West Virginia broke its tie in the standings with Cincinnati on Thursday night and in the process won the first Big 12 game of the season.
The Mountaineers improve to 5-2-1 as the Bearcats fall to 4-3-1 on the year. Iowa State quickly followed West Virginia’s win with its own victory over Kansas to take second on the Big 12 standings. The conference’s remaining 12 teams will play later Thursday.
Oregon transfer Ajanae Respass made her Big 12 debut in the match after leading West Virginia in scoring through the first seven games. Respass finished without a goal in the match but took one shot and passed an assist despite playing just 77 minutes in limited fashion with three fouls.
As a team, the Mountaineers found far more success with their defense than they had offensively, especially early on. Defenders Annika Leslie and Gianna Koss played all 90 minutes for WVU, as did sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Smith, who tallied five saves in the match.
WVU held Cincinnati scoreless through the majority of the game before Megan Smith scored by herself at the end of the 76th minute to make the game 2-1.
In the first period, though, the Mountaineers struggled to find the net themselves. In the first 45 minutes, WVU took just two shots, both of which came in the first 30 minutes.
Cincinnati kept the pressure on WVU’s defense throughout, earning the opportunity for 13 shots compared to WVU’s eight and six shots on goal, doubling the Mountaineers’ three. As a whole, though, WVU’s offense quickly stepped up in aggression in the second half, leading to quick scoring opportunities.
Junior forward and Cincinnati native Taylor White kicked off scoring for the night, making a goal 1:46 into the second half. The goal came off a corner kick by Lilly McCarthy before the assist from Respass to White.
Fifth year midfielder AJ Rodriguez quickly capitalized on the momentum of White’s goal, scoring the team’s second and final less than five minutes later. McCarthy tallied her second assist with the score.
WVU’s next crack at conference play will come exactly one week from the win, as the Mountaineers take on Kansas State at home in another 7 p.m. kickoff. The match will be available to watch on ESPN+ or in-person at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
Photo from WVU Women’s Soccer
