The No. 22 WVU women's soccer team hosts the Duquesne Dukes at Dick Desk Soccer Stadium at 1 p.m. Sunday, August 23rd.
The Mountaineers are coming off a 2-1 victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions, which was the program's first win over Penn State since 2017. WVU boasts a 2-0 record to start the 30th season of the program.
Third-year forward/defender Sophia Nickel has appeared as a substitute in both contestants so far this season, where she has scored the winning goal in both. Fourth-year defender Olivia Shertzer has the other recorded goal, which came against the Nittany Lions off a 30-yard strike.
Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown's defense has been on full display to start the year, with fifth-year goalkeeper Bailey Herfurth only allowing one goal to go along with three saves. All four players for the Mountaineers who have played the full 90 minutes in both games come from the backline.
This will be the 15th meeting all time between the Mountaineers and the Dukes, with WVU holding a 12-0-2 advantage in the series.
The Dukes, led by second-year head coach Jessica Giegucz, have gotten off to a 1-1 start to the season. They fell 3-1 to begin the year against Eastern Michigan, before picking up a 3-0 victory against Cleveland State.
Fourth-year midfielder Jayden Sharpless and first-year midfielder Allison Bechtel lead the Duke's point of attack on offense with three goals combined between the two.
The game will be broadcast on U92 The Moose with Nico Carretto bringing play-by-play commentary alongside Aaron Pepling bringing color analysis.
You can listen at 91.7 FM, u92themoose.com/listen and on all at-home Alexa devices.
Photo by Emma Lentz, Daily Athenaeum