeper of the year Kayza Massey. 

The Mountaineers were out-shot by the Longhorns 12-7 in the match, with Texas also having a 5-3 shots on goal advantage, although those were both far below their season averages of 18 shots per game, and eight shots on target per game.

The win brings West Virginia’s all-time record against Texas to 10-3-3, and is the first time they have beaten the Longhorns since 2020. 

Next up for the Mountaineers will be the Big 12 Championship, where they will face the winner of TCU and Oklahoma, on Sunday at 1 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPNU.

Photo by Tyler Prusina, Blue Gold Sports