MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 24 West Virginia was the superior side for a good portion of Thursday night’s matchup with Iowa State.
The Mountaineers applied pressure far more consistently and registered seven of 10 shots on goal and 10 of 13 corner kicks between the two teams, though the Cyclones were within one play of pulling even for the final 68 minutes and change.
“That’s soccer. I’ve been here 30 years. That’s going to happen,” WVU head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said.
Ultimately, Anna Hauer’s goal just before the midway point in the opening half made all the difference and the Mountaineers earned a 1-0 victory to remain unbeaten within the Big 12 Conference.
Hauer’s goal came off a crossing feed from teammate Taylor White, who put the Memphis transfer in position to get her left foot on the ball and beat ISU goalkeeper Kasey Cannistraro, allowing the home team to strike first.
“I don’t know if there’s ever a goal that I didn’t like,” Izzo-Brown said. “Anna got a piece of it and we’ll take it. I’ll win ugly.”
The Mountaineers (11-2-3, 6-0-3) managed four other shots on goal in the opening half, but Cannistraro was up to the task each time.
Iowa State, meanwhile, went to the break with two shots on goal, both of which WVU keeper Bailey Herfurth stopped en route to the Mountaineers’ ninth clean sheet this season.
For all its success of late, West Virginia had allowed six goals over the previous three matches and finished 2-0-1 in that stretch.
“We had to get back to a shutout and that’s really important to the whole team collectively,” Izzo-Brown said.
Herfurth stopped one shot in the second half, and the Mountaineers nearly added to their lead on separate occasion in the late stages, but Cannistraro made a high-level save on a Maya Leoni shot in the 74th minute, before Alicia Riggins shot deflected off the crossbar in the 84th minute.
Still, WVU remained in the thick of the race for a Big 12 regular season championship and improved to 13-0 all-time against the Cyclones.
Iowa State fell to 4-8-3 overall and 1-7-1 in the Big 12.
“We hit everything but net in the second half,” Izzo-Brown said. “But I thought Iowa was way better than their record, so I don’t want to not speak to that. The second half, we have to finish one those chances, especially with how many corner kicks we had. But that’s soccer, we walked away with three points and I’m thrilled.”
West Virginia was momentarily in sole possession of first place in the Big 12 late Thursday until TCU secured a 1-0 win at Arizona to move atop the league standings.
The Horned Frogs are 7-1-1 in Big 12 play and have 22 points to WVU’s 21 points. Colorado, which defeated Texas Tech on Thursday, pulled into a tie for third place with the Red Raiders at 20 points each.
The Mountaineers return to action at noon Sunday when they welcome Oklahoma State. The regular season finale is next Thursday at home against Cincinnati.
“Sunday will a bear,” Izzo-Brown said. “What we have to deal with Sunday, it’s always going to be at tough day to turnaround and match the effort from Thursday.”
