INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The No. 17 West Virginia State University women's soccer team (14-0-2, 12-0-2 MEC) was officially announced as the Mountain East Conference South Division Champions on Monday night. The regular season title was the first in program history. 

The Yellow Jackets will travel to meet the MEC North Division Champions, Frostburg State (14-1-1, 12-1-1 MEC), on Wednesday before making the short trip to Charleston (9-7, 9-5 MEC) on Saturday this week. The Frostburg game is scheduled for 5 p.m. while the match against UC is set for a 4 p.m. start.

State has already secured the No. 1 seed in the South for the 2022 MEC Tournament and will host either Davis & Elkins or West Virginia Wesleyan, depending on this week's results, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 1st. The semifinals will be played on Friday, Nov. 4 with the championship set for Sunday, Nov. 6th.

THE BUZZ AT STATE

WVSU remained undefeated on the season with a 4-0 result at West Virginia Wesleyan and a 2-2 draw versus Fairmont State last week. The Yellow Jackets are a perfect 7-0 on the road this year which bodes well for the pair of away games coming up. State currently boasts the sixth-ranked scoring offense in the nation by averaging 3.12 goals per game.

Forward Fran Soares-Cupertino is nationally-ranked in the top 10 in multiple statistical categories at the moment. She is ranked second in points per game (2.80), third in total points (42), fourth in goals per game (1.07), fifth in shots per game (5.00), sixth in total goals (16), seventh in assists per game (0.67), ninth in total assists (10) and game-winning goals (5), and 10th in shots on goal per game (2.33).

Fellow forward Esther Dhiramo is tied for fifth in the MEC with nine goals scored while winger Brooklyn Pritt is tied for second in the league with six assists. Dhiramo's average of 1.69 points per game is the fifth-best mark in the conference. Meanwhile, Sandra Linares's three game-winning goals in 12 games played is also the fifth-highest mark in the MEC.

Goalkeeper Laura Galindo is ranked third in the league in goals against average (.800) and save percentage (.824). Furthermore, she is ranked second in shutouts per game (.375) with six clean sheets in 16 matches played. Galindo does not make the top 10 in the saves per game category which is a credit to all of State's defenders for not allowing many shots on goal.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS

Frostburg State's only loss this year was to Concord, 3-1, on the road in early October. That same week, FSU played Wheeling to a 2-2 draw away from home. All other games played by the Bobcats this season have been wins, including the previous four-straight matches.

Frostburg's defense has allowed a league-low 10 goals going into the week. The Bobcats' goalkeeper, Ashley Bilger, has been largely untested throughout the season with only 44 shots on goal against her. She's saved 35 of those shots for a respectable, but not incredible, .795 save percentage. 

Frostburg's offense is nearly as good as its defense with a 2.75 goals per game scoring average. The Bobcats have taken more shots and penalty kicks than any other team in the MEC. They also have taken the second-most corner kicks in the league. All this alludes to FSU spending a lot of time in the attacking third of the pitch.   

Forwards Toni Fiocco-Mizer and Mackenzie Alonso are Frostburg's leading goal scorers with 10 and seven goals, respectively. Each player has five assists to lead their team in that category too. Fiocco-Mizer has a knack for game-winning goals with a conference-leading six thus far.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES

Charleston currently sits in third place on 27 points in the South Division table. The Golden Eagles are one point behind Concord in the divisional standings and would need positive results this week to improve their tournament seeding. The Yellow Jackets defeated UC, 2-1, at home when the teams last met on Wednesday, Sept. 21st.

As rivalries tend to go, the match between these two sides earlier in the year was heated. A total of five yellow cards were issued along with 23 fouls. Charleston scored first in the 22nd minute on a penalty kick. West Virginia State equalized in the 41st minute when Brooklyn Pritt scored off a rebound from a free kick. The game-winning goal was scored in the 71st minute by Fran Soares-Cupertino directly from another free kick.

The Golden Eagles score two goals per game while allowing 1.5 goals per game. Their goalkeeper, Jordan Maynard, is beatable with a .726 save percentage on the season. They possess one player with a serious goal tally in forward Sydney Cavender. She is the conference's third-leading goal scorer with 12 so far.