MORGANTOWN — It’s almost some type of bizarro world Nikki Izzo-Brown finds herself in these days.
The WVU women’s soccer coach has always been typecast as a defensive guru, yet she enters the 2025 season at 7 p.m. Thursday, when the Mountaineers open the season hosting No. 15 Virginia (ESPN+) at Dick Dlesk Stadium, with WVU’s strong suit being on the offensive end.
That’s where senior forwards Taylor White and Ajanae Respass come into play.
They tied for the team lead in goals (7) last season with both coming back with an opportunity to lead the Mountaineers back to the NCAA tournament.
Any such NCAA run or however the Mountaineers — picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason poll — fare in conference play will still be determined on how well WVU plays defense.
But, it’s an added bonus to have an experienced offensive punch, right?
“It’s always reassuring that we have experience when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net,” Izzo-Brown said. “We feel that Ajanae and Taylor will bring that experience to us.”
Respass transferred to WVU last season from Oregon. She added five assists last season for a team-high 19 points, which ranked just outside of the Big 12’s top 10. She finished with three game-winning goals.
White finished with 17 points and was named all-Big 12 second team.
That was part of White’s natural progression through the WVU program.
She arrived in Morgantown three years ago from Winton Woods High School in Cincinnati on an all-time high.
As a prep prospect, she set a regional record with 47 goals in a single season.
Then comes college.
White had success as a freshman, logging 601 minutes in 20 games, but was held to just two assists on the season.
She led the team with 20 points as a sophomore and tied for the team lead in goals last season.
“She’s incredibly special,” Izzo-Brown said. “When you have kids who have trusted the process and grinded themselves to being a leading goal scorer, it shows she trusted the development here and the relationships here.
“She has a lot of tricks in her bag. She can isolate you or create an overload.”
To be sure, it’s not like WVU doesn’t have anything to boast of on the back end of the pitch. Goalkeeper Mackenzie Smith returns for her junior season after recording 54 saves and pitching five shutouts last season.
“We do expect big things from Mack,” Izzo-Brown said. “We live in a world where experience matters and she’s developed for us and has great experience.”
In hosting Virginia, the Cavaliers are coming off a 13-5-1 season that ended up with them advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Wisconsin on penalty kicks.
Like WVU, Virginia returns its top two scorers from last season, with senior forward Maggie Cagle leading the way.
She finished with seven goals and 19 points last season.
Virginia also returns junior goalkeeper Victoria Safradin, who pitched seven shutouts last season.
“We’re excited to be hosting UVA on Thursday,” Izzo-Brown said. “We’ve had a great camp thus far and we’re excited to see what we can do.”
