Soccer Travels To Face No. 17 West Virginia

Nov. 3, 2001

CORAL GABLES, Fla.-The Miami soccer team travels to Morgantown, WV to face No. 17 West Virginia in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST tournament Sunday at 1 p.m.

The No. 2-seeded Mountaineers are hosting a BIG EAST quarterfinal match for the first time in school history against a No. 3-seeded Miami team the Mountaineers defeated 5-1 back on Oct. 21.

Miami comes into Sunday’s contest with a 10-7-1 overall mark and a 3-2-1 Big East record. The Hurricanes have won their last two regular season matches against Stetson and South Florida by a combined 12-0 score. Against the Hatters, Miami put 10 goals on the board.

The Hurricanes qualified for the eight-team post season format after recording a 3-2-1 record and third place in the BIG EAST Northeast Division. Miami, playing its third season as a member of the BIG EAST, was defeated last season by Notre Dame in the first round.

The Mountaineers (13-3-1) come into Sunday’s match riding a season-long five-game winning streak. West Virginia has scored 18 goals in those five matches and is outscoring its opponents by nearly two goals per game.

The Mountaineers wrapped up the regular season with a 4-1-1 conference record and finished in second place in the Mid-Atlantic Division.

Freshman Britney Butcher (Bothell, Wash.) and junior Laura West (Allen, Texas) lead the Hurricane offense with a combined total of 46 points on the season.

Senior All-America candidate Katie Barnes continues to lead the conference in scoring with 33 total points. Last year the Mason, Ohio, resident put up a school record 43 points and shows 119 points for her brilliant career.

The winner of Sunday’s match will face the Connecticut-Villanova winner next Friday at 7 p.m. at Rutgers University.