Moreau’s early goal lifts WVU to 1-0 win over Duquesne – WV MetroNews

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s women’s soccer team continues to search for more consistency, particularly as it pertains to finishing quality scoring chances.

Fortunately for the Mountaineers, Maddie Moreau made the most of an early opportunity Sunday against Duquesne, and West Virginia made her goal stand up by holding off the pesky Dukes for a 1-0 victory on a warm afternoon at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

“We came out [strong] in the first 15 minutes and then we were just inconsistent,” WVU head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “You have to finish those chances. People hang around and I give them a lot of credit for how they defensively disrupted us, but at the end of the day, we have to finish chances. We did enough to win, but definitely not the level and standard we want to be at.”

Moreau scored 2:28 into the match after taking a crossing feed from Dilary Heredia-Beltran and send a shot from close range that deflected off Duquesne defender Jenna Santiago and reached the back of the net.

Over the next 10 minutes, the Mountaineers (2-2) had ample opportunities to double their lead, but failed to muster a second goal while Duquesne (1-3) goalkeeper Maddy Neundorfer made her presence known with several quality saves.

“Unfortunately, we kind of all lost our heads in some moments, but that’s something that we’ll continue to work for,” WVU midfielder AJ Rodriguez said. “We take today’s game, live and learn and go from there.”

WVU tinkered with playing Heredia-Beltran and fellow forward Taylor White on different sides of the field, though the change failed to produce desired offensive results.

“We’re going to interchange them and they’re going to rotate, especially when they’re in transition,” Izzo-Brown said. “Just to change things up a little bit and give the opposition a different look. We’re just trying to find the goals.”

Still, the Mountaineers were largely in control of the match and went to halftime with 68 percent of the possession, 11 of the game’s 15 shot attempts and five of the seven shots on goal.

The second half began much like the first with the exception of a WVU goal.

White had perhaps the best chance for either team over the latter 45 minutes, but couldn’t record her third goal this season on a quality opportunity early on after the intermission.

“Taylor really came on strong toward the end of last year and then had a great spring,” Izzo-Brown said. “We’re really happy with where she’s at, but she needed to finish that one in the second half.”

WVU finished with 22 of the game’s 28 shot attempts, including six of the eight on target.

Mountaineers’ goalkeeper Kayza Massey stopped both shots she faced for her second clean sheet this season.

Neundorfer did her part to keep the Dukes well within striking distance throughout and stopped five shots in defeat.

The Mountaineers improved to 11-0-2 all-time against Duquesne.

WVU finished its three-game home stand 2-1 and next plays Thursday at Virginia.

“Anytime you play a non-conference schedule like we have, it’s very easy to see areas that we have to tighten up,” Izzo-Brown said. “The consistency on both sides of the ball is something. Here we go into another tough opponent and we have to have 90 minutes of consistency. That’s something that we’re always hunting every day of training.”