Women’s soccer kicks off the WVU academic year with win over Dayton
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MORGANTOWN -- Women's soccer kicked off the fall sports for West Virginia with a win, hoping to mean good things for the rest of the school year.
The No. 20-ranked Mountaineers woke up in the second half to notch a 2-0 win over Dayton Thursday night, securing the first win of the season. WVU picked up the season-opening win while it celebrates 30 years of women's soccer.
This was the first of three home games for WVU, playing mostly local schools. The Mountaineers host Penn State on Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions aren't ranked in the top 25, but received votes. Penn State lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament last season. WVU plays Duquesne after the Nittany Lions.
"Dayton did a great job," head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. "I thought they disrupted play. I thought they definitely were getting on loose balls. They were more effective taking care of the ball. We just need to figure out how to break them down."
Izzo-Brown said the team made emotional adjustments at half. The team knew it was nationally ranked and was the favorite in the game, so there was a little bit of nervousness to perform. Dayton came out and looked for the upset.
"They were looking for that ranking," Izzo-Brown said. "This was going to be their World Cup. They showed the emotion piece there."
WVU came right out of the half on the attack. In 54 seconds, Maya Leoni passed it into Sophia Nickel. Nickel just put enough on it to get past the keeper, scoring the first goal of the season. It was her second career goal, and she scored her first in 2025 after transferring from Kansas.
The Mountaineers didn't let off the gas and pressured Dayton to make a mistake. WVU won a corner in the 63rd-minute. The Flyers had some confusion in the box and conceded an own goal. The Mountaineers led 2-0 with a little over 20 minutes to play.
WVU had just two shots in the first half, and totaled nine and two goals in the second. The Mountaineers almost had a third. WVU had an open net off the ricochet but doinked it off the left post.
Izzo-Brown said the team was attacking vertically, and instead needed to work the ball horizontally around Dayton.
"That's where we started opening things up," Izzo-Brown said.
On the backend, all-Big 12 goalkeeper Bailey Herfurth kept a clean sheet, which was her 16th since transferring over from LSU. She was tested a couple of times, especially in the first half. Herfurth had one save.
In the first half, WVU couldn't break through, going through the emotional issues. Luckily, the Mountaineers defense didn't let up to create some momentum for the underdogs.
In the first two exhibition games against Ohio State and Pitt, the Mountaineers didn't secure a shutout, so that was on the front of the team’s mind heading into Thursday night.
"It was really important for us to get a shutout tonight," Izzo-Brown said. "Nothing's perfect, but again, that's what I asked of them, and they delivered.
Dayton provided a bit of a shot to the system in the first half, which WVU overcame in the second half. The Mountaineers can't afford to start slow in their next time out against Penn State, who just missed being ranked. WVU has lost the last six games to the Nittany Lions, and haven’t won since 2017.
It was important for WVU to keep the clean sheet throughout the night to not give Dayton any chances, preparing for Penn State up next.
"Once you take a breath, a team like Dayton can punish you," Izzo-Brown said. "Then you know who we got coming in on Thursday, so they definitely can punish you, Penn State."