PREVIEW: Houston Set to Face #25 West Virginia on Friday

Morgantown, W. Va. – The University of Houston Soccer team travels to Morgantown to face #25 West Virginia at 6 p.m. CT on Friday at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

The Cougars (6-2-4 1-2-2 Big 12) look to turn around a winless week in Houston as they go on the road to face a surging West Virginia (8-2-2, 3-0-2 Big 12).

The match will be streamed on ESPN+ with Andrew Caridi (play-by-play) and Adam Zundell (analyst) calling the action. Live stats for the match are available here.

LAST TIME OUT
Houston fell to Utah, 1-0, on Sunday in its first home defeat of the season.

Utah scored early with a long-range effort from Bella Woods in the 15th minute that chipped goalkeeper Maggie Manning. The Cougars would battle back, but the Utah defense held strong to keep their fifth shutout of the season.

ABOUT THE COUGARS

Head Coach Ben Williams is in his first season leading the Cougars. Williams is in his second season as a head coach in the college ranks.
Graduate Jaden Humbyrd, junior Kyrsten Kizer and sophomore Casey Maddox were named captains for the 2025 season as voted on by their teammates.
The Cougars feature a revamped roster with 15 newcomers including 11 transfers and four freshmen.
Houston has 28 goals on the season with 14 different goal scorers.
Adelhia Ghonda and Samira Minor lead the Cougars with four goals each.
Houston is second in the conference in total shots behind Utah, but the Cougars pace the conference in shots per game with 18.58.
Houston ranks fifth in the nation with shots on goal per game with 9.08.
Houston is looking for its first win over a ranked opponent since defeating #23 Memphis, 1-0 on Oct. 21, 2021.
The Cougars last defeated a ranked opponent on the road when they defeated #15 SMU, 1-0 (Oct. 7, 2021).

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA

West Virginia is 8-2-2 on the season with a 3-0-2 record in Big 12 Conference play.
Nikki Izzo-Brown is in her 30th season leading the Mountaineers. She is 402-143-76 in her time with the Mountaineers.
Taylor White leads the Mountaineers with six goals on the season.
West Virginia is undefeated in its last nine matches going 7-0-2.
In its last match, West Virginia beat Arizona State, 2-0, in Morgantown.

HISTORY WITH UTAH

Friday's match with West Virginia is the third meeting between the two squads.
Both teams have a win in the series history (1-1-0).
The Mountaineers won the last meeting 4-1 in Houston (Oct. 25, 2024).

SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Soccer by providing NIL opportunities and by joining the Cougar Reserves which provides financial support directly to Houston Soccer for needs beyond its operating budget.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarSoccer on X, formerly known as Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at UHCougarSoccer or on the team's Instagram page at @uhcougarsoccer.

− UHCougars.com –

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