October 10, 2006

Morgantown, WV (CSTV U-WIRE) -- The West Virginia University women's soccer team earned two more Big East wins last weekend over University of South Florida and Marquette.

The No. 7 Mountaineers traveled to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., on Friday, Oct. 6, to tackle the Bulls 2-0. They defeated Marquette 2-0 in Milwaukee, Wis., Sunday.

The Mountaineers improved their record to 11-1-2, 4-1-1 in the Big East. They are first place in their division.

"For us to earn two great wins on the road was very good," head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said.

WVU goaltender Lana Bannerman earned her seventh and eighth shutouts of the year.

Despite the low score Friday, West Virginia easily handled the Bulls. The high-powered WVU offense out shot USF 26-4.

Junior Kim Bonilla started things off ea rly for the Mountaineers, scoring in the seventh minute from a pass from Deana Everrett.

The game would remain 1-0 until deep into the second half, despite the fact that West Virginia kept a continuous stream of shots on USF goaltender Casey Garrett, who made eight saves.

In the 78th minute of the game, WVU's leading scorer, Deanna Everrett, put a stop to the scoring drought when she finished a play started by Krystle Kallman in the midfield.

"I think Deana is doing what her job is: score goals. She comes out and takes care of business," Izzo-Brown said.

Bannerman and the WVU defense had an easy time handling the few advances by USF into their zone.

After their win, the Mountaineers had to travel from the sunny shores of southern Florida to Great Lake country to take on Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., Sunday.

The Mountaineer offense pounded away at Marquette's defense and goaltender Laura Boyer, but was frustrated until halfway through the first half. In the 28th minute, Amanda Chicchini scored the first goal for the Mountaineers.

The score was still 1-0 heading into halftime. Although the Mountaineers controlled the ball for a majority of the game and held a slight advantage in shots, Marquette played a much more aggressive game than USF.

In the second half, Marquette managed to get a number of shots on goals, but Bannerman was able to keep the ball out of the net.

"Lana did her job. Marquette had two really good opportunities, but she came up big. She played very solid and composed," Izzo-Brown said.

The Mountaineers put the game away in the 83rd minute when Everrett put a penalty kick past Boyer.

The Mountaineers will return to Morgantown this Friday when they take on Villanova at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

(C) 2006 The Daily Athenaeum via CSTV U-WIRE