After upsetting No. 1 Texas in the Big 12 semi-finals, No. 4 West Virginia is set to take on No. 2 TCU looking for their sixth Big 12 championship on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Mountaineers defeated No. 5 Oklahoma State in the first round of the tournament 2-0, with goals from 5th year seniors Lauren Segalla and Jordan Brewster. That landed them a matchup with conference winners Texas, who West Virginia was able to shut-out for only the second time this season en route to a 1-0 victory with another goal from Lauren Segalla.
TCU defeated No. 7 Kansas 5-1 in their first match of the tournament 5-1, then No. 6 Oklahoma 3-0 in the semi-final to land them their spot in the final. TCU is looking for their second consecutive Big 12 championship after defeating Texas in the final last season 2-1.
The Mountaineers hold a 16-3-2 record all-time in the Big 12 tournament and are in the final for the first time since 2018, when they defeated Baylor 3-0 to win their fifth conference championship.
West Virginia has a 9-3-3 record against the Horned Frogs all-time, with their meeting earlier this season ending in 1-1 draw with goalkeeper Kayza Massey making a season high seven saves in the match. TCU was able to strike first in the match, but a late own-goal by the Horned Frogs earned West Virginia a draw.
West Virginia will once again be looking to slow down a high powered offense as TCU was second in the conference in goals scored, with 43 goals in 20 matches, trailing only Texas. Senior forward Messiah Bright leads the Horned Frogs with 11 goals on the season, including a goal in each of TCU’s Big 12 tournament matches. The Mountaineers will rely on All-Big 12 first team defender Jordan Brewster and Co-Big 12 goalkeeper of the year Kayza Massey to hold the Horned Frogs down.
Lauren Segalla and AJ Rodriguez, who are the Mountaineers leading scorers this season, will be the ones to look to break down a TCU defense that was third in the Big 12 in goals allowed, allowing only 15 goals in 20 matches.
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