West Virginia’s seniors celebrated their soccer careers with a win on Sunday, defeating Colorado 2-0 at home.
With the win, WVU improves to 11-4-2 and 7-2-1 in conference play. The Mountaineers will go back on the road for their final regular season matchup at Houston after going 1-1 in the two-game home stretch.
Seniors Lisa Schöppl and Aria Bilal scored the Mountaineer goals on Sunday. Schöppl’s 20th minute goal is her second of the season and second of her WVU career as a starting defender. Fifth year midfielder Lilly McCarthy earned the assist.
Bilal’s score at the end of the 73rd minute is her first of the year and third at WVU. Bilal played just 31 minutes in the match at forward but managed to put the Mountaineers in a safe position, up two with just over 15 minutes remaining.
Sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Smith saved three Colorado shots on goal in the match, outdoing junior Jordan Nytes, who allowed two goals with no saves.
WVU took 11 total shots in the match compared to Colorado’s seven. Sophomore forward Hope Leyba took four of Colorado’s shots, including two shots on goal, despite playing just 49 minutes off the bench.
Otherwise, WVU’s defense, led by Schöppl, fellow senior Annika Leslie, sophomore Nyema Ingleton, and redshirt freshman Gianna Koss, avoided any and all pressure from the Buffaloes throughout.
West Virginia jumped to third place in the Big 12 after the win, just behind TCU and Texas Tech, who gave WVU its only two losses of the Big 12 season. Colorado fell to sixth with the loss, at 4-2-4 in conference play and 10-3-4 overall.
The Mountaineers’ final match of the regular season will take place at 8 p.m. ET on Friday in Houston. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+.
Photo by Korey Moore, Blue Gold Sports
